Not so fast ...

"The past decade has opened the minds of Afghan women about the importance of democracy, liberty, education, and being active participants in the processes of national politics and decision making," writes Massouda Jalal, former Minister of Women in Afghanistan, for the On Faith section of the Washington Post. 

But as the US prepares to leave Afghanistan, she warns that Taliban-style violence against women is on the rise. "If the United States and our international allies would leave us, they should first ensure that women’s voice in national decision making is strong enough to make a difference," she contends.

The US and Afghanistan cannot afford to abandon investments in a foundation of human rights - and allow a decade of investment go to waste.

The US announced its plans to withdraw well in advance, and that may draw more attention from US citizens and international journalists to Afghanistan and its politics. The globe will condemn every atrocity.

Weak

Men who fear independent women are weak, no question about it. "Attacks on women in Afghanistan show the weakness of militants and aim to create panic in society, officials say," reports Najibullah in Kabul for Al-Shorfa. Two women serving as the women's affairs director for Laghman Province have been assassinated, one five months after the other.

"Condemnation has grown stronger in the wake of Najia and Hanifa's assassinations," the article concludes. "Not only is killing an innocent woman considered the greatest shame in Afghan culture, but Islam prohibits it, said Khalilullah, an Afghan citizen."

US women service members regularly meet with Afghan women, advising on humanitarian and security programs.

Photo of 2007 meeting in northern Laghman courtesy of Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein, US Air Force and Wikimedia Commons

Point of view

Helmet cameras offer a closeup look at fighting. Like any tool, like the internet itself, they can aid in analysis and understanding or they can be cheap thrill, watched with little thought at all, explains Greg Jaffee of the Washington Post.

Women helping women

Heather Barr, writing for CNN, describes the courage and compassion of Women's Affairs officials:

 

"Each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces has a Women’s Affairs office... the front line in the Afghan government’s effort to advance women’s rights – and to fight violence against women.... For example, Human Rights Watch has heard of cases where, in provinces with no shelter for women fleeing violence (there are only 14 such shelters in all of Afghanistan) Women’s Affairs staff members have protected battered women in the staffers’ own homes, at great personal risk."

 

Maybe Sofi is reasonable to hide her teacher - and it's not a case of kidnapping after all. Afghan women can help other women, but only secretly.

Corruption

Each year Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index releases international rankings and for 2012, Afghanistan has landed in last place along with North Korea and Somalia, reports Frank Vogl for the Huffington Post.

"There is a brutal message here for the architects of Western geo-political strategy in general and for those most responsible for the Afghan debacle in particular," Vogle writes. "Despite all the diverse experiences of decades, the harsh fact is that Western powers have a zero success rate in establishing decent governance in poor countries embroiled in conflict that have no history of democratic institutions."

Public trust and respect is minimal in such countries, Vogle explains. Human rights abuses and violence are high. This does not bode well for security - for Afghanistan, neighbors in India or Pakistan, or anywhere else in the world.

Image courtesy of Transparency International.

Uncertainty

Six months is not long and July will be here before we know it. Pakistan has extended refugee status for 1.6 million Afghan refugees living in that country for six months.

"Pakistani officials have long expressed their frustration with the lack of progress in repatriating the world's largest refugee community - Afghans who fled the Soviet invasion and later, Taliban rule," reports Alex Rodriguez for the Los Angeles Times. "Many refugees have lived in Pakistan for more than three decades. Their presence is resented by many Pakistanis, who see the refugees as a source of escalating crime and accuse them of involvement in terror strikes across the country."

United Nations officials and others would prefer a more lasting resolution.

"The core protection challenge in Pakistan is the absence of a specific legal regime for the protection of refugees," reports the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees. "Individually recognized refugees and asylum-seekers have difficulty in accessing basic facilities and essential services including education, health care and work in Pakistan. Many of them have limited income opportunities so they must survive through informal work arrangements."

Khedmat

As US and NATO prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, the Afghans will be responsible for security. "To equip the Afghan police, UNESCO launched a literacy program in 2011, with support from Japan. The program trained 300 facilitators who train thousands of officers.

