Afghan Women that TIME Magazine cover

[General Duke]

 

Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban

 

The following is an abridged version of an article that appears in the Aug. 9, 2010, print and iPad editions of TIME magazine.

 

The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.

 

 

This didn't happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women's shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. "They are the people that did this to me," she says, touching her damaged face. "How can we reconcile with them?"

(See pictures of Afghan women and the return of the Taliban.)

 

In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai established a peace council tasked with exploring negotiations with the Taliban. A month later, Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch met Karzai. During their conversation, Karzai mused on the cost of the conflict in human lives and wondered aloud if he had any right to talk about human rights when so many were dying. "He essentially asked me," says Malinowski, "What is more important, protecting the right of a girl to go to school or saving her life?" How Karzai and his international allies answer that question will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Afghanistan's women, but the country as a whole.

 

[General Duke]

Is this the usual western propoganda to justify the cintinued war in that country, or is there some truth to it in terms of the treatment of the better half in that country?

 

The image is horrible....

[Khayr]

If the honkees feel justified to drop by people's countries and control their "morals" and "conduct", then can't others make the same argument, on the flip side.

 

That picture is there to stir emotion. Why didn't they try to give that girl surgery for her nose instead of spending time putting make up on her and doing up her hair.

[General Duke]

^^^Valid point..

[Chocolate and Honey]

Timaha sida loogu hagaajiyey should tell you the message. Taliban arent good for women. They are disgustingly misgynists but at the same time,Afgan women arent exactly living it up with the U.S army there are they? The whole thing is sickening. The U.S are losing ground over there and they need to humanize their inhumane mission. And whats more human than children and women wounded?

[General Duke]

^^^Nice one.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

you people are truly disgusting

[General Duke]

^^^Who are you refering to ?

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

^the people who when they look at that horrific image of an abused and disfigured woman in the name of your religion could only focus on "western propaganda", hair and makeup. A woman who after all she went through now faces the return of her oppressors because her government sees as politically opportune to cut a deal with same people they have been fighting all these years. Of all the times of the year, a holy month whose whole point is to empathize with the poor and less fortunate. morally repugnant

[Chocolate and Honey]

Please save the 'cry me a river.' If you read my whole comment instead of focusing on a single word, you would've got the point. But sadly you are easily rallied. It is Ramadan and you are calling people disgusting, who is disrespecting who then?

 

Mideeda kale, who made the U.S millitary the moral gatekeeper? Do you know what they're doing to the women of the "enemy"? Did you know they "torture rape" Afgani boys in their so called prisonors.

Yes, Talibans are cowards who hide behind religion but the U.S is only after their interests. After all, they didnt go there to save a bunch of women from the Taliban. Get a grip on reality and stop hunging on every word they print.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

choco, i honestly didn't take u or duke for that matter us one of those people who think like that but here is my problem with that train of thought:

 

1. This woman is a living, breathing proof of the barbarity of the taliban yet you equate that with some imagined jail scene scenario where mutli national troops in afghanistan are raping little afghan boys.

 

2. You need not make this into multiple choice quiz, condemn who you think is violating these people.

 

3. me calling a spade a spade i.e your response is disgusting is not against the spirit of ramadan, your callous response to the image of that woman, however, is

[Chocolate and Honey]

Since you like to list things, I will humor you.

 

1. Neither Duke nor I ignored the plight of this woman and others in worse positions.

 

2. There are no "imaginary jails" in Afganistan, if you open your eyes a little wider and maybe read other sources other than the Time you would know that.

3. The timing of this article is a suspect since their incompetance and dirty work was just exposed. The intelligence breech just questioned their motives and missions in Afganistan. So it only makes sense that they put out the question "what happens if we leave" as if they are protecting anyone but America's interest.

