Afghanistan is NOT a success!

According to George Bush, the U.S. is "spread[ing] liberty" across Afghanistan. During last week's presidential debate, he claimed:

Ten million citizens have registered to vote. It's a phenomenal statistic. They're given a chance to be free, and they will show up at the polls. Forty-one percent of those 10 million are women.

Which does sound pretty good, until you look at Human Rights Watch's recent report, based on interviews with hundreds of people across Afghanistan:

Pronouncements by Afghan and international officials boasting that 40 percent of registered voters are women ignores the likelihood that tens of thousands of women have been registered more than once (some believing their voting card would entitle them to benefits or food rations), and masks regional variation in the figures, including data from some southern provinces showing that less than 10 percent of those registered are women.  Several election officials in Kabul acknowledged to Human Rights Watch in late September that the number of Afghans expected to vote on October 9 could range as low as 5 to 7 million.

Now we have an answer to the question: What's worse than using women's rights as a pretense for offensive military action?
Yes, it's: Ignoring the continued plight of Afghan women to claim victory, for partisan political gain.

To mark the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on October 7 (and to debunk more of the lies likely to fly around Afghanistan's presidential election October 9), Women for Peace will hold a "walking protest" on Thursday, October 7 starting at noon at the King Street side of Capital Square. Put on something pink and join us! We'll hand out Afghanistan fact sheets to passers by and leave more information at our local Congressional offices.

Check out our press release, our opinion piece and our fact sheet (PDF file, 990 kb) - and join us on Thursday!

- Diane

PS - Check back with Human Rights Watch tomorrow, when they're releasing another Afghanistan report - "specifically focusing on women’s participation in the election and civil society in general."