Tag Archives: Afghanistan

‘The UK must not abandon Afghan women to the Taliban’ Olivia Colman

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Olivia ColmanThe UK must not abandon Afghan women, actress Olivia Colman warned after featuring in documentary which explores the dangers women face while undertaking ordinary jobs there.

A BBC documentary, Speaking Out, Losing Lives,  on Radio Four explored the extraordinary risks women in Afghanistan face. Award-winning BBC correspondent Lyse Doucette has travelled to the country to talk to women and girls about the future of their country, at a time when security is deteriorating following the departure of foreign troops from the country.

The programme, produced with Amnesty International, features the stories of three women: a gynaecologist, the head teacher of a girls’ school and a women’s rights political advocate. Originally conceived as a performance of a play based on their testimony, Even If We Lose our Lives, commissioned by Amnesty, the programme now features extracts from the play but not interviews with the real women on whom it’s based as two of them have recently been forced into hiding due to renewed security threats.

Actress Olivia Colman voices the women’s stories. She said:

“Being a teacher, a doctor, a politician – these are important jobs but they shouldn’t be dangerous ones.

“The brave women whose words I’ve voiced risk so much to educate, to care and to shape the future of their country. Women like these are the hope for Afghanistan’s future and the UK must not abandon them to the Taliban now.

“It’s an honour to read these brave women’s words.”

Last week, to coincide with the London Conference on Afghanistan, a coalition of charities and aid organisations, the British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan (BAAG), released survey results showing that aid workers and rights campaigners in Afghanistan feel dramatically less safe than a year ago.

Sixty percent of the Afghans who responded reported that they felt less safe in their work during the past year, with half of survey respondents stating that either they, or their colleagues, have suffered intimidation or death threats during that time.

Amnesty has been running an “Occupational Hazards” campaign over the last year, drawing attention to the dangers women in work face in Afghanistan. Further details are available at www.amnesty.org.uk/afghanistan

Ian Thornton On The John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation

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johnthortonThe John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation (JTYAF) supports young people in a wide range of youth organisations and provides them with scholarships to support their personal development and the pursuit of their ambitions. It was established following the death of my younger brother, John, on active service in Afghanistan in 2008. John, a Royal Marines officer, achieved an incredible amount in his short life and so the provision of opportunities for young people to live their dreams, like he was able to do, seemed the perfect way to honour such an inspirational person. Since its formation we have made awards totaling nearly £250,000 to over 550 young people. A legacy that John would be both amazed by and proud of.

There are a wide variety of ways in which people can help or contribute. We have an amazing network of volunteers, without whose help our numerous fundraising events wouldn’t get off the ground. The amount of people who have also helped through organising sponsored events is also overwhelming; from tea parties in local care homes to successfully summiting Mount Everest, our supporters have completely blown us away with their imagination, commitment and passion for this cause. People can also simply donate via our website www.jtyaf.org, or can follow links to fundraising webpages set up by those who are supporting us. Every penny truly helps and, with no premises to fund or paid staff to take into account, very nearly all of every pound donated goes directly towards the young people that we provide opportunities for.

The JTYAF certainly does keep the spirit of John alive. By the age of 22 he had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, flown with the Red Arrows, qualified as a free-fall skydiver, travelled across New Zealand, learnt musical instruments and played a wide variety of sports, and had worked in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a Royal Marines officer. He achieved more in such a short space of time than many do by the time they reach old age, and being able to help others realise their ambitions and conquer their own personal challenges is so fitting. The sheer scale of the support we receive really is testament to the uniquely inspirational person that John was more than anything else.

Putting together “Helmand” was hard in that it revisited a truly traumatic moment in my life in it’s references to my brother’s death. That said, it was also a therapeutic experience as it gave me the opportunity to look in detail at how he spent the final weeks and months of his life, and to learn about how his experiences fitted in with those of the Officers and Marines that he was deployed alongside. Including my own diary of my time in Afghanistan, some 4.5 years later, was something I was not initially comfortable with as I only ever wrote for my own benefit and to keep a record of everything that my Platoon and I went through together. It was never meant for anyone else’s eyes. However, in hindsight, to have the opportunity to hopefully do justice to the experiences of the soldiers I fought alongside is both rare and an honour, and at the same time I think the ability to contrast my tour with that of John gives the reader a true sense of the incredible progress that was made by the British Armed Forces in Afghanistan in those few short years.

