Support the troops who refuse to fight
Canada’s defence of vicious theocracy in Afghanistan
MATTHEW NIGHTINGALE
From the onset, officials have painted Canadian troops as a liberating force, whose goals are to fight terrorists and free the Afghan people from the tyrannical reign of the Islamicfundamentalist Taliban regime. Recently, in the wake of the death of four Canadian soldiers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the soldiers for “working to bring security, democracy, self-sufficiency and prosperity to the Afghan people.” The reality of the situation is quite different, however.
The stated goal of NATO operations in Afghanistan (of which Canada is a part of) is to provide security and help spread the authority of the Afghan government, which has proven itself to be no better than the ousted Taliban. One needs only to look as far as Afghanistan’s new constitution (widely available on the Government of Afghanistan’s website, www.af/) to get a sense of the mess that Canada is helping create.
Firstly, the constitution states that Afghanistan is an Islamic republic. The official title of the country is the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The constitution goes on to state that “no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam,” that the president must be Muslim, and that the president will appoint supreme court judges that serve 10-year terms and cannot be removed.
In short, the people of Afghanistan are being exposed to a vicious theocracy, and Canadian troops are there to defend and spread that authority. Here are a couple of examples of what the Afghan people face.
In late 2005, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab, the editor of a women’s magazine in Afghanistan, was sentenced to two years in prison for denouncing the law of stoning to death those who leave the religion of Islam, criticizing the practice of 100 lashes for adultery, and arguing for women’s equality before the law. Abdul Jamil, from the Afghan attorney-general's office, felt the sentence was too light and argued that Nasab should have been executed. The case was tied up in the court of appeal, and Nasab was freed. However, the court never did uphold a journalist’s right to freedom of speech and consciousness, nor did it say anything about the treatment of women in Afghanistan.
If this is how men who speak up for women are treated in Afghanistan, imagine actually being a woman in Afghanistan. (You can find out what it’s like at www.rawa.org.)
Then, of course, there is the case of Abdul Rahman, the man sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity. The Judge in this case said that if Rahman did not reconvert to Islam, the court would have no choice but to sentence him to death. The courts dropped the case, not because they defended a person’s basic rights of consciousness, but because there was a lack of evidence and Rahman’s mental state was in question. This suggests that if there were sufficient evidence, a person could be killed for converting away from Islam, especially if they are in their right mind!
So much for freeing Afghans from tyranny, oppression, and insecurity.
Considering the conditions they impose on the Afghan people, it is no wonder that Canadian troops are under attack. The people of Afghanistan are being denied basic rights like freedom of speech and freedom of consciousness, and the situation facing women in Afghanistan remains bleak. I don’t want to see some young soldier fresh out of high school die, but if they are there to spread the authority of a vicious theocracy, then I have to side with the people of Afghanistan and their right to defend themselves from such impositions.
If the people of Canada truly want freedom for the Afghan people, and safety for Canadian troops, then we must support the Afghan people and Canadian troops who refuse to fight. Oct. 28 is the national day of protest against Canada’s occupation of Afghanistan. Mobilise and resist this crime, and show the people of Afghanistan that you care.
Matthew Nightingale is a thirdyear political studies student at the University of Manitoba.
