During October, RAWA (the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) sponsored a speaking tour of the U.S. RAWA is the oldest women’s organization in Afghanistan, founded in 1977 to work for women’s rights and education, and is a very credible source. Their members risk personal safety and dedicate their lives to improving conditions for all Afghan women; many have been assassinated, included RAWA’s founder, Meena.

Zoya is a RAWA member whose parents were killed by extremists in Afghanistan when she was in her teens. She honors her mother’s work for women’s rights by continuing in her footsteps. Education of women, often in refugee camps and orphanages, has produced a generation of women like Zoya who are able in turn to educate us about conditions in their country.  On an October 25 conference call, Zoya said, “It’s the same now as RAWA was saying eight years ago. It is impossible to import democracy. Democracy must be achieved by the people. Thousand of troops and billions of dollars have not achieved any positive change. Democracy cannot be practiced in a country ruled by warlords and drug lords.” She has seen the U.S. supporting the war criminals of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban, but  “the Northern Alliance are also terrorists, and so they are happy with the presence of the Taliban. They may even be helping to arm the Taliban.  We are tired of this deception.”  She added more on this topic during a speech at Boston’s Oct 17 antiwar rally in Copley Square.

Zoya thanked antiwar activists for speaking out and supporting self-determination for Afghanistan. She said she has met many Americans who are not aware of the true situation because “the media misled them.” Her call? “Educate! Organize! Expose the truth of the occupation!”

Malalai Joya is an Afghan woman who rocketed to fame when she was ejected from Afghanistan’s constitutional assembly in 2003, silenced for complaining that there were war criminals among her fellow delegates. She was later elected to Parliament and then thrown out in 2005 for making the same statement. On tour in the U.S. during October, in an interview with Laura Flanders on GritTV, Malalai had this advice for antiwar Americans:  “First you should raise your voice very strongly against occupation in Afghanistan, against the war crimes of your government. Support the democratic kind of people in my country…morally support them, financially support them, and support education. And, why not put Bush in the International Criminal Court?”

Both Zoya and Malalai must live in safe houses and move frequently, as their truth-telling has resulted in death threats against them.  Yet asked what she fears, Malalai said: “I don’t fear death. I fear political silence against injustice.”  And from her website Malaijoya.com this statement, echoes fears raised during the rise of fascism in 20th century Europe: “The silence of good people is worse than the actions of bad people.”

In January, 1980 during the first month of what would be a decade of Soviet occupation, an Afghan man in Kabul told me fiercely: “As long as there is ONE Afghan still alive, the Russians will NEVER rule our country!”  Empires that have failed to subdue Afghanistan include the Macedonians under Alexander, the Safavid Persians, the Romans, the British, the Russians, and now, the U.S.  Although our robotic killer drones strike wedding parties and funerals, crossing into Pakistan freely, the insurgency grows.  We are creating terrorists faster than we can kill them. But maybe that’s the real goal?

Speak up and expose the so-called war on terror for what it really is: a marketing strategy for corporate profits.

Call on your government to ground the drones and bring the troops home now!

CODEPINK’s Jodie Evans joins Kristen L. Rouse, founder of Veterans for Afghanistan; Nasrine Gross, President of Roqia Center for Rights, Studies and Education; and Yifat Susskind, communications director for MADRE on GritTV last week to discuss Afghanistan.

Also in the show, the bravest woman in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya.  She is currently touring with her new book, A Woman Among Warlords:  The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice.  Check out her current book tour through the U.S.

From Jodie Evans:

I am just returning from my 10-day trip to Afghanistan. As we left, a farm was bombed and eight members of a family were killed. Eight U.S. soldiers also lost their lives in an insurgent raid on their outpost. And today marks the 8th anniversary of the US Invasion of that war torn country.

We have spent a quarter of a trillion dollars in those 8 years and what have we got for all that time, money, and suffering? Most of the country is in worse condition, the Taliban have been growing in strength and number, the bordering countries are more unstable and death fills the air.

We went to hear what the women of Afghanistan thought about the push for more troops. We spoke with journalists, doctors, activists, NGOs, members of government, and average Afghan women. Most of the women do not want more troops. Instead, they need support to sustain their lives. They want that money spent on what we really need to bring peace: investment in the people of Afghanistan.

Everything we have done in eight years has no plan – just short-term solutions with long-term catastrophic effects. Afghans want education, jobs, healthcare, infrastructure. They want us to send troops of doctors, teachers, engineers and business leaders – not more soldiers. Yet we have continued to support a situation that fuels insurgency instead of a sustainable culture. Ninety percent of the funding to Afghanistan is used for military spending and only 10 percent has been used for development. Obama already authorized an additional 21,000 troops this year and Gen. McChrystal is expected to ask for an additional 40,000 troops.

Member of Parliament and gynecologist Dr. Roshnak Wardak speaks about the situation in her province. We have to do all we can to stop another surge. As Americans, we need to stand with the women of Afghanistan and fight for development, not troops.

