Foreign Policy

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1444998]

Comments

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Expressing displeasure about the law is appropriate. Applying coersion to have it changed would be too much (and probably backfire, as it'd give the Taliban a better excuse for accusing us danged furriners of imperialism) but staying silent when we have genuine problems with the legislation is inappropriate too.

-- Steve hates that the more modernist and moderate members of Afghan society don't have enough clout to defeat this thing on their own thanks to decades of oppression.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

That should be check boxes. All of the above.

[likeneontubing.livejournal.com]

Was meaning to post about this when I got the Amnesty bulletin the other day - ta :)

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

Freedom cannot be imposed from without. The idea can be planted, as it was planted across Europe by Napoleon's armies, but freedom has to be brought about by the population itself.

[andrewducker]

I don't really buy into the within/without or us/them dichotomy. It doesn't feel natural at all to me.

[ami-bender.livejournal.com]

I find the law morally repugnant, and therefore feel I have the right to protest against it.

I think the grey area is how much pressure we can place on the country to do something about it. For instance, can we withhold aid/help/support? The easy answer would be yes, but then that logic would justify Bushs refusal to support any charity that allowed abortions. Unfortunately once you get to this level I think its often a case by case situation.

[simont]

I have a feeling that if we withheld aid in order to protest against the practice of withholding food until you get what you want, somebody would be fairly quick to point out the irony...

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

Or food could be given to women, but not to male oppressors, enforced at gunpoint?

[andrewducker]

Just a little impractical...

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

Well, in that case a lot of empowering women type situations must also be deemed impractical.

[andrewducker]

Many of them are.

But putting enough NATO troops into Afghanistan to watch every bit of food and make sure that a woman gets it and eats it, without a man taking it away from her is just impossible. There aren't that many troops.

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

So, we pull out and leave them to it. Fine by me.

I'm the one person thus far who voted "rampant liberal imperialism, telling other people what they can and can't do in their own countries!"

[ami-bender.livejournal.com]

Lol. Or withhold funding for woman rights to protest a lack of woman's rights. I suspect if there was a simple answer somebody would of found it by now.

[broin.livejournal.com]

So they don't have to have sex, but lose weight? Win win.