Afghani Activist Takes U.S. to Task in Scathing Pasadena Speech

In a scathing speech on Saturday evening at All Saints Church, Malalai Joya criticized the governments of both Afghanistan and the United States. Her statements, which come from her experience as a member of the Afghan parliament and a woman on the run from the authorities, were enthusiastically received by the audience of 70 to 80 people.

Sonali Kolhatkar, who hosts the daily radio program “Uprising” on KPFK and co-wrote Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence with James Ingalls, introduced Joya, whom she met in Farah Province in 2005, “about a year after she gained fame for standing up to men.”

The first woman elected to the parliament in 2005, Joya was outspoken in her criticism of Washington, Afghanistan, and NATO. She believes the parliament, which she repeatedly labeled “the Mafia government,” is riddled with warlords and war criminals who have the support of the US government.

“Peace without justice and equality is meaningless,” she affirmed. Her term was short; she was dismissed from the governing body in early 2007. She now works with the Afghan Women’s Mission, which was formed before the 9/11 attacks.

In 2009, she published her story in A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice and travels throughout North America and Europe to speak on human rights and the involvement of Western nations in the Middle East. She was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2010.

For her efforts to advocate for the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children, Joya has put her life in danger. Kolhatkar said that Joya “lives underground in Afghanistan today. She sleeps in a different house every night.” Joya said she lives in fear for the physical safety of herself and her young son, and Kolhatkar requested donations to pay for Joya’s security guards.

Joya’s criticism of Washington does not extend to the American people. She said the United States has two faces for Afghanis. “One is the imperialistgovernment of the United States, and the other is the glorious people of the US.” She cited those who are anti-war, and people such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning, whom she considers to be heroes.

At this point, it is important to note that most of Joya’s assertions were not backed up with documentation, and that much of her evidence was anecdotal. Prior to the talk, we arranged with Kolhatkar to speak with Joya afterwards, but when the talk concluded, we were told to stand in line behind people waiting to get books signed, which would have put us the time the room closed.

Stating that women in her country have suffered for the past three decades, Joya said “Women enjoyed more rights in the 1960s and 1970s than today.” The United States and NATO have made the Taliban more powerful, she asserts, and support the warlords and Islamic fundamentalists in countries such as Syria and Egypt, “waging war through extremist fundamentalists.”

Joya presented a slideshow which showed horrific photos of the dead and injured, rape victims, and civilian survivors of bombings, but it was difficult to determine when the photos were taken. Several were during the years of warlord rule, 1992-1996, she explained, but the pictures were not captioned and newspaper clippings that reported improvement in women’s conditions were not dated.

In analyzing the US invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11, Joya did not cite the attacks on American targets, but said that the big powers—Great Britain, Russia, the United States—were interested in Afghanistan because of its geographic location in the heart of Asia from which they could control other Asian powers. The US used human rights issues as the excuse to go in, she said.

Profit was also a motive, Joya asserted, because under American occupation, according to her, production of opium in Afghanistan has increased 4,400 percent and the country now produces 90 percent of the world’s opium.

“Opium is even more dangerous than terrorism,” she said, and asserted that United States interests are “making billions of dollars on opium.” Though she skirted a question from an audience member asking if US soldiers guard the poppy fields, she did state, “It’s a project of the CIA to change Afghanistan to the center of the drug trade.”

Referring several times to what she called the hypocrisy and lies of the US government, she said that the projected departure of the US from Afghanistan in November, 2014 “is another big lie.” Afghanis see what our government is doing, and say, “If this is democracy, we don’t want democracy.”

Several of the question cards asked what Americans can do to improve the situation in Afghanistan. “You know better than I,” she responded. She suggested supporting honest politicians, joining hands with anti-war movements, and writing about the situation. Joya’s current tour of the United States is sponsored by United National Antiwar Coalition.