« BACK TO FORUM
Moderators:
anuriandima84, Liamjod, mekhala, mnopq
 Author |
 Post
|
 |
|
MJ
Joined: Nov 11, 2000
Posts: 7
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Country: Canada
|
Pre-Existing Problems -
October 14, 2001 - 02:18 AM
|
|
Afghans trading young daughters to pay debts
Associated Press, Feb. 15, 2001
By KATHY GANNON
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (February 15, 2001) - Poverty-stricken farmers, unable to pay their debts because of a Taliban ban on growing poppies -- the flower that produces opium -- are trading their young daughters to pay off loans, U.N. and Taliban officials say.
"I just talked to a farmer who said: 'I gave my small daughter to the one I got a loan from,"' said Amir Mohammed Haqqani, the Taliban's chief anti-narcotics man in Nangarhar province, which was the second-largest opium-producing region last year.
In deeply conservative Afghanistan, girls often are married off at puberty. According to tradition, the family of the groom pays the bride's parents for their daughters.
But girls are now being handed over in marriage at a much younger age to grooms who often are in their late 20s and early 30s, Poulsen said.
"I talked to this uncle who gave away his 7-year-old niece whose parents had died for three bags of 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of wheat," Hans-Christian Poulsen of the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan said in western Herat. "This shows how desperate they are."
"The age is going down and they are going much further away to live with their new husbands," he said.
Farmers traditionally use opium as a source of credit, borrowing against the next year's harvest, said Bernard Frahi, director of the U.N. Drug Control Program in neighboring Afghanistan.
But this year, there was no harvest because of an edict banning cultivation of the crimson-red flower.
Combined with a devastating drought that has killed off entire herds, destroyed crops, turned 80,000 people into refugees in their own country and forced another 170,000 fleeing to neighboring Pakistan, the ban has left many farmers destitute, authorities said.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
MJ
Joined: Nov 11, 2000
Posts: 7
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Country: Canada
|
Sickness -
October 14, 2001 - 02:25 AM
|
|
It is sick what is going on in the world.
It is sad to think that women and young girls are being subject to this terrorism and they have been getting away with it for six years.
Who is strong enough to help these women and young girls?
Why are they doing this to the people of their own country.
What is the return for them? What is their reward?
Drugs, money & power ?
To do what?
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jarra McGrath
Joined: Oct 27, 2000
Posts: 18
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 26
Country: Australia
|
The Taleban
October 14, 2001 - 10:30 AM
|
|
"The world first became aware of the Taleban in 1994 when they were appointed by Islamabad to protect a convoy trying to open up a trade route between Pakistan and Central Asia.
Years of conflict have made gun culture the norm in Kabul
The group - comprised of Afghans trained in religious schools in Pakistan along with former Islamic fighters or mujahedin - proved effective bodyguards, driving off other mujahedin groups who attacked and looted the convoy.
They went on to take the nearby city of Kandahar, beginning a remarkable advance which led to their capture of the capital, Kabul, in September 1996.
Anti-corruption
The Taleban's popularity with many Afghans initially surprised the country's warring mujahedin factions.
In spite of military victories the Taleban have yet to achieve the international recognition they crave
As ethnic Pashtuns, a large part of their support came from Afghanistan's Pashtun community, disillusioned with existing ethnic Tajik and Uzbek leaders.
But it was not purely a question of ethnicity. Ordinary Afghans, weary of the prevailing lawlessness in many parts of the country, were often delighted by Taleban successes in stamping out corruption, restoring peace and allowing commerce to flourish again.
Their refusal to deal with the existing warlords whose rivalries had caused so much killing and destruction also earned them respect.
Islamic state
The Taleban said their aim was to set up the world's most pure Islamic state, banning frivolities like television, music and cinema.
The Taleban took control of Kabul in 1996.
Their attempts to eradicate crime have been reinforced by the introduction of Islamic law including public executions and amputations.
A flurry of regulations forbidding girls from going to school and women from working quickly brought them into conflict with the international community.
Such issues, along with restrictions on women's access to health care, have also caused some resentment among ordinary Afghans.
Extending control
The Taleban now control all but the far north of the country, which is the last stronghold of the ethnic Tajik commander Ahmed Shah Masood.
With 90% of the country under their control, the Taleban have continued to press claims for international recognition.
But the Afghan seat at the United Nations continues to be held by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
The UN sanctions which have now been imposed on the country make it even less likely that the Taleban will gain that recognition.
The sanctions are intended to force the Taleban to hand over the Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of plotting the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 250 people.
The Taleban say that Osama Bin Laden is a guest in their country, and they will not take action against him.
Afghanistan has suffered 20 years of war, and this year has brought the worst drought in decades.
There is little sign that sanctions will change the Taleban's policies, or weaken their position within the country."
- BBC News
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Nicole Corriero
Joined: Nov 15, 2000
Posts: 2
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 26
Country: Canada
Province/State: Ontario
City: Windsor
|
Propaganda Warfare
October 17, 2001 - 02:44 AM
|
|
"Someone claiming to represent al Qaeda has asked" the Arabic news network Al Jazeera and CNN "to submit written questions for Osama bin Laden -- questions they say bin Laden will answer on videotape and send back to Al Jazeera," CNN.com reports. CNN submitted six questions. "
What a joke this is ! and CNN is even considering submitting six questions, like he is really going to answer the questions.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Mike
Joined: Aug 31, 2001
Posts: 44
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 23
Country: Australia
Province/State: Western Australia
City: Perth
|
err!?!?!
October 18, 2001 - 07:57 AM
|
|
havent heard that report. but then - i dont get cnn.
wouldnt it allow cnn and indeed, the worlds news media to be able to show a *truthful* insight into his logic. or whatevers left of it.
even hitler kept a journal. (kinda)
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
|
Display posts from:
|
« BACK TO FORUM
|
Forum Jump:
|
All times are GMT-05:00
|
» Check that you are logged in!
You cannot create new threads in this forum
You cannot post replies in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot edit/delete your posts in this forum
|
|
Administrators:
chengzhao1993, Liamjod
Moderators:
anuriandima84, Liamjod, mekhala, mnopq
|
|
Home
Community
