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Posted on 11/30/2001 1:48:00 AM PST by JohnHuang2

Two years ago, I wrote the following column about the horror of Afghanistan. Back then, some readers denied what was happening to women and the world turned it back. Sept. 11 changed everything. Before we move forward, let's look at what we knew back then. Because the only way we can stop repeating history is to learn her story.

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On September 27, 1996, the military wing of the Islamic Taliban Movement forced out the elected and corrupt government of Afghanistan. This marked a turning point in the decades-long Afghan civil war. It also marked the beginning of something far worse, a war by the Taliban against the mothers, daughters and women of their country.

The Taliban claim to be "religious" students from the hinterlands of Afghanistan. Many of them are young men who grew up in remote villages that haven't changed for 1,000 years. Their view of the "proper" role for women in Afghan society has turned their country into a living hell for girls and women.

According to Bob Herbert of the New York Times:

A level of terror unimaginable to most Americans has been the rule in most of Afghanistan since the Taliban took power a few years ago. But the most consistently soul-crushing cruelties have been reserved for women and girls. The Feminist Majority Foundation, which has been trying to bring this aspect of the tragedy to greater public awareness, calls it "gender apartheid."

The Feminist Majority belittles the horrors of the Taliban by its politically correct labeling. What is happening in Afghanistan is much worse than gender apartheid. The Taliban is trying to destroy the minds, spirits and souls of every woman in their troubled country.

Bob Herbert continues:

Women and girls in areas controlled by the Taliban are not permitted to go to school or to work. The windows of their homes must be covered or painted black. They can leave their homes only in the company of a close male relative, and only if they are completely covered by a burqa, an all-encompassing garment with a small mesh opening through which the wearer can see and breathe. Women violating any of the rules can be beaten on the spot.

I first learned about the Taliban's war against women in 1996. I hoped that they would come to their senses and honor their mothers, daughters and sisters. However, I was wrong.

The Taliban have lost touch with their humanity. They have adopted one of the most hateful policies against girls and women that the world has ever seen. Their policies violate everything that is decent.

Bob Herbert again:

Medical care for women is largely a thing of the past. Male doctors are not allowed to examine the female body. Women and girls are dying in droves from untreated diseases.

Before the Taliban "revolution," Afghanistan had women doctors and nurses. Since the Taliban gained power, they kicked these trained professionals out of their hospitals and medical clinics. They have banned them from a life of helping others.

I have never been to Afghanistan, but I have worked in 25 countries around the world. No country can escape poverty if they oppress their women and girls. No country can be competitive in the 21st century if they refuse to invest in and support the dreams and aspirations of their girls and women.

Back to Bob Herbert:

Widows especially lead gruesome existences. Unable to work, many have been reduced to begging for food. Prostitution is reported to be increasing. And rape, forced marriages, forced prostitution and other forms of abuse have become commonplace. Resistance has been met with savage beatings, mutilations, abductions and murder.

Men who have tried to help women or widows have been beaten on the streets by marauding mobs of misogynists. They have attacked, maimed and sometimes killed men whose crime was to try to feed widows from the Afghan civil war.

The Taliban claims that they have rooted their war against women in the Koran. They are wrong. Their war against mothers, sisters, grandmothers and daughters is nothing more than the pure hatred of women. Islam does not condone killing women just because they are women, but that is exactly what the Taliban is doing. What the Taliban is doing has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with insanity.

Do you love and respect your mother, daughter, sister and female relatives? Do you care about your female friends? If so, you must care about what the Taliban is doing to their sisters in Afghanistan.

America cannot go to war in every part of the world controlled by madmen bent on destroying decent human beings. However, we can isolate their economies from the civilized world.

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It turns out that the butchers of Kabul were so insane that they finally, on 9-11, forced America to go to war with them. The 9-11 attack led to the destruction of the Taliban, but that is not enough. I can think of no better Afghan memorial to 9-11 than for the next Afghan government to restore the right of Afghan women to live full and free lives.

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