Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Karzai rolls back womens' rights in Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai today announced that from now on women in his country would be “strongly encouraged” to observe the Taliban-era restrictions on their dress and conduct.

He did not go on to define what he meant by strongly encouraged, but some forms of strong encouragement have included beatings, the use of battery acid, and stoning until dead.

The Sharia-based code of conduct prohibits women leaving their homes without the supervision of a male relative. They will also need to be covered in full burqa. Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch has said this represents a sell-out of Afghan women in an attempt to appease the Taliban ahead of US-Taliban negotiations about the future of the country.

The future of the country is of course a done deal. America has tired of this endless morass with no identifiable victory in sight. There are bigger fish to fry. The future of half the Afghan population is a small price to pay to get out of this mess.

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