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Noam Chomsky & Malalai Joya: The Case for Withdrawal from Afghanistan March 25, 2011 Memorial Church, Harvard University: Filmed by Paul Hubbard http://haymarketbooks.org http://socialistworker.org
By Mike Whitney
ICH
December 14, 2009
It’s too bad Barack Obama didn’t consult with Malalai Joya before giving his Nobel acceptance speech on Thursday. The ex-Afghan Parliamentarian could have helped the president to see that the ongoing US occupation is damaging to both American and Afghan interests. Afghanistan is not the “just war” that Obama defends so passionately in his speech. It’s part of a larger US geopolitical strategy which Joya outlines in her new book “A Woman Among the Warlords: The extraordinary story of an Afghan who dared to raise her voice”. US policymakers have decided to establish a beachhead in Central Asia to monitor the growth of China, surround Russia, control vital resources from the Caspian Basin, and provide security for US mega-corporations who see Asia as the “market of the future.” It is the Great Game all over again. “Victory” in Afghanistan means that a handful of weapons manufacturers, oil magnates, and military contractors will get very rich. That’s it. It has nothing to do with al-Qaida, “democracy promotion” or US national security. That’s all just public relations pablum.
by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
Nov. 22, 2009
This Sunday on Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox, one misbehaving woman interviews another one. Thank goodness for women who do buck the system and resist “going with the flow,” just so as to appear socially acceptable to a society that is not so polite.
Cindy interviews Malalai Joya, a female Afghan Parliamentarian who courageously stands up for female rights and peace against the warlords of Afghanistan and America. Cindy and Cliff (videographer–video of the interview will be available soon) caught up with Malalai when she was in Berkeley to talk about her book: Woman among Warlords.
TheRealNews
November 20, 2009
Joya: US backed fundamentalism is at the root of the Afghan problem; Foreign troops should get out now
Malalai Joya is an Afghan politician who has been called “the bravest woman in Afghanistan.” As an elected member of the Wolesi Jirga from Farah province, she has publicly denounced the presence of what she considers warlords and war criminals in the parliament. She is the author of “A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice”
by Deepa Kumar
SocialistWorker.org
November 10, 2009
Malalai Joya has been called the “bravest woman in Afghanistan” for her outspoken opposition not only to the U.S. occupation of her country, but both the corrupt U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai and the Taliban-led insurgency.
Joya was elected to Afghanistan’s parliament from Farah province in 2005, but was suspended several years later after other representatives claimed she insulted them. She has continued to speak out against war crimes and warlordism, in spite of numerous attempts on her life.
Joya is on a speaking tour of the U.S. for her book A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice. She talked to Deepa Kumar about the situation in her country and the message she hopes to bring to people in the U.S.
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WHAT HAS been the impact of the U.S. occupation and its puppet government on women in Afghanistan? Has the U.S. liberated Afghan women as it claimed it would?
By Noam Chomsky
In These Times
Nov. 5, 2009 Continue reading
by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
Nov. 2, 2009
The warlords we champion in Afghanistan are as venal, as opposed to the rights of women and basic democratic freedoms, and as heavily involved in opium trafficking as the Taliban. The moral lines we draw between us and our adversaries are fictional. The uplifting narratives used to justify the war in Afghanistan are pathetic attempts to redeem acts of senseless brutality. War cannot be waged to instill any virtue, including democracy or the liberation of women. War always empowers those who have a penchant for violence and access to weapons. War turns the moral order upside down and abolishes all discussions of human rights. War banishes the just and the decent to the margins of society. And the weapons of war do not separate the innocent and the damned. An aerial drone is our version of an improvised explosive device. An iron fragmentation bomb is our answer to a suicide bomb. A burst from a belt-fed machine gun causes the same terror and bloodshed among civilians no matter who pulls the trigger.
Dandelion Salad 