 

4. You didnt call a spade a spade, you insulted people by falling short to express your own opinion.

 

5. Nobody is defending Talibans. They should never be in power again because they are a bunch of thugz.

[General Duke]

Naxar, adeer lets say that we are wrong me and C&H are out of line. Why this girl, and why now? In the deep recess of your mind, even you can see that this can be a ploy by the war supporting mass media to humanize the situation. Remember the wikileaks and the impact they have had on the perception ordinary Americans have of the war in Afghanistan. No doubt a smart fellow like you can appreciate that this war is nearly decade old; people are tired, the US is in economic turmoil. Thus the timing is suspect, and if you really want to know whats going on in this terrible war all you need to do is read the wikileaks.

[Geel_jire]

^ you were both right here is a very interesting piece by the new york observer regarding the conflict of interest of the writer of that piece of propoganda.

 

it appears she has financially benefited directly from the invasion of afghanistan and has put $millions into her coffers as a direct result of the occupation of afghanistan.

 

and it would also appear that the TALIBAN have condemed this practice/incdident

 

an excerpt from the below article critiquing the propoganda peice:

 

Meanwhile, in a story light on specifics, there remains some question as to whether the unnamed Afghan judge who ordered Aisha's mutilation qualifies as a "Taliban commander" in any formal sense. And if Aisha's is the face of the notoriously cruel Taliban justice system, the Taliban aren't taking credit.

A Taliban press release on August 7 condemned the maiming as "unislamic" and denied that the case was handled by any of its roving judges — to whom many Afghans are now turning, distrustful of Karzai officials.

The entire thesis of the article is complete and utter fabricated bovine fecal matter.

 

even if it were true this ignorant practice of disfiguring women is not and connot be justification for occupying a country .. and if it is it raises two questions

 

1- this happened 8 years into the occupation so if they cannot prevent their whole reason for occupation what good is it ?

 

2- unfortunately this practice takes place all across the globe are they willing to send their armies .. where ever this happens ?

 

have a good read

 

With Its Horrifying Cover Story, Time Gave the War a Boost. Did Its Reporter Profit?

 

 

The maimed face of 18-year-old Aisha, her nose and ears cut off as punishment by her Afghan husband for fleeing his home, made the cover of Time magazine last week and changed the debate over the country's military involvement in Afghanistan. Hitting stands just as a growing chorus of pundits and lawmakers had begun to question the costs, the goals and the point of the country's longest war ever, the gut-punch cover image, beneath a stunningly blunt coverline conspicuously missing a question mark — "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan" — and accompanying story by Aryn Baker, the magazine's Afghan/Pakistan bureau chief, gave a boost to supporters of America's continued military involvement in the country.

 

But there was more than a question mark missing from the Time story, which stressed potentially disastrous consequences if the U.S. pursues negotiations with the Taliban. The piece lacked a crucial personal disclosure on Baker's part: Her husband, Tamim Samee, an Afghan-American IT entrepreneur, is a board member of an Afghan government minister's $100 million project advocating foreign investment in Afghanistan, and has run two companies, Digistan and Ora-Tech, that have solicited and won development contracts with the assistance of the international military, including private sector infrastructure projects favored by U.S.-backed leader Hamid Karzai.

 

In other words, the Time reporter who wrote a story bolstering the case for war appears to have benefited materially from the NATO invasion. Reached by The Observer, a Time spokesperson revealed that the magazine has just reassigned Baker to a new country as part of a normal rotation, though he declined to say where.

 

While Baker, traveling in Italy, did not respond to Observer.com's request for comment, Time defended its cover story as "neither in support of, nor in opposition to, the U.S. war effort" but rather a "straightforward reported piece." Time added that "Aryn Baker's husband has no connection to the U.S. military, has never solicited business from them and has no financial stake in the U.S. presence in Afghanistan whatsoever."

