January 19, 2009 05:30 AM
Taliban Bans Female Education in NW Pakistan
There goes Bush's last alleged achievement:
Taliban militants have banned female education in the northwest Pakistan valley of Swat, depriving more than 40,000 girls of schooling, officials said on Saturday.
"My daughters are sitting at home," said Mohammad Ayub, father of two girls whose school was blown up by militants in October. "Their future looks bleak because they will stay uneducated."
There has been fighting in the valley for more than a year, but residents say the military is losing control to militants who aim to impose a severe form of Islamic law.
Swat is just one front the militants have opened up as violence has spread across Northwest Frontier province from adjoining semi-autonomous tribal areas that border Afghanistan.
well there you have it. isn't the region pretty arid and remote and desolate for the outside world to do much about that place? we can't invade Pakistan, so there barbarism will continue uncontested. we invade their land, they go hide somewhere else.
One more slash mark on one more of his lies. He will go down and out as the president who lied most to his country and to the world.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Jebus/Al/Jehoba say:Hurt/victimize/deprive others.
It says so right here in this book.
"He Kept us Safe"
"He brought freedom to Iraq & Afghanistan"
We don't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children - Native American proverb
If being cold means there's no such thing as global warming, does being full mean there's no such thing as world hunger?
Women and children first -- the first to lose their human rights, the first to die of malnutrition, the first to suffer total oppression while George Bush and Dick Cheney hoard the plundered wealth of nations.
It's not often that I wish a hell really existed, but lately I seem to be wishing it more than ever.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I think we humans are quite adept at creating our own Hell here on Earth without any help from some sky god or mythical devil.
it is the innocent and powerless who suffer in this hell.
Of course, when one's ego is predisposed to hearing the voice of God as an excuse for being a thick-skulled, dishonest and morally bankrupt thug, it's easy.
*prepares to unfurl NEW Mission Accomplished banner*
Now?? Now??
Sounds like a neocon wet dream to me.
Father Knows Best and all that.
Shucks. Another 'disappointment.' ::: guilty widdle boy look ::: ::: foot shuffle ::: ::: shrug ::: ::: head bobble :::
Seriously (well...), if Pres.O needed an "humanitarian" reason for invading that region (OTHER than its proximity to the great Trans-Caspian gas/oil/heavy metals repositories there).
We need boots on the ground, fer sher!
It amazes me how some men can be so afraid of girls and women being educated. It just shows how little their so called manhood is.
It's not just the Taliban. Christianity kind of pays lip service to the Virgin Mary, and 'demoted' Mary Magdalene to being a prostitute, when there are Gnostic texts that suggest she was far more than some trollop come in off the streets.
At the same time, the Bible is full of 'fallen' women who are either responsible for man's downfall (Eve, Delilah), or who renounce their past lives of sin to find redemption (usually by submitting to male authority figures).
to patriarchy (and to theocracy, NOT incidentally, since the two are often concomitant phenomena of oppression).
In places where women have the same rights as men, poverty is less pervasive, violence against women is reduced, families are smaller (and wealthier).
But men don't get to be superior, don't get to condemn women to death on a whim.
Let them go there and police the place.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
You know that Bush's base (the 20% hardcore Repuke) would do the same sort of things if they were ever in power.
... that some Biblical literalists discourage intellectualism because, you know, Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, therefore it's knowledge that is the work of Satan.
And you can blame the woman for it, too.
and how fragile ones ego must be to not be able to bear the strain of having a woman gain knowledge.
What pansies
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
Nobody does that readily, willingly, or easily.
Usually, it requires decapitation of those who have wielded it.
Think French Revolution?
to have a spousal unit who is as smart or smarter than me.
And I am fortunate to live in a time/place where she can use her intellect to advance herself...to a point.
Unfortunately, she usually ends up playing second fiddle to some male member of the Lucky Sperm Club.
But at least it isn't Afghanistan.
I can't imagine not having an intelligent woman as my wife.
Neither can my husband. :)
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
they might see a gay marching band on TV.
able to go to school, doesn't necessarily mean uneducated. What does school give people, besides the usual propaganda indoctrination? Hell, one of my daughter's is in college right now, and it is nothing like the college I attended. It's more like high school part 2. Will that give her more education? Western society seems to dictate you just have to go to school and be mass brainwashed for a fee.
Called "A Compulsory Mis-Education". It was about the school complex, the curriculum and a one size fits all approach to education.
I agree with college. My first two years were spent learning "general ed". Exactly the same courses I had in High school. At the time it seemed like one didn't trust the other. But now I realize it was about money, charging double for a brain full of crap.
my college cost me over 22000 dollars debt. My daughter's will be higher. Everybody in high school is indoctrinated to believe they HAVE to go to college. We have the most educated, underemployed, service workers on the face of the planet.
I guess the real horror here, is that how on earth will they ever be able to bring democracy to these people if they won't just accept the brainwashing, get that education, and hurry up so a McD's can open up there.
My godson's father didn't graduate from high school. But he worked his arse off and taught himself computer programming. He started as a sales clerk at a software store, then joined a software company, then an educational testing company, and is now working for a major healthcare provider as a senior programming analyst. (He did get a GED along the way.)
So, yeah - technically, you don't have to have a college education, but you still have to invest in your future, whether its skull sweat, hard work, or a combination of the two.
