Afghanistan Needs Troops of Doctors, Teachers, Farmers...

Posted by CODEPINK Staff

Obama's promise fulfilled: more troops are on their way. However, according to Kavita Ramdas and Katrina Vanden Heuvel they are the wrong kind of troops.

"I wish we could say to President Obama, "Yes Afghanistan needs troops--but it needs troops of doctors, troops of teachers, troops of Peace Corps volunteers, and troops of farmers to go and replant the fruit orchards. For anyone who grew up in India or Pakistan, Afghanistan was the place where you bought the best, incredible dried fruit in the world. Those orchards have been completely devastated. Afghanistan was not a country that just grew poppy for opium sales. It was a country that was forced into selling opium because it had nothing else.

So, we need a different kind of troop deployment in Afghanistan, we need a massive deployment of humanitarian troops...:

This interview between Katrina and Kavita digs deeper into the issues surrounding women and girls in Afghanistan, and debunks the myth that sending in more military troops is going to actually alleviate their plight. This is an important point, because as any feminist or peace activist knows, the tragic status of women has oft been used as an excuse for invasion. This thinly veiled reason has a pattern of being dropped lower on the priority list once the invasion turns occupation.

Check out RAWA or Women for Afghan Women for what YOU can do to really help Afghan women.