Human Rights

http://www.interaction.org/media/photo/women.html

Imagine, you’re a young girl in Afghanistan. Already sounds tough, but imagine being under threat of attack while walking to school in the morning, just because you’re a girl and you want an education.

This was the reality for four Afghani girls. On their way to school, just walking down the street, two men drove by on motorcycles, and used water guns to spray these girls with acid. Two of them where blinded, and the other girls, alone with many others around them, where badly injured. The two men got away, but are suspected members of the Taliban, and the government spokesperson called them “enemies of education.” (Article)

I consider this a human rights violation. Lately in American Studies we have been talking about political issues, and one of those was how involved we should get in other countries affairs. We are already in Afghanistan, but not entirely, we kind of have one foot in the door. This, some believe, is the reason we aren’t doing as well as we have hopped in regions like Afghanistan and Iraq. Something to bring to attention is some past wars. For example, World War I and World War II. During both wars, at the beginning, there was an overwhelming amount of young men willing to die for their country and freedom. In the homeland, meat was rationed in order to send more abroad. Metal was rationed for the war effort. Even salt was highly rationed, all so our soldiers could fight a little better, be a bit stronger, and most importantly, be a tad bit more committed. This is something that our recent wars are lacking. Not commitment from the soldiers, commitment from the citizens.

In our past war efforts, with the exception of Vietnam, the American people poured their hearts into the war effort. People rationed and donated and molded their lives in a way that would make it easier for the United States to fight a war. Today, there are no rations, and most people are completely disconnected from what is going on in our wars. Over 80% of United States Citizens over the age of 18 could NOT find Afghanistan on a blank map.

Some may argue that maybe we shouldn’t be going to war if it isn’t even justified enough to gain the support of the American people, and part of me agrees. This all comes back to those young Afghan women and the civil liberties issues that are being broken everyday in that country. I believe something needs to be done, but I also believe that if we are going to do something, we need a full commitment from everyone, or no committment at all.