Observations on gender apartheid in Afghanistan by an American soldier.
Here's an adage I made up: Afghan women are nothing more than the bearers. They bear the children, they bear the water from the wells or streams, they bear the firewood, they bear the crops from the fields and they bear the burden of raising their children. Hidden, away, non-existent. During my Green Beret days in the country, a teammate of mine said it even better, stating so simply a profound truth that, were this in a war of truths, his thrust would be the fatal blow struck to the heart--"I'd rather be a dog in America than a woman in Afghanistan."
Conclusion:
It's not Afghan TV, but it's a television set on nonetheless, tuned to either American Forces Network or a satellite channel, here in the dining facility at this comfortable U.S. forward operating base, and it's playing Jeopardy. It's back from a commercial now, and real or imaginary, "Final Jeopardy category is," says Alex, "Crazy Uncles in the Attic. Answer: Seventh century repressive apartheid country where America is spending three billion dollars and about ten soldiers' lives a month with no honestly declared purpose, no clearly reasoned strategy, no moral conditions of sacrifice, and no end defined or even remotely imagined. Contestants, you have thirty seconds to write your answer in the form of a question." Da da da da, da da da, da da da da dit di dididit... |