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November 4, 2009

An eye-opening talk about Afghanistan

To the editor:

A few Sundays ago I attended a meeting at the Friends Meeting House in Amesbury. I listened to a talk by Zoya, an Afghani woman who is touring America as a representative of Revolutionary Association of Afghanistan Women (RAWA).

Zoya spoke of the terrible conditions that prevail in her country, conditions such as gang rape, kidnapping, forced marriages, illiteracy, poor drinking water, lack of electricity, doctors and hospitals. The country is ruled by fundamentalists and terrorists, people who rule by fear and intimidation. Women are brutalized by domestic violence and by brutality outside the house as well. Being maimed, having acid thrown at them, being set on fire is commonplace to these women. I was in shock listening to Zoya and I am only half kidding when I say I was worried the meetinghouse would by broken into.

Unfortunately, the U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan is not helping. Our government is supporting the Northern Alliance that in fact is a terrorist group presently ruling Afghanistan. The billions of dollars being sent by the international community to help the people is being confiscated by the corrupt government of warlords and drug dealers.

RAWA and other groups working for democracy and peace urge America to either support these grass-roots groups or evacuate the country. Zoya said her people are tired of living in an occupied country, and a civil war would not be worse than what they have now.

I was horrified to learn of the extent of the brutality in Afghanistan. I was glad to have my heart and eyes opened to the suffering of these women and children and poor people. RAWA, which was founded in 1977, runs schools and orphanages for the children. They support health clinics and emergency relief programs. To learn more contact RAWA.org.

Susan Manning

Amesbury

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