While women have made a modest comeback in Afghanistan regarding education and political participation, the country’s acting Public Health Minister Suraya Dalil told me Afghan women still are lagging in one key area: medical care.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA34z8dzGaQ

In keeping with the spirit of International Women’s Day, I made a point to talk to as many different Afghan women as I could about their thoughts on women’s rights in Afghanistan.  Granted, it’s not easy for an American man to just go up to an Afghan woman on the streets of Kabul and strike up a conversation, and it definitely isn’t easier if you have a microphone.  But, I spoke with a few female colleagues and some human rights activists.  They all made an interesting point: Why should they support the Afghan government’s policy of seeking reconciliation with the Taliban?

Sima Samar is the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission chairwoman.  She says she is concerned because the Taliban violated women’s rights during the years they were in power.  She says, “[They] even banned women from access to education, to health care, to work, to movement.  [The Taliban] will come back in power and we don’t have any right to say: What?!”

Samar also says it is critical Afghan President Hamid Karzai includes women in a meaningful way during the peace jirga.  She says, “What is important is that we have to be [at] the table on the decision-making policy [and] not only in the peace jirga as a piece of decoration.”

What do you think?  Will Afghan women play a meaningful role at the peace jirga?  And ultimately, will women’s rights be sacrificed if there is reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FY6zWzxWpw

My interview with Edhi — who is known in some quarters for his humanitarian works as Pakistan’s “Father Teresa” — occurred a few weeks after the earthquake struck Haiti.  I spoke to him by phone today to see if his wait for visas was over.  It isn’t.

Initially, Edhi had gone to the Cuban Embassy in Islamabad to get visas for himself and his fellow team members.  However, he said Cuban officials denied their requests because the U.S. military is managing the traffic in and out of Haiti’s main ports of entry.

Edhi then went to the U.S. Embassy.  He has a permanent Green Card for the United States, but his team members do not.  Today, Edhi said he is frustrated because U.S. officials gave him the impression that his team would not receive any visas for at least six months.

The United States has tightened restrictions on issuing visas during the past few years.  In addition, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman told me today that humanitarian efforts are not given any special consideration, and everyone has to go through the same process.

So as it stands, there is at least a million dollars and a team of workers with quake experience on stand by, half-a-world away.

What do you think?  I’d love to read your comments below about your views on the situation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBiJJP6znJs

We also discussed a point that Shaikh says international debates are not covering enough: the Pakistan-India dynamic.

The two nuclear powers have fought three wars against each other over the years.  Now, India is a major donor in Afghanistan, and Shaikh says Pakistani officials suspect India has strengthened its influence in the war-torn country.

The former foreign secretary also says Pakistanis worry that there is a shortage of troops on their eastern border.

A large number of the Pakistani army’s fighting force is now concentrated in the country’s western regions battling Taliban militants.  Shaikh says that if the United States had its way, more Pakistani troops would battle along that border, especially in the North Waziristan tribal area where Jalaluddin Haqqani’s Taliban network is centered.

Coalition commanders say the Haqqani network is a major cause of instability in eastern Afghanistan.  These Taliban fighters fled Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion, and now operate largely with impunity from the Pakistani military.

I asked Shaikh if Pakistan views the Haqqani network as a strategic asset in Afghanistan in order to counterbalance India’s influence.

Shaikh replied that Jalaluddin Haqqani was “the most capable commander by my reckoning in the resistance against the Soviets and was certainly someone that the Americans talked to in the aftermath of 9/11.”  He added that the fighting situation could make for “strange bedfellows” if the future of the Haqqani network remains at the forefront of Pakistan’s relationships with Afghanistan and the United States.

——————————————————————————————-

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the military operation targeting Taliban militants in the South Wazirstan tribal region is over.

Pahari Sahib, Wikimedia Commons

Mr. Gilani told reporters that Pakistan’s military is now focusing on the Orakzai tribal region in an effort to chase the Pakistani Taliban leadership that is believed to have fled there from South Waziristan.  Once fully launched, the operation in Orakzai will be the third major offensive against the Pakistani Taliban this year.

Here is a breakdown of the situation:

Part 1 –  How has Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban evolved in 2009?

Part 2 — How successful has the military been?

Part 3 — How have the militants responded?

Part 4 — How is the public responding to the offensive?

U.S. officials have commended the Pakistani government for launching the South Waziristan operation.  But as the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan strengthens, Washington continues to urge Islamabad to expand its operations to take on the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida agents believed to be based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region.

The former security chief of the tribal regions, retired Brigadier-General Mahmood Shah, tells me that the United States’ priorities are very different than Pakistan’s.  The United States wants Pakistan to focus on militants that are part of a global network of terrorists.  But Shah says Pakistan wants to focus on its immediate threat: militants it believes have launched a series of high-profile attacks across the country.  Since the beginning of October, these attacks have killed more than 500 people.

If you click the map above, you can see that North Waziristan is between South Waziristan and the Orakzai tribal regions.  I told Shah it appears the militants escaped from South Waziristan through its northern neighbor — where the United States wants Pakistan to focus its forces.

Shah says the militants Pakistan is targeting have always had a presence in Orakzai.  He says the military chose to attack the Pakistani Taliban’s base in South Waziristan before broadening its campaign.  He says that he believes his country will be in a better position to help the United States and its allies once it takes care of its domestic insurgency.

Click here for the story.

During his speech, President Obama explained the purpose of more troops is to break the Taliban’s momentum in the country and help lay the foundation for transitioning command from the coalition to Afghan security forces.

Mr. Obama also sought to reassure Afghans that the United States has no interest in taking over their country.  He said America seeks to isolate those who destroy and strengthen those who build in Afghanistan.  Watch my story below to see how Afghans reacted to the U.S. president:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sg08MrqXoU

Mr. Obama also had a message for the Afghan government: The time for writing “blank checks” is over.  U.S. officials have long warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he must address government corruption during his new five-year term.  The day before President Obama’s announcement, Afghan lawmaker Daud Sultanzoi told me that he thought the new U.S. strategy is premature.

Click here for the story.

Mr. Obama also promised that the United States will not abandon the region.  He said that ultimately, America wants to be a partner with Afghanistan and not a patron.