Afghan Women's Statements

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Afghan Womens' Statements

Statement of the Afghan Women's Mission Thursday, September 13th, 2001

CONTACT:
info@afghanwomensmission.org
www.afghanwomensmission.org

The Afghan Women's Mission strongly denounces the acts of cruel violence committed on September the 11th, 2001, resulting in the loss of thousands of American lives. We join the country and world in grieving for those who were killed in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.

However, we strongly urge the US Government and it's allies to not carry out military attacks on Afghanistan in retaliation for these violent acts. Afghanistan is a country devastated by more than two decades of war, starting from the late 1970s when fundamentalists called the Mujahadeen, armed and trained by the US government and other countries, fought the Soviet occupation of their country. After the Soviet withdrawal in the early 1990s, in-fighting between the various Mujahadeen groups resulted in the destruction of most of the infrastructure in cities such as the capital Kabul. When the fundamentalist Taliban took over most of Afghanistan in 1996, the situation only worsened for Afghans. As we all know, the Taliban are the most repressive government in the world today, and do not represent the Afghan people.

Afghans have been suffering the results of extreme war, poverty, disease, hunger, lack of education, health care and shelter for too long. Afghans comprise the second largest refugee group in the world today. In addition, there are millions of internally displaced Afghans who are living on the edge of survival throughout the country. To attack Afghanistan now would be to attack a weak and defenseless people who have no control over those that rule them with violence and terror. While we insist that those responsible should be identified and tried in a court of law, we urge the United States government to not answer violence with violence.

The Afghan Women's Mission also urges our fellow Americans to remember the values of freedom and respect for diversity that make this country great. We need to remind each other of the reactionary backlash towards Americans of Japanese descent who were unfairly targeted in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the wake of the tragedy on September 11th, let us treat each other with respect and dignity, regardless of national origin or religion. The Afghan Women's Mission works to support long term positive change in Afghanistan via health and educational projects.