Letter from Kabul

(Women for Afghan Women, a humanitarian organization I've supported for many years, runs a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Kabul, and a smaller one in Mazar-i-sharif. In this urgent letter, Manizha Naderi details local conditions as the country prepares to vote on August 20th. I'm reprinting it here with WAW's permission. For more information about WAW, and to make a donation, go here.)

Wonderful Supporters of WAW,

Writing this quickly because internet keeps failing. Security is really bad in Kabul. Yesterday there were 2 suicide bombings and 6 rockets attacks. Today 5 suicide bombers were holding up a bank in the city. They were killed along with 4 police men. And I have been hearing the sounds of rockets all day today but the media is not allowed to report on any violence until after the elections.

I have been under a lot of stress lately. I have over 100 staff members and 112 people in our shelters to keep safe.

For the past two weeks, our staff have stayed in the office and we have not been doing home visits to clients. Starting today our centers are closed, and staff has been asked to stay at home. I've asked our drivers to take the cars home with them so if there are any emergencies, they can get to the shelter fast.

We currently have 68 women and 12 children in the Kabul shelter and 32 women and 4 children in the Mazar shelter. Last night the police called us and referred 2 new cases to us.

We have tried to ensure the participation of women in the elections. We have helped many women (our clients who are living at home rather than in our shelters) get registered to vote. I have also encouraged our staff to vote on election day.

We cannot take the women from the shelter to vote on election day. It will simply be too dangerous. Also I don't want people in the neighborhood to find out that a lot of women are living in one house.

I will try and send another update soon. Thank you all for caring about this beleaguered country and it's women and girls. Please pray for us during these terrifying days.

Manizha Naderi
Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women

Comments (13)

1. "Please pray for us during these terrifying days. "

   Manizha Naderi Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women

   May I suggest a few good Marines.

   Posted by Benchrest at 08/19/2009 @ 9:04pm

2. I wonder if Katha had the heart to email Ms. Naderi that she and her employer, The Nation, want nothing to do with Afghanistan other than with the pen and keyboard!

   Send in Steve McQueen!

   (for the youngsters, wiki The Sand Pebble)

   Posted by Happy at 08/19/2009 @ 10:51pm

3. Benchrest, I believe the marines (or at least the army) are already there.

   Posted by cdlepthien at 08/20/2009 @ 07:42am

4. How many here think that when your women and children are being attacked by rockets and suicide bombers that is the time to apologize and give up some territory to the people firing the rockets in exchange for peace?

   Posted by Mistral at 08/20/2009 @ 08:56am

5. Posted by Mistral at 08/20/2009 @ 08:56am

   What if you just call those women and children "collateral damage"?

   Posted by Mask at 08/20/2009 @ 10:01am

6. What if you just call those women and children "collateral damage"?

   Posted by Mask at 08/20/2009 @ 10:01am

   Whereas you and the others who want to abandon these women and children view their lives as meaningless.

   Posted by antisocialist at 08/20/2009 @ 10:16am

7. posted by antisocialist at 08/20/2009 @10:16am

   amazing how the right wing and "liberal" imperialists support destabilizing governments that support women's rights, like the socialist government of Afghanistan that existed prior to us whupping up and arming the jihadists, and then cites saving the women as a reason to occupy the country once the chickens come home to roost.

   I'm personally torn on this issue - but I don't think the cons, the neocons or the neoliberals who created this situation have a goddam constructive thing to say about it.

   Posted by cdlepthien at 08/20/2009 @ 10:39am

8. "Whereas you and the others who want to abandon these women and children view their lives as meaningless."----Posted by antisocialist at 08/20/2009 @ 10:16am

   They were abandoned as soon as Dubya pulled resources and attention away for a pointless war in Iraq.

   We are NOW attempting to not do what a small minority want (aka YOU)....stay in Afghanistan for years and years....grinding ourselves down like the Soviets and British did.

   Odd a "student of history" such as yourself wants to make the same mistakes two other major powers made?!!??!??

   Posted by Mask at 08/20/2009 @ 11:26am

9. It does make one wonder what would have happened if, instead of invading Afghanistan to knock out the Taliban and chase Al-Qaeda, we had used the tactics the Israelis used after the Munich massacre in 1972 and sent out commando teams to kill Al-Qaeda agents.

   Posted by Mistral at 08/20/2009 @ 3:45pm

10. Posted by Mistral at 08/20/2009 @ 3:45pm

    No "war President who must be re-elected or the terr'urrists will win" in 2004 Election, Mistral.

    Might have worked...but not helped politically...which was the important thing to Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and their Little Buddy.

    Posted by Mask at 08/20/2009 @ 4:00pm

11. 'Before the CIA Jawbreaker team deployed on September 27, 2001, Black gave his men direct and macabre directions: "I don't want bin Laden and his thugs captured, I want them dead.... They must be killed. I want to see photos of their heads on pikes. I want bin Laden's head shipped back in a box filled with dry ice. I want to be able to show bin Laden's head to the president. I promised him I would do that." According to CIA operative Gary Schroen, a member of the Jawbreaker team, it was the first time in his thirty-year career he had been ordered to assassinate an adversary rather than attempt a capture. ' -- Jeremy Scahill -- The Nation -- 20 August, 2009 -- http://ww w.thenation.com/do c/20090831/scahil l1

    Posted by HonestLiberal at 08/20/2009 @ 4:24pm

12. Bring the troops HOME NOW. Can't win this one. Its a tribal society and we need to leave it that way. I don't think the women and children were being killed before we got there. We destabilized the place and now its a wreck. Shame on us.

    Posted by notsleepy at 08/20/2009 @ 11:00pm

13. Many women in Kabul are obviously in deep trouble and heroins such as Manizha Naderi deserve our support.

    Still, those women and children constitute a strawman argument.

    There are also women and children in the Congo and Darfur, in Burma and North Korea in terrible distress. Frankly, in much worse distress, and in much greater numbers. Yet the US does not deploy Marine and Army divisions to those locals. Obama has not even named a czar, for those humanitarian crises.

    In short, the heartbreaking plight of those women is not a legitimate argument justifying our war in Afghanistan.

    Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 08/24/2009 @ 6:09pm