Originally written September 28, 2005
Something remarkable happened in Afghanistan this month. The war-torn country held its first parliamentary election in 35 years and 12.5 million people, men and women, were registered to vote.
Terrorists mounted a desperate attempt over the preceding months to stop the election, but to no avail. Despite killing 1,000 people, including seven candidates and six poll workers, several of them women, the harbingers of destruction failed to intimidate the Afghan people. ?And thanks to U.S., NATO and Afghan forces, violence was at a minimum the day of the election. As Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal put it, “After all their boasting, it’s a big failure for the Taliban.”
The U.N.-Afghan election commission accomplished a momentous task in pulling off the election. In what’s being called “one of the most difficult logistical operations ever undertaken by international electoral workers,” 6,000 polling sites were set up all over the country. In some cases, donkeys, camels and airplanes were needed to transport voting materials. Some 5,800 candidates sought seats in the 249-seat national assembly, 68 of which were reserved for women. Candidates such as the 25-year-old Sabrina Sagheb stirred things up in a country long wracked not just by gender inequality but by virtual apartheid.
As in last year’s presidential election, the Afghan people showed themselves well up to the task of democracy. At just over 50 percent, the turnout was lower than last time, but the numbers were still pretty impressive, considering the circumstances.
Defying threats of violence and their own rugged landscape, Afghans made their way through deserts and mountains so they could take part in the democratic process. A third of them were women, who, perhaps more than anyone else, understand what’s at stake. Even in conservative outlying areas, Afghan women participated in fairly large numbers. One of them, 18-year-old Khatereh Mushafiq, explained, “We are also now taking part in the government and in society. People must take part, people must have a say.” ?
Too Quiet on the Media Front
Despite the magnitude of these events, one could be forgiven for not having heard a lot about them in the mainstream media. Although the election was reported, it certainly wasn’t front-page news. Instead, it was relegated to the back pages, along with any positive developments occurring in Iraq. The nonchalance with which much of the media treats democratic elections if they happen to occur in Afghanistan betrays either outright bias, a lack of interest or pronounced cynicism. Either that or the hurricane season got the better of them.
Considering such omissions, it’s little wonder that Americans are still confused as to what the war on terror is all about. And the Bush administration hasn’t done enough to correct this communications gap. But the U.S. military certainly has. Curious readers will find ample information at the Department of Defense (DOD) and Central Command (Centcom) Web sites, not to mention the Afghan blogs and Web sites that fill in the gaps.
Those who remember the brutality and horror of Afghanistan under the Taliban do not take elections lightly. We don’t want to see any more men and women shot in the head in soccer stadiums in front of cheering audiences or buried up to their necks and stoned to death. Or women confined to their homes and beaten on the streets if unaccompanied.
The outlawing of music, kite flying and art featuring human forms was a testament to the utter darkness and despair that enveloped Afghanistan under the Taliban. The notorious destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas was the ultimate act of despotism over creation itself. If anyone needs a refresher course of what life was like under the Taliban, the bleak film Osama is a good place to start.
All of this is a far cry from today’s Afghanistan. Although the country has a long way to go, change is clearly in the air. In a testament to the return of romance and cultural life to a country long lacking in both, the Shakespeare’s plays, including “Romeo and Juliet,” were performed in Kabul last month.
Afghanistan’s version of MTV, Tolo-TV, is hugely popular among the youth, and a new show, “Afghan Star,” is offering them yet another form of democracy, à la “American Idol.” Sadly, the station’s lone female host, Shaima Rezayee, was murdered in what looks to have been an honor killing, demonstrating that the backward pull is still alive and well. All the more reason to continue supporting the progressive elements in Afghan society.
Selective Humanitarianism
Critics of the war in Iraq maintain that they supported the liberation of Afghanistan, but there were several large anti-war rallies that took place in San Francisco, Washington ?and other cities during the Afghan action. A few Democratic politicians went on record opposing the action as well. There are some, it seems, who are against employing the U.S. military for any reason other than humanitarian missions. But should the humanitarian element happen to coincide with America’s interests, as it does in the Muslim world, they suddenly lose interest.
If one is interested in humanity, the fact that al-Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan, which we now know from their own lips were processing thousands of terrorists, are gone is reason enough to rejoice. The Afghan people are certainly happy to be free of al-Qaeda’s grip, as exemplified by the strong condemnations of terrorism that marked the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Ironically, these acts of barbarism were what turned Afghanistan and the United States into allies. ?
Those who wear the mantle of feminism should have cause to celebrate the downfall of the Taliban as well. Although the ubiquitous burqa can still be seen shrouding far too many women’s bodies, it is no longer legally required. The emergence of at least some female faces speaks to this reality. ?Following other parts of the country, the first Women’s Center just opened up in Paktika province. ?Most importantly, women are back at work, in school, and visible in everyday life. ?
Anti-war activists like to counter that by being in Iraq the United States has somehow “forgotten about Afghanistan.” But when positive developments like the election occur in Afghanistan the silence from such critics is deafening. Concentrating solely on terrorist attacks, opium farming and warlordism, they see only the negative. Afghanistan is indeed a tribal culture mired in ancient customs, and outside of Kabul much work still needs to be done. ?But simply giving up isn’t an option.
Other detractors of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan insist that because America backed the jihadists against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the ‘80s, it should forever after relinquish all responsibility for the place. But alliances shift over the course of history, and it’s easy to pass judgment in hindsight. Just because a country stumbles along the way doesn’t mean that it can’t do right later on. ?
Whether or not one buys the political reasons behind the decision to go to war in Afghanistan, the people are no longer under the boot of the Taliban’s seventh century barbarism, and this is a worthy outcome in and of itself. In the words of 36-year-old Mohammed Twahir, “Before there was no democracy, now we have democracy. Democracy means freedom.”
While Afghanistan certainly has struggles ahead, this by no means precludes acknowledging progress when it has occurred. And last week’s election was progress.
If one truly cares about human rights, then they should be celebrated in all cases, even when one’s political foes helped bring them about. This is the definition of true humanitarianism.
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