While researching materials for the self-immolation article, it struck me that this practice is taking place in Afghanistan over civil rights – specifically by women. Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty reported in 2004:
Ahmad Bassir is a Herat-based correspondent for Radio Free Afghanistan. He says women see no difference between their lives now and under the Taliban, and that desperation drives them to attempt suicide.
“They say we were hoping that after the fall of Taliban and after the transitional authority took power, the situation would improve for women, and there would be fewer restrictions. But we see that there have been no changes, and women are using this very violent act [of self-immolation] to show their protest. Most of these girls are literate, they are knowledgeable, and several of them are students,” Bassir said.
The US went into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban in order to prevent the country from fostering terrorists, and to restore freedom to the people there. And the situation for women still doesn’t seem to be much better according to a NY Daily News report from December 2012:
A recent United Nations report details how crimes against women in Afghanistan are dramatically underreported, including rape, beating and forced marriage. Some women who see no other solution are resorting to self-immolation.
If ‘freeing’ the Afghan people was part of our goal, then why are there women committing self-immolation in protest of their lack of civil rights? What was our personnel and tax money used for if we didn’t meet this goal?
Besides guarding poppy fields and harnessing another country under fractional reserve banking – what have we been doing over there the past 12 years?
