{"id":7986,"date":"2019-08-20T23:41:36","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T06:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=7986"},"modified":"2019-08-21T06:16:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T13:16:37","slug":"post1-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=7986","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;\u201cWomen \u2018absolutely terrified\u2019 of Donald Trump giving Afghanistan deal to the Taliban\u201d, USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Editorial Board, August 20, 2019<\/p>\n<p><em>Haste to pull U.S. troops out could risk the progress on Afghan women&#8217;s rights: Our view<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SCJZaqepdyQ\" class=\"story-asset story-highlights-asset\">\n<aside class=\"comp story-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"hlts\">STORY HIGHLIGHTS<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"hlt\">\n<li class=\"hlt-item\">More than 3.5 million girls now attend primary and secondary schools.<\/li>\n<li class=\"hlt-item\">100,000 women are enrolled in college.<\/li>\n<li class=\"hlt-item\">20%\u00a0of parliamentary seats are held by women.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">Over the next year, America will mark with parades and exhibitions the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/local\/south-jersey\/2019\/02\/21\/womens-voting-rights-celebrated-centennial-events\/2941202002\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">centennial of the 19th Amendment<\/a> guaranteeing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2018\/02\/05\/voting-rights-women-how-countries-stack-up\/306238002\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">women the right to vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">By coincidence, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2018\/09\/10\/woman-midwife-maternity-health-advocate-afghanistan\/1257329002\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">women of Afghanistan<\/a> this fall\u00a0enter their 19th year liberated from the Taliban, whose despotic version of Islam brutally relegated\u00a0them to specters in their own land.\u00a0Women\u00a0risked flogging, or worse, for failing to wear full-body, tent-like burqas in public\u00a0or walking the streets unaccompanied by a male relative.\u00a0They were barred from school, work, accessing health care and participating in\u00a0politics or public speaking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>OPPOSING VIEW: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2019\/08\/19\/america-should-leave-afghanistan-now-editorials-debates\/2055681001\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">Two decades after 9\/11 and al-Qaida ruined, there&#8217;s no need for USA to stay in Afghanistan<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In addition to the suppression of women, the Taliban&#8217;s depredations included the destruction of priceless antiquities and the harboring of Osama bin Laden&#8217;s al-Qaida terror organization. After the\u00a09\/11 attacks launched from Afghan soil, a\u00a0U.S.-led coalition drove the Taliban from power within a few months. The\u00a0Constitution of Afghanistan adopted in 2004 grants\u00a0men and women equal rights, bars discrimination and requires a &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fao.org\/faolex\/results\/details\/en\/c\/LEX-FAOC072553\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">balanced education for women<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-position-67\" class=\"partner-placement partner-spike partner-placement-visible\" data-ad-placement=\"native-article_link\" data-ad-sizes=\"[&quot;fluid&quot;,[3,3], [2,6]]\" data-monetization-id=\"native-article_link\" data-monetization-sizes=\"fluid,3,3,2,6\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-usatoday-native-article_link-opinion-6\" class=\"ad-slot\" data-google-query-id=\"CJTW5tT_k-QCFQqSYgodTHAGhQ\">\n<p class=\"p-text\">More than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/ensuring-an-inclusive-afghan-peace-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">3.5 million girls now<\/a> attend primary and secondary schools,\u00a0100,000 women are enrolled in college and millions have voted for the first time in their lives. About\u00a085,000 are teachers, health care professionals or law enforcement officials; 20%\u00a0of parliamentary seats are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/special-inspector-general-afghanistan-reconstruction-high-risk-list\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">held by women<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">All of that progress is at risk if the Trump administration, in its haste to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, accepts a lopsided peace agreement with the Taliban.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-position-70\" class=\"partner-placement partner-spike partner-placement-visible\" data-ad-placement=\"native-article_link\" data-ad-sizes=\"[&quot;fluid&quot;,[3,3], [2,6]]\" data-monetization-id=\"native-article_link\" data-monetization-sizes=\"fluid,3,3,2,6\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\">Fear of Taliban resumption of power<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Heather Barr, a Human Rights Watch official who works with Afghan\u00a0women, says &#8220;they&#8217;re absolutely terrified&#8221; what might flow from a Taliban resumption of power.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container transparent\">\n<div class=\"message\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<p class=\"p-text\">The precarious security situation was underscored Saturday when a suicide-bomb blast in a crowded wedding hall killed 63 and wounded nearly 200,\u00a0one of the most lethal attacks in Kabul this year. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2019\/08\/18\/is-says-carried-out-attack-kabul-wedding\/2044930001\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State<\/a> claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">President Donald Trump is hungry to fulfill a\u00a02016 campaign pledge to shed foreign entanglements\u00a0by pulling the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-afghanistan-blast\/explosions-in-afghanistan-wound-dozens-on-independence-day-idUSKCN1V90OI\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">remaining 13,000 U.S. troops<\/a> from Afghanistan before the 2020 election. Yet he also has a duty not to\u00a0leave behind chaos and cruelty toward women. American troops are conducting vital counterterrorism\u00a0operations and supporting the Afghan military in\u00a0its stalemated\u00a0war with the Taliban.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\">Open talks with Afghan government<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p-text\">During ongoing\u00a0talks between the U.S. and Taliban leadership, the presence\u00a0of American\u00a0troops is Trump&#8217;s only leverage\u00a0to ensure that the Taliban live up to any\u00a0promises to renounce ties to\u00a0terror groups,\u00a0agree to a cease-fire and open direct discussions with the Afghan government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The freedoms won for Afghan women, though far from perfect, hang in the balance. Sensitive to the\u00a0issue, the <a href=\"http:\/\/alemarahenglish.com\/?p=41268\" target=\"_blank\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">Taliban have offered assurances<\/a> this year that their views on women have softened and that rights will be respected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">This can\u00a0be proved\u00a0true only with time, and a phased troop withdrawal contingent on demonstrated Taliban progress toward a cease-fire and reconciliation talks with Kabul\u00a0\u2014 talks that include\u00a0participation by, and assurances for, women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">America shouldn&#8217;t\u00a0be in the nation-building or &#8220;forever war&#8221;\u00a0business. But it already\u00a0helped build nearly a generation of hope for Afghan women. The United States\u00a0shouldn&#8217;t allow that to be torn down as it heads for the exit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SCJZaqfBHVw\" class=\"story-asset oembed-asset\">\n<div class=\"story-oembed-wrap \">\n<div class=\"js-oembed story-oembed story-oembed- story-oembed-type-\" data-oembed-type=\"\" data-oembed-provider=\"\">\n<div class=\"oembed-frame\">\n<div align=\"left\">\n<p><i>USA TODAY&#8217;s editorial opinions are decided by its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/reporters\/opinion.html\">Editorial Board<\/a>, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view \u2014 a unique USA TODAY feature.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2019\/08\/19\/women-terrified-donald-trump-making-afghanistan-deal-taliban-editorials-debates\/1999355001\/\">USA Today<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Editorial Board, August 20, 2019 Haste to pull U.S. troops out could risk the progress on Afghan women&#8217;s rights: Our view STORY HIGHLIGHTS More than 3.5 million girls now attend primary and secondary schools. 100,000 women are enrolled in college. 20%\u00a0of parliamentary seats are held by women. Over the next year, America will mark [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8002,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7986\/revisions\/8002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}