AFGHANISTAN: WOMEN STRIVE TO MAKE VOICES HEARD IN STRATEGIC DEBATE

Eurasia Insight:

Aunohita Mojumdar: October 7, 2009

Women have struggled to make their voices heard in Afghanistan. It turns out that many Afghan women's rights activists are ardent supporters of a strong US military presence in the country. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, might do well to broadcast their opinions amid the continuing debate over US war strategy.

At an October 2-3 meeting in Kabul organized by an Indian think-tank, the Delhi Policy Group, female Afghan attendees spoke out forcefully for a continued, robust foreign presence in the country. Some endorsed the idea of a sizable troop increase.

"We are suffering from terrorism," said MP Shinkai Karokhail. "We cannot say that troops should be withdrawn. ? The international troop presence is a guarantee of my safety."

Afghan women were particularly critical of a policy option advanced by US Vice President Joseph Biden to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan and redirect the mission to the destruction of al Qaeda networks.

"Demilitarization is not practical in the current situation," well-known activist Suraya Parlika said, pointing to the deteriorating security situation. "Look at what is happening in Helmand and Kandahar. Violence is now spreading to northern Afghanistan. At this time we cannot think of demilitarization. We have to first create conditions that pave the way for demilitarization."

The stance of the Afghan participants took other meeting delegations by surprise. The conference was ostensibly designed to promote a "peace trialogue" among women from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The widespread assumption heading into the meeting was that Afghan women would support the idea of an immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from the country. Indeed, the Afghan barrage of support for a continued strong foreign troop presence came in response to Indian participants' suggestions that Afghan women should call for a speedy withdrawal.

A visiting delegation of Code Pink, a US-based anti-war women's group, was also in Kabul to lobby local women to call for a fast American military exit. But following discussions with Afghan activists, Code Pink representatives admitted that their stance might need to be adjusted. Code Pink's Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin said that while they still wanted the Obama Administration to work towards an exit strategy, they were reconsidering their calls for a two-year withdrawal timeline.

"We have been feeling a sense of fear of the people of the return of the Taliban. So many people [are] saying that, 'If the US troops left, the country would collapse; we'd go into civil war.' A palpable sense of fear is making us start to reconsider," Benjamin told EurasiaNet.

The opinions of Code Pink representatives were also influenced by analysis provided by the well-known activist and former Minister of Women's Affairs Masooda Jalal. When Benjamin asked whether Jalal preferred more troops or more financial aid, the icon of the Afghan woman's movement responded straightforwardly: "Both. It is good for Afghanistan to have more resources and more troops coming with the aim of building peace and [working] against war, terrorism and insecurity."

It would now seem that the worst fears of Afghan women won't materialize -- at least in the immediate future. US President Barack Obama indicated during an October 6 meeting with Republican and Democratic legislative leaders that the so-called Biden option, featuring a draw-down of US troops in Afghanistan, is no longer under consideration. Obama, however, hasn't signaled whether he will go along with Gen. McChrystal's request for as many as 40,000 additional ground troops in Afghanistan.

While none of the activists at the October 2-3 meeting suggested that international troops should stay indefinitely, Afghan participants agreed that foreign protection is needed until Afghanistan is able to build it own functioning security forces.

In an earlier interview, women's activist Wazhma Frogh told EurasiaNet that international troops were not the answer, but necessary for building the capacity of Afghan national forces. "Their presence is useful while there are warlords in power and the insurgency is going on."

Najiba Ayubi, Director of the Killid Media Group, which runs both television and radio stations around the country, echoed Frogh's assessment. "The troops have to leave one day. But now is not the exact right time. Because we know our country," she said, adding that a civil war would start without the presence of foreign troops.

"Islam has given us rights. But we have fear in our hearts that politicians will compromise our rights," MP Karokhail told EurasiaNet. "Nobody has consulted with us on negotiations with the Taliban."


Editor's Note: Aunohita Mojumdar is an Indian freelance journalist based in Kabul. She has reported on the South Asian region for the past 19 years.