Statement of the Afghan Women's Mission
Thursday, September 13th, 2001
CONTACT:
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www.afghanwomensmission.org
The Afghan Women's Mission strongly denounces the acts
of cruel violence committed on September the 11th,
2001, resulting in the loss of thousands of American
lives. We join the country and world in grieving for
those who were killed in New York, Washington DC and
Pennsylvania.
However, we strongly urge the US Government and it's
allies to not carry out military attacks on
Afghanistan in retaliation for these violent acts.
Afghanistan is a country devastated by more than two
decades of war, starting from the late 1970s when
fundamentalists called the Mujahadeen, armed and
trained by the US government and other countries,
fought the Soviet occupation of their country. After
the Soviet withdrawal in the early 1990s, in-fighting
between the various Mujahadeen groups resulted in the
destruction of most of the infrastructure in cities
such as the capital Kabul. When the fundamentalist
Taliban took over most of Afghanistan in 1996, the
situation only worsened for Afghans. As we all know,
the Taliban are the most repressive government in the
world today, and do not represent the Afghan people.
Afghans have been suffering the results of extreme
war, poverty, disease, hunger, lack of education,
health care and shelter for too long. Afghans comprise
the second largest refugee group in the world today.
In addition, there are millions of internally
displaced Afghans who are living on the edge of
survival throughout the country. To attack
Afghanistan now would be to attack a weak and
defenseless people who have no control over those that
rule them with violence and terror. While we insist
that those responsible should be identified and tried
in a court of law, we urge the United States
government to not answer violence with violence.
The Afghan Women's Mission also urges our fellow
Americans to remember the values of freedom and
respect for diversity that make this country great. We
need to remind each other of the reactionary backlash
towards Americans of Japanese descent who were
unfairly targeted in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. In the wake of the tragedy on September 11th,
let us treat each other with respect and dignity,
regardless of national origin or religion.
The Afghan Women's Mission works to support long term
positive change in Afghanistan via health and
educational projects.
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