 

 

 

 

But two years before his wedding to the Time bureau chief, Samee told Radio Free Europe in 2006 that Digistan — apparently the local arm of an international IT operation, run from a villa in Kabul — was discovering for itself that the "opportunities are definitely here" in the telecom field, thanks to "quite a bit of involvement from ISAF [NATO's International Security Assistance Force, commanded until recently by Stanley Gen. McChrystal] and coalition forces." The same year, he told Entrepreneur: "You won't find another place that offers so many opportunities" and the AP that profits "have been higher than I expected." Three years later, Digistan was advertising for sales staff skilled in "Government and Military Procurement," reflecting the company's connection to the cloudy world of NATO-enabled civilian wartime contracts.

 

Baker announced her engagement to Samee in a September 24, 2008, e-mail to friends. "Stop the Presses!!" had become the subject line by the time I received the forward from a succession of mutual acquaintances (we were J-school classmates at Berkeley a decade ago). She said the two had been dating "since last July, when we went hiking on a trip together through the Afghan Pamirs," and invited recipients to an engagement party in Central Asia. "For those of you not in Kabul," she added, "we will be sorry to miss you, but we also understand that travel to a war zone may not be in your plans." Two months later, the ceremony itself was held in Baker's native L.A.

 

For her work in Central Asia, which has included surviving the 2007 attack on Islamabad's Red Mosque by the Pakistan army, Baker has been praised by her boss Rick Stengel, who gushed to Marketwatch last November, "If I were President Obama, I'd ask Aryn Baker what she thinks. She's dazzling."

 

When the war started, Samee, then working as a manager for a telecom firm in northern Virginia, had followed what investigative journalist Pratap Chatterjee, author of Halliburton's Army, calls a typical pattern for Beltway-area members of the Afghan diaspora, whose involvement was encouraged by the Pentagon. Nothing nefarious about it, Chatterjee says, but "there was a lot of money to be made."

 

A Time spokesman claims that Digistan has been defunct for 18 months and that Samee had entered the sandwich business. But online evidence suggests the company was in operation much longer and that Samee's stake in NATO involvement in the country goes deeper.

 

For instance, Digistan's sister company, Ora-Tech Systems, still lists an office in Kabul, and Digistan remains listed in the directory of the Peace Dividend Marketplace, an approved list of government contractors that an NGO founded in 2007 to identify trustworthy partners in a business environment where as much as $10 billion in the hands of Afghan officials has reportedly gone missing. Much of the work is for civilian agencies. According to the listing, Digistan's clients have included the IMF and GTZ, a Frankfurt consulting group that advises the Afghan government's Export Promotion Agency.

 

Business owners join the list in order to profit from an "Afghan First" policy issued by Gen. McChrystal a few months before his departure. According to the Peace Dividend's Kabul director, former Canadian army Col. Mike Capstick, the Peace Dividend Marketplace list is where officials in the U.S. Department of Defense contracting system turn when deciding where to spend $1 billion a year on Afghan businesses.

 

Scott Gilmore, the former U.N. national security diplomat who founded the Marketplace, praised Digistan's work — "Those guys are great," he said — and told Observer.com that any company on the list was "still kicking around" in the last six months, as his group works hard to keep their directory current.

 

 

Samee lists his chairmanship of Digistan on his LinkedIn profile and on a public Facebook profile, which cites his current place of business as Beruit and until this week showcased a photo of his wedding to Baker.

 

Before her marriage to Samee, Baker — who worked as a Paris pastry chef before entering journalism — was reporting for Time on "hardy strain of entrepreneurs" — including at least one Digistan client, bank founder Hayatullah Dayani. Though she never profiled Samee, she wrote about his acquaintances. One was Rory Stewart, a Scottish diplomat, author and former Iraq administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority who had once crossed Afghanistan on foot. She dubbed him, in a glowing 2007 profile, "Stewart of Afghanistan."

 

Stewart, a dashing figure who wears lamb fleece hats like Hamid Karzai's and has inspired a Hollywood screenplay with Orlando Bloom attached to play him, is also founder of the $1.7 million arts charity Turquoise Mountain, of which Samee is a sponsor. The group hires engineers to restore Kabul's historic districts. The charity's activities have included an art contest that a U.N. press release issued in July claimed was "created through a brainchild of President Hamid Karzai and Britain's Prince Charles" (whose sons Stewart tutored).

