Afghan women need to empower themselves

Standing up: Afghan women gather to demand their rights under the Taliban rule during a protest in Kabul on Sept 3. — Reuters

THE goal of course was never to save Afghan women. Everyone in Afghanistan and the surrounding region knew this. But the superpower was in a bloodthirsty mood, the tragedy of 9/11 dictated the need for vengeance. Afghanistan had not been involved in the attacks at all but Saudi Arabia, from where the majority of the attackers actually originated, could not be attacked as that would disrupt the world’s and America’s own economy. Afghanistan, already addled by decades of foreign occupation and CIA proxy wars, was the answer.

The bombings began in the autumn of 2001 and they have continued right to the end. To provide a cover story regarding the necessity of the invasion – they couldn’t openly state vengeance as a reason – they latched on to the deplorable condition of women’s rights in the country. It was true, Afghan women lived in abject conditions, but then so did Afghan men, one in three people quite literally at risk of starvation. Bombing villages that were scrounging around for an existence unleashed new heights of mayhem and carnage; but the narrative of the war did not include that aspect.