We returned after that to the conference on peace and security between Afghan, Pakistani and Indian women. We videoed several women about their views on the U.S. call for 40,000 more troops. Some women said yes, we need more troops, but most said no—instead train the Afghan military, hold reconciliation talks and put more money into social needs and job problems. We hope the post the responses as youtubes when we get home. We also wrote up a letter to President Obama saying no more troops, and asked the women to sign. The organizer of the conference must get US government money because she freaked out and wouldn’t let us circulate the letter! Instead, we talked to some of the women during the breaks, and many of them signed. (In the evening, Jodie got the wife of Karzai’s brother to sign on!)

Since we are returning tomorrow, we took time to do some shopping along Chicken Street—buying jewelry, shawls, dresses, bedspreads, purses… The shopping break was a nice diversion from all the sitting and talking.

In the afternoon we spent time with two amazing women who were among the main organizers of the protest against the Shia law that would have legalized marital rape and codified the unequal status of women. This was the first protest these women had ever participated in, and they were terrified to face to mullahs and fundamentalists who accused the women of being anti-Muslim. Some were beaten on the day of the march, but they remain strong and determined to keep improving the status of women.

Tonight we had a terrific meal at the home of Karzai’s businessman brother, Mahmoud Karzai, and his wife. The guests included businessmen who had security companies, the president’s first deputy chief of staff (a woman), the president’s economic advisor, journalists, a UN rep and more. We all had great conversations and realized how lucky we were to have, once again, such great access to so many different opinions (at the dinner, someone from our group remarked that back home, it would be like having dinner at the home of Jeb Bush!).

Tomorrow is our last day and we will back it in with more meetings, including university students—something we are all looking forward to.

It’s shocking, really, from an administration that promised change, this couldn’t sound like more of the same misleading rhetoric that tricked Americans into the bloody, unjust war in Iraq. For seven long years, Bush & Co. argued that “Islamist terrorists” of the Middle East would run free and Americans would be in constant danger of another Sept. 11 — end of story. By inflating the threat of attack with faulty logic, the administration scared Americans into ignoring facts and supporting a massive push of troops into a largely innocent country.

With my piece, I included an Afghan woman’s critique of the occupation, in the interview conducted by CODEPINK activist and journalist, Liz Kimmerly. It’s really fascinating to hear her voice and learn her perspective, so be sure to check that out, too.

In light of the current debate in Congress over a $94 billion war funding supplemental bill, the great majority to be spent on military needs rather than that for humanitarian aid or training of Afghan forces, our fourth interview in the series which focuses on security needs in Afghanistan, is particularly pertinent. CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans interviews Malali Bashir, an Afghan-American Fulbright Scholar pursuing her MBA in International Business at Brandeis University. Prior to receiving the Fulbright award for pursuing her masters degree in United States, she has worked with Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics. Bashir also writes poetry, paints and instructs English with the British Council.

This interview also includes a powerful new video from Brave New Films documenting the civilian casualties of war.

JE: The US is talking about “peeling away” “reconcilable Taliban” from the hardcore by negotiations between US and NATO military forces and local leaders or foot soldiers. Do you think this is a good idea? Would it work? Could it undermine the government’s process?

We have continuously been hearing about these terms of “Moderate Taliban”, “Reconcilable Taliban”, etc. The point here is that if there were any reconcilable/ moderate Taliban, why were they not given a chance to take part in the government process from very beginning?

If we all agree that there are moderate and extreme Taliban, extreme Taliban are the ones that are sabotaging the stability of our country. We should be concentrating and working hard on engaging the extremists and not those who are not a threat. Bringing “moderate Taliban” into the government and keeping the rest away won’t help secure Afghanistan. All should be free to join the democratic circle.

Giving them titles will only divide them into different sects and provide them with an excuse or an opportunity to remain in government with the name of “Moderate” and continue with their current activities of insecuring the lives of ordinary Afghans with the name of being “Extremist Taliban”.

As part of its mission to highlight and promote the stories and perspectives of Afghan women, CODEPINK has launched an ongoing series of print, audio and video interviews “Afghan Women Speak Out,” conversations with leading international women activists and policymakers.

For the third interview in the series (view our first and second interview here), CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans interviews Mariam Nawabi, an Afghan-American attorney, social entrepreneur, and activist about Afghan women and Congress’ rush to pass another $94 billion for war this week. Nawabi is a founding member of the Afghanistan Advocacy Group, a national network of Americans who wish to engage in dialogue with policymakers regarding development and security in Afghanistan. She served as senior adviser to the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce and Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce from February 2006 until April of 2007. From January 2004 to January 2006, she worked at the Embassy of Afghanistan, serving as Commercial & Trade Counsel.

Jodie Evans: What would you advise Obama to do?

Direct more money into economic development and the creation of jobs. To end the violence, the money needs to reach villages — if the money doesn’t get to the village itself, there is no change and the young men are left without support and become fodder for the Taliban.