"To help neo-literate police officers test their reading ability with informative and relevant material, UNESCO publishes a monthly newspaper, Khedmat (which means 'service' in the Pashto and Dari languages)," notes the UNESCO education page.

Literacy could help solve more crimes than guns.

Afghan police training on the AK-47 at Kabul Military Training Center in 2010. The class also covers human rights and the Afghan constitution. Photo courtesy of NTM-A_CSTC-A in Kabul and Wikimedia Commons. 

Symbols

The flag of Afghanistan has had more changes during the 20th century than any other nation on earth, reports the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook.

The line drawing in the center shows a mosque, the year the country won independence from the United Kingdom, wheat and a scroll with the country's name. The green is described as representing agriculture, prosperity and Islam.

After the Taliban were defeated and Hamid Karzi was elected in 2004, the flag was adjusted slightly - the wording on the scroll was revised from "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" to "Afghanistan," explains Worldpics.com.au

The image of the flag, courtesy of CIA World Factbook.

Moderates in our midst

"There are no moderates in Iran," morning show host Joe Scarborough said today. Less than 10 minutes later, he was smart enough to backtrack by noting, "The moderates are not in power."

His first comment rankled. Once a writing instructor, I regularly warned students against using "all," "none," "always," "never." Such words are hyperbole and immediately invite your readers to hunt for the one exception.

But such words are common in television talk shows and newspaper opinion essays. Massouda Jalal wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in December 2011, entitled "There are no moderate Taliban":  "Seeking to negotiate with an implacable enemy could be seen either as foolish or foresighted. The West obviously sees a deal with the Taliban as essential to its transition, and therefore a pragmatic step. But this faith in negotiations appears to be based on the belief that there exist 'moderate' elements of the Taliban, and that they can be coaxed toward supporting constitutional democracy."

The sentiment was not new, and many lashed out after President Barack Obama suggested during a March 2009 interview with The New York Times that he would seek out and try to work with "moderate elements" of the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.

 In March 2009,  for Forbes, Tunku Varadarajan struggled for a definition, suggesting it must be "those who'd contemplate an abandonment of their jihad against Western forces in Afghanistan in exchange for some sort of power-sharing arrangement with the government of Hamid Karzai." He continued:

"It is their willingness to do deals, in other words, that makes them moderate, not the essential make-up of their beliefs and culture. That said, if they are willing to set aside their adamantine opposition to the infidel West and its puppet, Karzai, they are clearly less purist in their pursuit of an Islamist society than those who would fight to the finish. That makes them relatively moderate, if you like. Or just plain cynical."

Yes, women and children will suffer the most if Afghanistan can't achieve peace, if the government cannot deliver law and order.

Obama's willingness and the flurry of essays that followed by Varadarajan  and others motivated me to find the exception to no moderates and write Fear of Beauty, about a village with people who want their children to attend school but who also appreciate their traditions, accept harsh penalties for violating those traditions, and do not want their lives to change. 

So what to do about diplomacy? What to say to those who scoff at diplomacy?

Diplomacy is a delicate and, too often, time-consuming process. Those who would talk through a problem must study and divide opponents, finding others who may be swayed to end the fighting and pursue peace. Opponents who are ready to think a little differently are there. Women who want to attend school. Taliban supporters who want to engage in trade. Political leaders who want legitimate regional power. Afghanistan could be a case for aid with a schedule of strict, strict, strict conditions on corruption and human rights. And similar conditions should be imposed on other allies, including Pakistan, where a 14-year-old girl was shot by Taliban for advocating education for girls.

Fighting forces opponents to entrench and harden their positions. Trade, diplomacy, education are the enemies to extremism.

The war in Afghanistan has entered its 12th year. I'm not suggesting that the moderates and their supporters can succeed in Afghanistan or Iran - that the extremism can be contained. Moderates struggle in the United States, facing vehement attacks within their own political party and communities because they are even willing to consider working with the other side.

I can only hope that the aim of hyperbolic language about opponents isn't intended to make it easier to launch an attack. Because there are - and I'll avoid saying always! - moderates in our midst.

Photo of Afghanistan market, courtesy of Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika, US Army National Guard, and Wikimedia Commons