Still, I'd be wary of the folks who look down on college education because they're not teaching the 'right' things (usually that's evangelical code for not teaching creation vs. evolution and other Rapture-ready nonsense).
the more important point here. This is not about the quality or worth about higher education in western society, it is about depriving half of the population the opportunity to learn how to read and write, so they can then determine for themselves what and how they will learn in the future. Without basic education - specifically reading and language skills - the female population must rely on the males to interpret even the religious books for them.
It is pretty well documented, that in underdeveloped societies, when women are educated (learn to read, write, basic math and health information)the entire society rises to new levels - not just economically, but in areas of civil justice, levels of violence, etc.
The destruction of the education system in America, and the necessity and quality of higher education, is definitely something we should address as a nation, if we ever hope to regain our standard of living once we get out of this financial cesspool.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
The interesting thing is Protestantism's doctrines of Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura necessitated learning to at least read and write. In fact, what were called Sunday Schools in Victorian England were exactly that, where young students and even adults went to church either before or after services to learn to read and write, so they would then be able to read the Bible themselves. Of course in the Old South of the US, educating slaves was eventually outlawed.
So shouldn't Islamic women be encouraged to learn to read the Quran? Or do they want them totally dependent on their husbands for that too?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Too broad a brush to say "Islamic Women". I know Islamic men that would never consider marriage to an uneducated woman.
The breakdown seem to be between those that tale the old religious texts literally or figuratively. Much like the bible belt literalists down here in the south. Or people taking the old testament (Lego Bible rules) laws seriously.
I had the experience of being physically beaten at school whenever I had a growth spurt. If I asked a question on class that the teacher did not like, she would ask me to stand on the wall and then measure my dress. If it was no longer "long enough" I was told I was being inappropriate (the sexual connotation was clear) and sent down to the male principle who would then physically beat me for this with sticks. I was 10 to 11 years old.
Taliban for showing too much skin? Nah, just some good old fashioned southern baptist convention literalism. I would hate to have all Christians painted in the broad brush of engaging in that behavior. It's equally poor to paint all muslims in the broad brush of their literalist extremists.
Middle East though, as an area does have a ways to go on women's rights.
"It is pretty well documented, that in underdeveloped societies, when women are educated (learn to read, write, basic math and health information)the entire society rises to new levels - not just economically, but in areas of civil justice, levels of violence, etc." There's a lot of people who might want to try banning education for females here in the US.
I think what puts off the extremes of all religions is these same studies document that educated women with career opportunities delay child-rearing.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Boy, every day the Taliban is becoming more like the Religious Right!
It's obvious they both worship the god of power, fear and greed.
ahhhhh.... the Taliban are Republican. Our Republican govenor here in VT is cutting education funding because you know A) Republicans can't get elected with educated voters and B) it's hard work turning the country into a third world shithole with an educated citizenry. I guess no one has yet told the uneducated pile of shit excuse for a governor that the US is already lagging behind most developed countries in education!
Men who have doubts about their sexual prowess marry virgins
So what does this make men of NW Pakistan?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I know a family from there (NW Pakistan). They are normal people. She says she had to listen to him the first two years or the marriage. He says she's always been in charge, and women always are when they want to be. They are a really cute couple. My kids love her food!
They both have a good education. Women were expected to get some education. One tells me that that area of Pakistan had good public secular schools and that the religious schools only served the poorest most inaccessible places. "Had" is the operative word. The country is collapsing, and the schools are shut. Now up there (NW area) they have more suicide bombers than Iraq as the Taliban moves in. Any hope of reopening schools is gone now the Taliban are getting more power. Its very sad. I never see the one get emotional, but talking about the situation there .. he does.
So, if Pakistan goes the way of Somalia, what then? Taliban isn't just back in Afghanistan with a vengeance, they now want to take over Pakistan.
I said the same thing to a Latino co-worker of mine years ago--that they only wanted to marry virgins b/c they'd have no way of comparing--and he agreed!!
A friend gave me the book Three Cups of Tea, and I finished reading it a few weeks ago. I recommend it highly. It talks about how some Islamic radicals don't believe in education for girls. Ridiculous.
From what I've heard from soon-to-be Secretary of State Clinton, she will make this an issue.
the Taliban become the enemy?
When the Russians withdrew?
every one of those 40,000 women should be allowed (sponsored) to immigrate. Let the Taliban become extinct without firing a shot.
For YSB: Yeah, the men will be firing their shots elsewhere. (just trying to save you some time)
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
emigrate
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
If people could travel the planet at will then most oppression would become extinct.
im not surprised
There is an organization that builds schools in Afghanistan, but only if they will allow boys and girls to attend. The Taliban can't seem to get a foothold in those areas. Women who are educated don't want their boys to join the Taliban, and towns don't want their schools destroyed since the schools are built by the townspeople.
The real tragedy is that we're loosing a war we had all but won against people who really deserved to have their asses kicked. Thank you again George Bush.
It makes complete sense. If you want to control and oppress a group, you do your best to keep them illiterate.
The Taliban men want to hold on to their power like a bunch of
corrupt, immoral, thugs.
Perhaps the women should start a movement to run their own independent government. Then, arm themselves and protect themselves.
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