Women's Liberation - Afghani Style

A favourite argument of boosters of Canada's 'mission' to Afghanistan is the one about how much better off the Afghan women are now that the Taliban has been driven out (or at least somewhere down the next block - I hope).

There's no doubt the Taliban were cruel and oppressive to their country's women folk. That's why we deserve a real pat on the back for replacing the Taliban with a free, democratic, enlightened government. We did that, right? Didn't we?

Maybe not. The democratic Karzai government has now been in power for several years, plenty of time to put Afghanistan back on an even keel as a fitting member of the world community. Whatever good this corrupt administration may be doing, it's doing precious little for the country's women.

A front page article in today's Globe reported that Afghan women, make that girls as young as 13, are getting slung into prison for refusing to submit to arranged marriages. The 13-year old, named Shabano, refused go along with her father's deal to trade her as a bride for a 50-year old. That's right, trade, as in livestock. Apparently Shabano's dad had arranged to trade her for another girl, presumably for his own use.

The Globe reporter managed to visit the women inmates in the luxurious Kandahar prison where they're kept with their children. A couple are in for real crimes but most are paying the price for the crime of disobedience.

Karzai's Afghanistan remains a place where tribal law and customs trump the constitution and state law. Women remain the property of their husbands, daughters are mere chattels. And Canadian soldiers are fighting and dying to preserve this way of life?

Maybe it's unrealistic to expect a predominantly backward, tribal society to embrace democratic values. However if Karzai can't even establish democratic freedoms at the individual level, what hope has he for success at a national level?

In the meantime, if Harper and O'Conner can't get Karzai's gang to act like decent human beings, at least they should stop feeding us this garbage about how "the mission" is making the country a wonderful place for Afghan women. It's not, they know it and they're not doing a damned thing about it.

In a note of bitter irony, the report on persecution of Afghan women appeared beside a story about Canada's latest two soldiers killed over there. It quoted Stephen Harper praising their sacrifice, "to bring stability, democracy and peace in Afghanistan."