Monday, November 2, 2009

the Future of Afghanistan under President Hamid Karzai

You may have heard that Afghanistan canceled their upcoming election, granting the Presidency to the remaining candidate Hamid Karzai. Even without an election, the US has backed his new term.

Becoming President without an election seems bad enough, yes? BUT did you know the "new" President also supports stripping women of their human rights? Last August his office passed a law known as the "marital rape" law. It allows husbands to starve their wives if they refuse sex. It also requires a wife to get her husband's permission before taking any jobs and makes it impossible for a woman to have custody of her own children.

How did a law like this ever pass? Well, apparently the public did protest the original version heavily. That version removed a women's ability to consent to sex in marriage and simply stated that she MUST have sex with her husband every 4 days.

I guess the Afghan public now feels lucky the law was toned down. Just like they feel lucky that their President supports drug traffickers, standing armies of warlords, and bringing some of "the wonderful people in the Taliban" back into government.

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