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As the U.S. Congress makes final decisions about going to war with those who terrorized our Nation on Tuesday and our President speaks with NATO for world support, we are left to believe that we are going to war with those who harbor Osama bin Laden.
To many Americans this does not mean much. If we are to go to war with Afghanistan we risk punishing the innocent women and children that have already spent years being terrorized by the Taliban. In a country that used to have many rights for women the Taliban has taken them all away. According to Eve Ensler who has traveled to Afghanistan to experience what daily life is like for Afghan women and children, the Taliban forbids women to: Attend school, work outside the home, laugh loudly, perform or listen to music, leave home without a male relative, use cosmetics, visit male doctors, go outside without wearing a floor-length veil called a burqa, wear high-heel shoes, watch movies, TV and videos. Ensler of Marie Claire magazine reports: If any woman breaks these laws, she risks being flogged (with a large wooden paddle that has a long, wide leather whip attached to it) or killed. During her travels through Afghanistan's capital Ensler learned that every Friday the Taliban "closes the shops and streets in Kabul and forces all the people, children included into a stadium where they are made to watch thieves have their hands cut off and are hung from trees." She reports that the Taliban has made them all poor so they must steal to survive. In this stadium Ensler says women are stoned to death for refusing an arranged marriage and these Friday's are treated as entertainment by the Taliban, popcorn is even sold at the events. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan or RAWA is an organization complete with "2000 members that provide shelter, education and medical services to Afghan women and girls, all in defiance of the Taliban." RAWA is responsible for holding secret meetings to conduct school sessions that educate their children so they can have a brighter future someday. For fear of retaliation by the Taliban these secret sessions are never held at the same place. Since our great nation has been horrendously attacked we must take appropriate steps to stop the use of terrorism. In doing so let's hope we can target our retaliation toward the Taliban, not toward the innocent women and children of Afghanistan. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article What About The Women and Children of Afghanistan? in Film Picks is owned by . Permission to republish What About The Women and Children of Afghanistan? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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