For Afghans, words must silence guns

During the past two decades, extremists hijacked Afghanistan's maturing democracy movement through the power of the gun. Now the extremists are doing it again -- justifying their actions with claims of Islam and culture. Yet, the argument against women's rights or democracy is neither Afghan nor Islamic.

Following 9/11, Afghan women and their male supporters welcomed the United States and the international community. But moderate Afghans remain baffled by America's continued support for warlords, which began in 1979 with financing and training of militant Islamists to bring down the Soviet Union. The ascension of these militants to positions of authority not only siphons power away from Afghanistan's people but belies American credibility in the establishment of a viable political process. Instead of embracing the brave struggle of the moderates who often relied on their own voice and the power of the pen, America has undercut its own political base of support and set the stage for the current resurgence of extremism. Afghan women, estimated at more than 60 percent of the population will never again be suppressed within their own society, especially when based on counterfeit claims of Islam or Afghan culture.

Afghan woman delegate Malalai Joya denounced the jihadi (holy warrior) presence at the Constitutional Loya Jirga, noting they should be tried for their crimes against the Afghan people. She claimed that "These were the people who turned our land into the nucleus of national and international wars. They were the most antiwomen people in the society who brought our country to this state, and they intend to do the same again." This woman symbolizes the majority of Afghan women who have been gathering to establish a path for women's advancement within the structure of Islamic law and Afghan culture. Yet Joya's challenge sent the militants -- who had no legitimate place at the assembly -- in search of their guns.

During the 1970s Afghanistan experienced a democracy-building period where women were beginning to have a voice. At that time, women attained high visibility in parliament, the judiciary, and in the health and education sectors. Today, instead of striving for tolerance and inclusion, Afghanistan's would-be leaders strive for intolerance and exclusion by codifying and legitimizing the same brute force that turned the country into an extremist concentration camp.

Where Afghanistan's previous constitutions attempted to achieve a balanced representative democracy and expand women's rights, today's debate began by undermining the very idea of equality, with the chairman of the loya jirga, Sebghatollah Mojadedi, warning women, "Do not try to put yourself on a level with men. Even God has not given you equal rights because under his decision two women are counted as equal to one man." With leadership like this, the emergence of a "Taliban-lite" theocracy can only be one step away.

Now that there is a chance for reconstruction, the United States must deliver on its promises. But nation building cannot be achieved with America's warlord allies hunting Al Qaeda by day, while raping and robbing by night.

Today, most Afghans have fear in their hearts and grave uncertainty about their future. Hijacked by foreign extremists, traditions of religious tolerance built up over millennia have been twisted against the majority while the media has often failed to recognize the Afghan people are themselves still hostages in their own land.

Throughout the 23 years of war that began with the Afghans siding with the United States to defeat communism, champions for Afghan democracy remained confident that following their period of darkness, America would stand strong in helping to establish democratic institutions. But the defeat of the Soviet Union brought only abandonment. Now with America again wavering, the time has come to decide what exactly it is trying to accomplish in Afghanistan.

It is no surprise that Afghan women are again leading the movement to establish an open and tolerant Muslim society while Islamic extremists vie to continue their abusive control. A status quo bred on lawlessness and endless insecurity, narcotic trafficking and militant Islam has much to lose in a strong Afghan democracy. A corrupted power structure bolstered by ties to foreign militant Islamists has nothing to gain by allowing women to participate in a law making body that would most certainly curtail their power.

So what then is America to do? Continue to legitimize a splintered and extremist warlord class that has already lost the support of the Afghan people? Or help the Afghans build a model 21st century democratic nation by listening to Afghan women who have been warning that an apocalypse of religious fanaticism is imminent?

Now that Americans share the threat that has tormented Afghanistan for years, the time has come for America to change its strategy. For 25 years the gun has ruled Afghanistan, now the word must silence the gun, or the gun will silence us all.

Sima Wali is president of Refugee Women in Development and a former delegate to the Peace Talks on Afghanistan.