On 2nd and 3rd July, 2016, a representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) participated in the annual conference of the Coordinamento Italiano Sostegno Donne Afghane (CISDA). In addition to the presence of CISDA members, RAWA supporters from Italy, Germany, and the US, and representatives of Turkish and Kurdish progressive and antiwar organizations, also participated in the event.
In the first day of the conference, the RAWA representative spoke in detail about the disastrous situation of the people of Afghanistan, and especially its women who are under the yoke of the treacherous Ghani-Abdullah government, the Jehadi and Taliban criminals, and the US invaders. She said:
“If yesterday it was the ignorant Taliban who publicly shot Zarmeena, today it is the Jehadi gangsters who under the orders of their masters Sayyaf and Ismail, tortured and burned Farkhunda in Kabul, in front of thousands of people and in the presence of police officers and other officials. The US and NATO countries, including Italy, back this traitorous government and have continuously streamed propaganda of its “gains” in case of women’s rights for the past fifteen years. One such example is the We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope published by the George W. Bush Institute which contain “success stories” of several Afghan women. These women are like puppets in the hands of the US and its Afghan government, and are trying to portray the US as their rescuers. They parrot the rhetoric that Afghanistan has become heaven for Afghan women after the US invasion, when in fact our country is still hell for our women.”
The RAWA representative spoke about the difficulties faced by democratic forces inside Afghanistan:
“The situation is getting worse for democratic forces. The US and its puppet government will not permit the growth of democratic movements in Afghanistan under any circumstances. The creation of a climate of fear, terror and confusion; supporting and arming the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Jehadi criminals in Afghanistan, and other religious terrorists in other parts of the world, who are first and foremost used to mercilessly oppress progressive and anti-occupation forces, are part of the treacherous plans of imperialist powers led by the US and Britain. The imperialist countries are trying to destabilize the world through their fundamentalist and non-fundamentalist hounds, loot captivated nations, and further its expansionist plans.”
Professor Marc Herold, a professor at the New Hampshire University, and one of the biggest critics of the war monger policies of the US government also participated in the event. Professor Herold collected data on the number and identity of civilians killed by US bombings in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003. In 2003, he announced that the total number of Afghans killed by US forces had become equal to the number of Americans killed in the 9/11 attacks. Mr. Herold stated in his speech:
“First of all I want to clarify something: the peaces talks with Gulbuddin, this creation of the US, was mentioned here several times. It is well-known that Gulbuddin is the killer of thousands of Afghans and tens of revolutionary intellectuals and was backed by the US and CIA. But we should remember that Gulbuddin is not the only criminal in this world that the US government supports. There is a long list of criminals that US governments have supported for many years. These include the dictator Marcos from the Philippines; Suharto, the killer of thousands of Indonesians; Pinochet, the criminal president of Chile, and tens of others... In 2001 when the US war in Afghanistan began, there were a lot of issues one could have written about, but I chose to focus on the killing of Afghan civilians because I knew that the Pentagon, the State Department, and the US media would claim that they have precise weapons that would only kill the bad guys. This was one way in which they sold the war.”
He continued:
“Ms Clinton is a lot more dangerous than Trump... Clinton is the representative of all the imperialists of the world. She toppled the Libyan government and destroyed the Honduran government; she was in conflict with Obama on sending troops to Syria and finally succeeded in militarily intervening in Syria. If she becomes president, we will have war in all parts of the world. She will be the president of continuous war...”
The Turkish and Kurdish activists from the Peace Initiative organization gave a speech as well. They spoke about the crimes of Erdogan against the Kuridsh and revolutionaries of their country, and stated that the Turkish government and its intelligence had prior knowledge about the suicide attacks of Istanbul and Ankara that killed hundreds. They stated that the government also knew about the attack on the Ataturk airport in Instanbul but did nothing to stop it.
On the second day, issues such as justice, US military bases in Afghanistan and other parts of the world, refugees, and the relationship between RAWA supporters and RAWA, and their joint activities and programs were discussed. The two-day gathering ended with an analysis of the activities of CISDA from the previous year, and setting out of a new plan for this year.
RAWA member speaks during the annual CISDA conference. (Photo: RAWA.org)