Afghanistan: G7 Nations and Others are Financing Year Zero

Afghanistan: G7 Nations and Others are Financing Year Zero

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

America, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and a host of other nations, keep on providing economic support to Afghanistan. However, how do the leaders of this nation respond to international economic assistance?  Yes, they still support an ongoing Islamic inquisition whereby every Muslim convert to Buddhism, Hinduism or Christianity faces systematic persecution. In other words, outside nations are propping up political leaders in Afghanistan which are opposed to opening up the country and providing equal rights to women.

In truth, the policies of the Karzai (will the new leader alter this reality?) government and the Taliban are not so different because both sides support persecuting apostates from Islam, preventing non-Muslim places of worship, continuing discrimination against women and other negative realities. This reality means that the rigid stratification of Afghanistan is being paid for by nations which are deemed progressive. Therefore, any positive images of Kabul being shown in the media, is just “a hidden disguise of reality.” At the same time, corruption is endemic and the narcotic angle doesn’t seem to alarm NATO members because this trade continues to flourish despite having troops on the ground.

Afghan converts to Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and other faiths, also face systematic persecution outside of Afghanistan within nations like Pakistan, where many refugees fled. This isn’t unique because in Somalia the al-Shabaab (al-Shabab) supports killing all apostates to the Christian faith in this country. Therefore, some Somali converts have been killed by militant Islamists in northern Kenya in refugee areas. It is therefore imperative that conservative Islamic dogma in Afghanistan is challenged. If not, then the next generation will be lost and this begs the question – what is the point of spending trillions of dollars if the only outcome is installing “a lesser Taliban” government?

Given this reality, you need a constitution which is based on genuine reforms in order for people to be able to breath. Reformist Muslim organizations therefore need to be supported alongside secular institutions. After all, how can commerce, pluralism, religious freedom, female emancipation, the rights of homosexuals, and so forth, happen under the prevailing conditions of modern day Afghanistan?

Secularism, credit unions to help business initiatives, a growing liberal media network, a judiciary which is free from religious dogma and an educational system based on more moderate values is needed. Of course, other important areas need changing and this applies to restrictions on dress and challenging the power base of traditional rulers who care little about modernity. At the same time, corruption needs to be challenged because this is playing into the hands of the Taliban. Despite this, America, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom – and other nations providing economic support to Afghanistan – have done little to alter the status quo. Indeed, so-called progressive nations are maintaining a brutal conservative order which crushes all notions of equality in Afghanistan.

This Islamic version of Islam in rural Afghanistan is mainly ultra-conservative and based on preserving inequality and the subjugation of non-Muslims, women, and maintaining stratification. Of course, you have other undercurrents within the Muslim faith in Afghanistan which support openness and developing a more equal society. However, since outside nations began to meddle in this country then these nations all supported conservative Islam, Islamic extremism (1980s and early 1990s) and Gulf petrodollars also altered the Muslim landscape negatively alongside Pakistan. Therefore, the current Western policy appears to be based on the status quo and allowing another generation of girls to be chained by the oppressive society that they belong to.

If the option is the Taliban who recently stoned a woman to death for so-called immorality; or the Afghan government which is corrupt and supports persecuting apostates via the state apparatus; then what option is this? Also, what are NATO forces and American troops dying for because the gap between the Taliban and the Afghan government isn’t that huge when it comes to major areas of society? Of course, the mantra is that nations like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are deemed to be allies but from the point of view of democracy, religious freedom, equality of the sexes, and so forth; it certainly doesn’t look like it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060380/Afghan-mother-daughter-stoned-shot-dead-Taliban-accused-moral-deviation-adultery.html   (Woman and daughter stoned to death)