I would like to write another book at some point in the future, but think that it may have to wait until my career in the Army has ended…I doubt I’d have the time to do so until then!

It’s difficult to say whether or not military personnel get the treatment they deserve on returning to civilian life as I am yet to make that jump. I certainly hope that they do. I think that the public perception of the Armed Forces is the most positive it has been for a long time, due largely to a respect for our sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I hope that this manifests itself in the upholding of the military covenant for those who make the big decision to return to civilian life.

When I deployed to Afghanistan I felt so many emotions. In the time leading up to deployment excitement gradually gave way to apprehension about the unknown and ultimately a sense of fear prior to stepping out of the gate on patrol that first time. That fear however was not of personally dying or being injured as, ultimately, your training gets you so used to the idea of both that you kind of expect it to happen. The fear that I felt was of letting those around me down, and of what it would do to my family if the worst would have happened again. Letting people down is something on the mind of, I believe, everyone experiencing combat for the first time. Until you have been shot at for the first time you have literally no idea about how you will react. For me personally, the fear of putting my family through another loss so soon after we lost John was something that was on my mind constantly. I know that both of my parents struggled with me being away and spent the entire 6 months hoping and praying that lighting wouldn’t strike twice. To me though they were so supportive – despite their fears they knew that it was the only thing I wanted to do and as my Mum said, “as a parent all you want is for your children to be happy”. Before I deployed I remember saying: “Mum, this is my World Cup”. I wanted to make sure that if the worst did happen, she would know that my time came when I was doing something that I loved.

The best advice I have ever been given came from John, which was simply: “Don’t worry, everything will turn out for the best – because it always does”. I think that’s a good outlook to have on life.

A Fort of Nine Towers By Qais Akbar Omar Book Review

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I have to be honest. I have put off writing this review. Which may seem weird considering the fact that A Fort of Nine Towers is one of the most important books I have ever read. Many books change you, give you enjoyment, make you think, even change your outlook: A Fort of Nine Towers does most of these, but it also touches your soul, your heart and then breaks them a little. As a Western woman, with all of the privilege that entails, reading this book is an eye-opener and a game changer.

afortofninetowersbookreview

I read papers, I watch the news, I watch documentaries and read books. I stay involved in politics and world events, but this tale of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan should be required reading for every one in the Western world (and beyond).

How much the human spirit can endure is both interesting and fascinating. The same with the human body. Qasis Akbar was only eleven when a brutal civil war broke out in Kabul. For Qais, it brought an abrupt end to a childhood filled with kites and cousins in his grandfather’s garden: one of the most convulsive decades in Afghan history had begun. Ahead lay the rise of the Taliban, and, in 2001, the arrival of international forces.

Called ‘poetic, powerful and unforgettable’ by The Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini, A Fort of Nine Towers is the story of Qais, his family and their determination to survive these upheavals as they were buffeted from one part of Afghanistan to the next. Drawing strength from each other, and their culture and faith, they sought refuge for a time in the Buddha caves of Bamyan, and later with a caravan of Kuchi nomads. When they eventually returned to Kabul, it became clear that their trials were just beginning.

A lot of this book is horrifying, the inhumanity from one human to another, but there is also hope. Qais apologises to the reader for the stories he tells, knowing they will never leave your mind: stories of pits full of skulls, women being gang-raped, a man called ‘Dog’ who tortures and kills people by biting them. Something that happens to Qais and his father, but only after they have seen a row of dead naked people, some tourists, all in a row, horror as their death masks.