 

Stewart later wrote a July 2008 cover story for Time, "How To Save Afghanistan," recommending, among other things, that the Karzai government be given the money it seeks for communications infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

Baker and Samee, courtesy Facebook

 

Even if Baker's husband has pulled up stakes in Kabul's IT market, as Time asserts, he's still listed as one of just six board members on a Karzai government minister's $100 million project to create, according to its mission statement, a "flourishing investment environment" in Afghanistan.

 

Known as Harakat (or in English as AICF, the Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility), the group issues grants for lobbying projects to change laws and expand the availability of credit. It is run by U.K.-educated Suleman Fatimie, who has recently served in a number of Kabul government posts. Karzai's Ministry of Commerce still lists Fatimie as chief of the Ministry of Commerce's export promotion agency. Created with $50 million in British aid money, the group is actively seeking an extra $50 million in private funds.

 

While on the board of Harakat, Samee has been a featured guest at a number of business and aid forums in Kabul and beyond. One exclusive affair, highlighted by Foreign Policy as "the only [Afghanistan conference] you really want to go to...and sorry, you're not invited," was off-the-record and headed by Obama Afghanistan-Pakistan policy chief Richard Holbrooke.

 

Meanwhile, Digistan appears to have earned healthy profits. One of Samee's former employees, tech salesman Shah Afghan, boasts on a LinkedIn resume of bringing in $1.2 million for Digistan between 2006 and 2008. An "elite" portfolio of customers, Afghan notes, include Kabul Bank — whose reputation for lawlessness has fueled demands by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Karzai clean up corruption, and which embodies, according to the Washington Post, "a crony capitalism that enriches politically connected insiders and dismays the Afghan populace."

 

Put the Taliban back in charge, and many such contracts will likely begin to dry up.

 

The Aisha story marked a last hurrah for Baker's time in Afghanistan. On July 10 she and her husband reportedly held a going-away party, though the reporter's husband is still pursuing business opportunities in Afghanistan. Another bash, six days later, celebrated the launch of Samee's organic-branded sandwich business, Tazza, "the new tasty, healthy and safe catering kitchen in Kabul." A party invitation welcomed an elite guest list to their home in the city's central district, promising a "secured residence."

 

And what about Aisha, a new war emblem? While it's long been evident that women have suffered unimaginable horrors under customs practiced in Afghanistan, Aisha's brutal mutilation occurred in 2009, almost eight years into the American invasion.

 

Meanwhile, in a story light on specifics, there remains some question as to whether the unnamed Afghan judge who ordered Aisha's mutilation qualifies as a "Taliban commander" in any formal sense. And if Aisha's is the face of the notoriously cruel Taliban justice system, the Taliban aren't taking credit. A Taliban press release on August 7 condemned the maiming as "unislamic" and denied that the case was handled by any of its roving judges — to whom many Afghans are now turning, distrustful of Karzai officials.

 

In the long run, the NATO-backed president, Hamid Karzai, may not be the friend Aisha and other persecuted Afghan women so desperately need. Last August he signed the Shia Personal Status Law, allowing men to starve wives who withhold sex and to punish those who walk outdoors without permission. Under this law — passed by a parliament that is 25 percent female as mandated by the new Afghan consitution — Aisha's decision to leave home would have been considered a crime.

 

UPDATE: A Time spokesperson requested that we print their statement in full. Here it is: "These assertions are completely untrue; Aryn Baker's husband has no connection to the U.S. military, has never solicited business from them and has no financial stake in the U.S. presence in Afghanistan whatsoever. TIME fully stands by our recent cover story, and as is made clear in the editor's letter—and from the reading of the actual piece—the story is neither in support of, nor in opposition to, the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan; it is a straightforward reported piece about the women of that country."

 

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