[PAA-Discuss] Tenth Anniversary of Afghanistan War: RAWA Member Available for Interviews

[Juli3 at aol.com]

For Immediate Release 
 
Contact: Sana Shuja: 504-669-4446
Sonali Kolhatkar:  626-676-7884
E-mail: press at afghanwomensmission.org
Surviving the Longest War: An International Video Webcast
On the  Tenth Anniversary of the US war, an underground activist tells the 
real story  of the Occupation and Afghan Resistance  
October 7th 2011, marks the ten year anniversary of the United States'  
invasion of Afghanistan. To mark this event, Afghan Women's Mission (AWM), a  
U.S.-based non-profit that works in solidarity with the Revolutionary  
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) will hold a special  international 
online talk-back with Reena, a member of RAWA.  
"Ten years of war has not made Afghanistan safer for anybody except the  
fundamentalist warlords in the Afghan government, and the Taliban," said  
Reena. This anniversary event, in collaboration with PCC's Students for Social  
Justice, will raise serious questions about the official story of the 
longest  war the U.S. has ever officially waged, and will offer the unique 
perspective  of an underground Afghan activist who has witnessed first-hand the 
impact of  the war.  
AWM Co-Director and KPFK's Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar will lead the  
conversation with Reena via live video streaming from the Pakistan/Afghanistan 
 region, in front of a live audience. The event will be webcast live on 
AWM's  website at _www.afghanwomensmission.org_ 
(http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/) .  
"Using the latest technology available, we are thrilled to be able to  
broadcast the voice of this young RAWA member - an Afghan speaking for her  
generation - well beyond the confines of our physical event," said Kolhatkar.  
"We invite people from all over the world to mark the tenth anniversary of  
this war by tuning into our live web video stream of our conversation with  
Reena."  
Questions for RAWA member Reena will be drawn from the live in-person  
audience and the online audience via Facebook. The event will take place on  
Friday October 7th at 7pm PST (10 pm EST) at Creveling Lounge (CC Building,  
2nd floor) on the campus of Pasadena City College (PCC).  
Nineteen year old Reena was born an Afghan refugee in Pakistan around the  
time when US-backed fundamentalist fighters started a brutal civil war in  
Afghanistan. She lived with her family in the border town of Peshawar in  
severe and impoverished conditions. After moving to a refugee camp run by  
RAWA, Reena attended one of their literacy courses. She eventually joined the  
organization, working in various RAWA-run schools and orphanages and is  
currently a first-year University student. Since Reena was born, she has known  
only war in her country.  
Read Sonali Kolhatkar's September 11th, 2011 interview with Reena _here_ 
(http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/2011/09/us-backed-fundamentalists-in-afghan
-war-no-different-from-911-perpetrators/) .   
RAWA is on the forefront of the movement for peace in Afghanistan. Their  
activities focus on women's rights, human rights, and exposing the  
fundamentalist crimes of warlords in power, as well as the Taliban. They have  
criticized all foreign intervention since the time of the Soviet invasion and  
occupation through to today's US/NATO war. As the oldest women's political  
organization in Afghanistan, RAWA has been promoting human rights and  
democracy for more than 30 years. Their work is extremely dangerous - all RAWA  
members, including Reena, use pseudonyms, do not reveal their faces, and live  
and work underground.  
RAWA Predicted the Failure of the War Ten Years Ago  
On September 14th 2001 RAWA issued a statement warning the US against  
waging war on Afghanistan, saying "vast and indiscriminate military attacks on  
a country that has been facing ...disasters for more than two decades will 
not  be a matter of pride."  
On October 11th 2001, four days after the bombs began dropping on  
Afghanistan, RAWA once more urged the US to do the right thing, predicting  
accurately the outcome of the war in a statement: "he continuation of US  attacks 
and the increase in the number of innocent civilian victims not only  gives an 
excuse to the Taliban, but also will cause the empowering of the  
fundamentalist forces in the region and even in the world."  
A month after the war began, when the Taliban were rapidly pushed out of  
Kabul, RAWA realized that the US was ready to replace the Taliban with their  
ideological brethren, the Northern Alliance (NA) warlords. They issued yet  
another international appeal, warning: "he NA will horribly intensify the  
ethnic and religious conflicts and will never refrain to fan the fire of  
another brutal and endless civil war in order to retain in power."  
Sadly RAWA's warnings were ignored and the last ten years have borne out  
their predictions.  
The Human Impact of a Decade of War  
Civilian casualties as a result of the ten year long Afghanistan war have  
been estimated at 17, 611 - 37, 208, with more than half killed directly as 
a  result of U.S.-led military actions (Sources: UN Assistance Mission  
Afghanistan, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch,  
and Associated Press). A recent report by Open Society Foundation found that  
night raids conducted regularly by US and NATO forces in Afghan villages  
result in indiscriminate detentions and widespread abuse.  
Politically things aren't much better. Afghanistan's government, dominated  
by the US-backed NA warlords whom RAWA warned against, is ranked the second 
 most corrupt in the world after Somalia (Transparency International). 
Through  the Afghan parliament, warlords have passed laws exempting themselves 
from  prosecution for war crimes, curtailing press freedoms, and promoting 
women's  abuse.  
Women in particular continue to suffer. A survey by UNIFEM in January 2011  
revealed that a shocking 87% of Afghan women are victims of domestic 
violence.  A UK based charity, Womankind, found that "between 60 and 80 percent of 
Afghan  marriages are forced, with more than half of all girls married 
before age 16."  While women can run for office in the Afghan parliament, they 
are only allowed  to serve if they accept the status quo. The well-known and 
popular activist,  Malalai Joya, a representative of Farah province, was 
kicked out of Parliament  for criticizing the US-backed warlords and has 
survived numerous assassination  attempts.  
According to RAWA member Reena, the first thing that needs to happen is for 
 Americans to "call for the withdrawal of the troops, as the military 
presence  has not helped Afghan people in any way." Her opinion is supported by a 
 majority of Americans: a Washington Post-ABC News poll in March showed 
that  64% of poll participants somewhat or strongly felt that the war has not 
been  worth fighting.  
RAWA member Reena is available for a limited number of interviews.  
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