This book is also important as a way to dispel propaganda. Rather fascinatingly Qais writes about hearing talk of a rich Arab named Bin Laden (Yes, that one), who lived near Qais in a big house which used to be owned by someone called the Pimp of The King. The place was always covered by Taliban and they would drive black Land Cruisers and have big meetings there. So Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan. I am not saying this has made me pro-war, I believe lies were told, but this piece of information, and the stories of the Taliban; what they did, their brutality, what happened to women…Westerners don’t just have a duty to other Westerners and certainly not just to other white people. We can not just turn a blind eye. When I read the book and got to the end, I see how the invasion of Iraq also benefited Afghanistan. I am more educated but I want to learn even more, talk to more Afghans. The book even prints out the rules for women and information the Taliban distributed after it took over Kabul. These include toppling walls on homosexuals (if they live it means they weren’t homosexuals) and women should not step outside of their residence…she belongs to only one man (Husband) or soon she will be property of a man (Husband). And the ironically illiterate: women do not have as much brains as men, therefore they cannot think wisely as man. These ended with ‘Sincerely! The Taliban rules’. Like some illiterate teenager would graffiti on a wall.

I learned a lot reading this book. Some I already knew but it was reinforced: the Taliban are evil. Horrible peasants who use religion as an excuse to murder and torture and rule, the horror of organised religion and the damage it can cause, how privileged anyone is to be born in Britain or the US, how they have no excuse whatsoever not to make something of their lives, when there are people like Qais, who survived a brutal war, who saw the people he loved killed, who saw such horrifying things at such a young age. But more importantly I was more educated after reading this book, more compassionate. I was sadder, emotional but with a fire in my belly: knowing that every human being must do their best, and what happened in Afghanistan should never be forgotten. God knows what will happen when US troops pull out soon. I only hope the Taliban do not return, but I fear that they will. It is too awful a thought to even contemplate and God help Afghanistan if they do.

You can buy A Fort of Nine Towers here. I highly recommend that you do.

What do you think?

Wikileak in Afghanistan {Carl Packman}

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Julian Assange won’t find himself on any leaked document, but he should be under no illusion: he is enemy number 1 now. The owner of Wikileaks may have just tickled a ball too many with his latest release; 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the conflict in Afghanistan.

Homeless Assange, whose profile on the Guardian notes him as confessing a genetic disposition to rebel, has spent the last 24 hours justifying his acts, in light of fierce criticism from the White House, who have said the leaks – probably the result of hacking (their assumption) – which contains classified and sensitive information could put the war effort in jeopardy.

The twitter hashtag #warlogs has had discussions ranging from whether to see Wikileaks forever more as a champion of free speech, or as a danger, more intent on causing naive damage and anarchy rather than any grown up appeal to classical liberal motifs.

Having seen a sample of the records myself I can conclude one thing for the nice readers at Frost Magazine: we are at war.

If you want to find out anymore, say if you want to see what Osama Bin Laden told intelligence in his poetic, tyrannical phraseology, or perhaps you’d like to see how much carnage the Taliban have caused with roadside bombings, go and see the files for yourself.

Though when you see them remember one of the main reasons why this stuff isn’t on public display (other than the issue of a national threat, or sensitivity to families): war is rubbish, people die, and it is often better to put it to the back of one’s mind, for otherwise the emotional proximity to what is really going on can have deleterious effects on a reasonable and rational opinion of the war effort in Afghanistan.

I call this the problem of overproximity, and I first spoke about it last year with regard to the camps in Calais that were home to many migrants. Photojournalist Jason Parkinson, a good guy, was frustrated by then immigration Minister Phil Woolas’ response to the camp. He wrote in the Guardian:

It is easy for Woolas, back in London, to arrogantly state these men don’t deserve asylum in the UK. But in doing so he exposes his distance from the issue. If he had bothered to go to the camps and squats around Calais and talk to these people, hear their stories first hand – perhaps then he would remember they are human beings and not just a statistic or price tag on a government spreadsheet.

It is my contention that it didn’t matter where Woolas made the decision if it involved taking a look at what the UK could do, but certainly visiting the camp was not going to help, only other than putting Woolas in a situation where his proximity to the problem would influence his reponse (we all know his stomach for pressure, just see Joanna Lumley take him down).

The leaked documents have the potential to change people’s mind in the wrong way, it will remind people that death is common to war, and that strategy has not always been good in Afghanistan.

The shock of the reality has the potential to delete from our emotional minds the cost of not challenging the Taliban – this network of extremists will not stop until every son of every scared parent in Afghanistan has forcefully been signed up to fight in their fascist wars.

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