[P]reliminary talks between President Hamid Karzai's government and Taliban insurgents are already under way, and appear to have yielded a significant shift away from the Taliban's past obsession with repressive rules and punishments governing personal behaviour. The Taliban are now prepared to commit themselves to refraining from banning girls' education, beating up taxi drivers for listening to Bollywood music, or measuring the length of mens' beards, according to representatives of the Islamist movement. Burqas worn by women in public would be "strongly recommended" but not compulsory.
Before any of y'all go getting yourself into a lather over the Taliban (allegedly) finally deciding to become decent, redeemable human beings, how about y'all keep in mind what these folks are really all about? That would be complete and total domination of all aspects of life. 'Course, I'm not exactly the most objective of sorts when it comes to this topic. As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between the Taliban and the Catholic Church is that the Holy See doesn't shoot women in the back of the head on soccer fields.
When did religion become about power, control, and oppression? Uh, wait...yeah, that's right; it's ALWAYS been about power, control, and oppression...just like Catholicism and Fun-damentalist Christianity, eh? I've never advocated for atheism, but given what I see happen in religion these days, atheism is beginning to sound more appealing.
Lost in the excitement of the Taliban suddenly becoming socially Liberal is the fact that female education, the lengths of men's beards, and/or Bollywood music has NOTHING to do with Islam. Granted, I'm no expert on the Quran, but I know enough about Islam to be able to state that these things have as much to do with Islam as my ability to run the West Coast offense. When you get right down to it, it's really only about a cabal of ignorant, close-minded men who hate women and have determined that Islam is best used as a device with which to bludgeon those less ruthless than themselves into submission.
If Afghans REALLY choose these trolls as their government through a genuinely free and fair electoral process (including the female vote), they're of course free to suffer the consequences. Such is democracy. After all, how do you think we ended up with eight years of George W. Bush? It's not as if Americans have the corner on the market when it comes to choosing insightful and inspired leaders to guide the ship of state through difficult times. Having said that, though, even IF Afghans were to choose ignorant, reactionary, Islamofascist zealots as they're leaders, the world cannot stand by while Afghan women are treated like property.
Yes, the world needs to respect Afghan cultural sensitivities, though we might not necessarily agree with or understand them. What we should not, and must not, accept is a system which debase, denigrates, and mistreats women so horribly. If American troops are to be in Afghanistan, and if Americans are to be expected to assist them in making their way into the 14th 21st century, we have an obligation to demand that Afghan men and the Afghan government treat women as people, not as property. This means political, legal, social, and moral equality- the right to vote, the right to self-expression, and the right to live free from the violent oppression of men who view them as little more than sperm receptacles and/or food sources.
I don't expect downtown Kabul to resemble midtown Manhattan any time soon. Afghanistan will likely never be defined as "libertine". That's fine; Afghans have the absolute right to chart their own course...but when one half of the population gets to make those decisions and the other half is treated like chattel, a line needs to be drawn.
What part of WOMEN ARE NOT PROPERTY do you not understand??
