United States armed forces and some civilian employees have now spent over nine years in Afghanistan. And there we remain. Osama bin Laden remains at large. Although the Taliban were chased from most of Afghanistan nine years ago, the Taliban continue to cause big problems in the country. A so-called “democratic” government has been set up years ago, with Hamid Karzai first elected as president in 2004, and then re-elected in 2009. But all of this does not seem to have produced much progress to me. The country and its government is said to be rife with corruption. And opium production continues at a large pace. Taliban incursions and attacks still occur frequently. Tribal leaders often have more power than the government. And Osama bin Laden remains free.
But fear not. I just read that the Afghanistan government has recently set up an endangered species act. Nine months after it created its first list of protected endangered species, the Afghanistan government has added 15 more to the list, including what has been billed as “the world’s least-known bird.” Ain’t that great? Clearly this is evidence of a government that not only knows what the “right thing” is, but actually does it ! (Yeh, right.)
The “species” that I would like the Afghanistan government to protect are ordinary Afghanistan citizens. Protect them from corrupt tribal leaders, corrupt government officials, and the Taliban. Of most importance I would like to see the human female species protected. Women need to be protected from the harsh impediments of Islam and its culture in Afghanistan, such as those which require them to be completely covered from head to toe when in public, and those which prevent them from becoming educated, truly free and with the same rights as men.