Robert Chacon
The U.S. campaign to rid Afghanistan of Taliban forces and establish
democracy has taken that country a step back from the goal, and has
made life more dangerous for the country's people, especially women
and children, a guest speaker said at Glendale Community College.
The message was delivered Thursday by Sahar Saba, a member of the
Revolutionary Assn. of the Women of Afghanistan, a group formed in
1977 in the battle to establish rights for women in the war-torn
country notorious for its treatment of them.
"Liberation or freedom are not something to be given by bombs,"
Saba said. "The people of Afghanistan must liberate themselves."
Besides, she said, the U.S.-backed power structure of transitional
President Hamid Karzai is on equal footing with the Taliban.
"The terrorists now in power are no different than the Taliban.
Women had no life under the Taliban and that has not changed," she
said. The people now in power were the first to practice splashing
acid on women's faces as a form of punishment, she said.
Saba was educated in secret in underground schools and escaped
Afghanistan as a girl. She now travels worldwide talking about the
plight of women and the political climate in her former country.
About 30 students attended Saba's speech in Kreider Hall on the
campus.
"Learning about the difficult circumstances and struggle other
people face is part of the educational process," said Lisa Lubow, a
history teacher at GCC who helped organize Saba's visit.
