A Tale of Two Faces – Congressman Jim Moran and An Afghan Woman

Congressman Jim Moran, the Cover of Time Magazine and What is Worth Fighting For
Anyone who has seen the recent week’s cover of Time magazine realizes that the Taliban in Afghanistan is a brutal and misogynistic group of thugs that if allowed to reclaim Afghanistan would set it back on a pathway to a patriarchal society that sees women as object to be controlled and “shackled” with barbaric rules and lack of dignity.
You can find a summary of the article on the following link.  It is a must read.
Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban
The article begins:
The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.
This didn't happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women's shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. "They are the people that did this to me," she says, touching her damaged face. "How can we reconcile with them?"
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007238,00.html#ixzz0w6m39ThJ
I plead with you to read this entire article, get hold of a copy of the magazine as this article makes clear, abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban is sentencing thousands upon thousands of woman and other innocents to an unprecedented level of brutality and oppression.
Congressman Moran Declares: The Mission in Afghanistan has been Achieved” What?
Yet my congressman, Jim Moran, of the 8th District in Virginia is having second thoughts about our involvement there.  In press release dated July 27, 2010, the Congressman had this to say… “I plan to oppose this supplemental appropriations bill when it comes to the floor later today. There exists no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The mission we set out to accomplish following the attacks on September 11th – the rooting out of al Qaeda in Afghanistan – has largely been achieved, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American military and civilian personnel.”
This statement makes about as much sense as the “Mission Accomplished” banner behind President Bush did back in 2003.  Further….
Congressman James P. Moran (VA-8), member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, voted against the Afghan War Supplemental bill on July 27th.
 
“Instead of increasing our troop presence, we should be limiting our mission in Afghanistan,” said Moran in a statement released earlier this week.

“There exists no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The mission we set out to accomplish following the attacks on September 11th – the rooting out of al Qaeda in Afghanistan – has largely been achieved, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American military and civilian personnel,” said Moran.
(Source: Washington Examiner)
To all of this I say to Jim Moran.  Really?  Mr. Congressman, do you really believe that ‘the rooting out of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan – has largely been achieved?
Here is what I would like you to do, please tell that to the woman who was on the recent cover of Time and is now in the US undergoing reconstructive surgery.  Tell that to the hundreds of women who have been recently disfigured by this brutal bunch of misogynistic thugs who want to reclaim this country we are trying to defend.  Tell this to the soldiers who are sacrificing themselves to defend these women and our nation’s interest. 
On many occasions Congressman, you have touted your credentials as a champion of women’s causes.  How can you reconcile your position of abandoning Afghanistan and support of women’s causes.  This kind of action on your part suggests that you lack the courage of your convictions and calls into question how deep your support of women’s causes truly is.
For me, this is another example of poor judgment.  My Dad use to tell me that ‘a man who uses poor judgment once and learns from his mistake is a wise man, but a man who uses poor judgment over and over, may in fact be a fool’. 
Stands like this one and the manner in which you accept your campaign contributions and loans all suggest a pattern of poor judgment.  Foolishness?  I will let the reader decide.
Let Freedom Ring.