fight guns with girls

Here is another opinions piece from the New York Times about the treatment of Afghan women, written by a member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Read it.

Afghan women march, America turns away

I'm not usually one to groan about how the American media overlooks international crises in lieu of covering a YouTube "sensation" or a study that shows thinner people contribute less to global warming. But sometimes I just get to a point when the 24-hour news cycle could be used for so much more significant news. In years past, we could argue that newspapers had a limited amount of print space, and therefore had to focus on local issues in order to sell their product. Fine with me. But in a time of endless opportunities, when a story can run 18 pages and not cost any more than one of two sentences, why not spend the money to get to deeper and more substantial stories? Yes, the recent news of Taliban action against women has been covered, in some fashion, by FOX (at least they picked up the AP story, if that's "covering" something), The NYT, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, CNN, and others.

But, as the Times' column notes, "First, with the economic crisis and other domestic priorities, there is a sense in Washington that helping Afghanistan democratize is either a luxury American taxpayers cannot afford or a charitable cause they can delay."

This is terribly frustrating for me, especially because I have read several studies that show the education and advancement of women in a restrictive society, such as the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, is an extremely effective way to fight terrorism. This was the attitude of Greg Mortenson, the subject of the runaway bestseller "Three Cups of Tea." He saw the education of women as fundamental to a stable and progressive society, and since has built over 78 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls, according to the book's website.

As we face more than a trillion dollar defecit, a worldwide economic recession, and still fight a war on (at least) two fronts in the middle east, I would be much more supportive of a "war on terror" if it meant fighting the root causes of terrorism and hate, rather than just blowing them up.

(In other feminist rant news, check out this story from CNN about a case that reached the Supreme Court about a 13-year-old girl who was stripped searched at her school.)