Whether we call it democracy or not, there is no difference in (Afghan) way of life (under the Taliban or US troops), they still living in the crossfire between Taliban and U.S. forces. If the U.S. wants the Taliban out they are going about it backwards.

JE: Should we negotiate with the Taliban?

This whole notion of trying to negotiate with different members of Taliban might be too late. In the beginning, we went against groups we could and should have talked to; we should have talked to them then. When we labeled Taliban as the enemy and sided with warlords, we created categories and ended up creating enemies.

Once you create economic stability, you can have peacekeeping. That is part of the equation and it has to be sequenced in the right order. There may be different areas of the country that require different strategies because of where and who they are.

JE: But the U.S. has invested some money in development?

What the U.S. does now for economic development is mostly wasted. Capacity building is needed and good models of the public/private working together. When we leverage money with private sector we begin to get more efficacy. When you have advice and trainings without tools, nothing happens.

There is a plan to send 4,000 outside-civilian advisers, but these advisers go in for a year and are barely acclimated and then it’s time to go. Instead they should send expats back in, they won’t have as many language issues, and can be more effective at delivering real support. Afghanistan has had a huge brain drain — so much of countries brain power left or killed. They need to come back.

Money now spent on military would be much better spent on infrastructure, jobs, and international partnerships. The people don’t have the tools the need to move toward a peaceful reality.

JE: What is the effect of additional troops?

As we (the US) brings in new military, we continue to create these little cities for our military to sit in. Afghans wonder, what is the point? They see the cities/bases just as places for the military, just another target for insurgents to bomb — from there (the military) are just engaging in protecting themselves, not bringing change into Afghans lives. They are these little military oasis’ that are not benefiting the community at all.

The Afghan people look over the walls of the bases and see the troops have everything they don’t have. And the violence increases. They know (the troops) are not there to help them. The women are particularly aware of this. The military needs to get out in villages and relate with people so people see them as an asset.

There is a National Solidarity Program that Congress is looking at to fund this. (Through this program), a village creates its own priorities. For example, the people need a well. They vote on it, it goes to community for vote, and they get block grants to implement that. That’s real democracy-building. Women have to be included; in this program, women can have their own council and they can vote and have their own projects funded.

That is what the Obama administration should be doing instead of this focused-on-military side,where they go in and then say, “OK, now how can we get out of this?” If you leave Afghanistan in the position where it can’t sustain itself, it will just go back into conflict and more fundamentalism.

I would also tell the Obama administration,”whatever money you are spending, monitor it better.” The problem is a wild west frontier — the contractors and NGOs get the money and there is no accountability. They realize no one is checking up; they realize they can do whatever they want. It’s creating these zones where people who are there to “protect” Afghanistan people are actually just there to help themselves.

I don’t see just Taliban as the problem. I see the corruption, drug smuggling as bigger problems, men in suits taking money and not getting it to the community at all. We (the US) puts our money in and then steps back. That is a dangerous combination. People learn how to play the game, but the game is not on battlefield — it’s in halls of ministry. People learn how to take money, and their families are in India, Dubai, Canada. So money goes back out. And if things go south, they have an exit strategy.

The question is not who likes the U.S. more (under great presence). The question is who will the Afghan people see as a government that best represents their interests. They haven’t had that. Now the game is all we have, all the millions of dollars coming in, and who can grab more of it. (It’s) waste of resources. And people get disillusioned and angry; for seven years we haven’t paid attention to the fact they have been oppressed.

JE: How, given the culture, do we get women at the table?

For the most part, the women leaders look out for interests of the village. You do have some women who are partnered with warlords, but comparatively, we risk less conflict if women are making decisions.

Economic empowerment is the best way to empower the women and give financial support to women who are demonstrating leadership abilities.

This election coming up in Afghanistan is not just presidential election but also province elections. I heard that in eight provinces, not one woman is registered. There are security issues, women are being targeted and feel fearful. But U.S. women have not helped bring them the tools they need to run. We can’t demand women at the table if we do not provide the support they need. If a woman is campaigning, give her resources to campaign and print posters.

In some areas we see more women (in office) and there is great progress because they have created their own supportive communities. Sometimes the only women who win are those bankrolled by the warlords. They can win with the warlords’ support but do so without their own voice.

Currently the Minister of Women’s Affairs (Husan Bano Ghazanfar) (sic) that should be encouraging and supporting women is passive, she was appointed for exactly that reason. The new funding bill gives her money, but she does not represent the women and has failed at her job. But we send money anyway, without a way to monitor or guide.

Jodie Evans is the co-founder of CODEPINK Women for Peace and environmental, peace and justice activist for more than 30 years.

See-Jane-Do-we-love-you!

Here, Nooria talks about growing up in Afghanistan in the 70s, returning to Afghanistan after the US invasion, the Karzai government, the marital rape law that was passed in Afghanistan, and the effect of US troops on women and peace in Afghanistan.

Or view it on YouTube.