There is no such thing as a right to use force and killing and invasion and occupation so as to threaten people into complying with the opinions of western feminists, a philosophy that rights are whatever the state says they are, and that women are entitled to sexist legal privileges on a double standard and falsely called "rights".

Jardine,

Women everywhere should have the same rights before the law as men. Get over it. 'Culture' is, after all, nothing much more than the tatty cloak of custom concealing power. Who has power in most 'cultures', i.e. societies ? Men, isn't that so ? And 'culture' sanctions that power ? Then a pox on culture.

You may suggest that 'culture' is relative. But women are not 'relative', they are real entities - a woman in Australia, a woman in Afghanistan, a woman anywhere, should have similar rights before the law as men in Australia, Afghanistan or anywhere. People are absolute, not relative. They are not theoretical concepts, they exist in real life, not just in anthropological texts, and they are entitled to similar rights to anyone else who exists 'in real life'.

Conservatives such as yourself may not see it that way - 'whatever is, or has been, should continue to be. If men have ruled in Afghanistan from time immemorial, they should keep ruling'. No, no, a thousand times no: you may not understand the concept of equal rights for all, regardless of gender or ethnicity or religion or class, but sooner or later, that principle will prevail, against all the reactionary forces that can be mustered by the 'useful idiots' of anthropology.

Joe

' Who has power in most 'cultures', i.e. societies ? Men, isn't that so ? And 'culture' sanctions that power ? Then a pox on culture. '

Yes Loudmouth however power itself is not evil it is how it is used. Feminist have been just as evil if not worse when considering the limited opportunities they have had. The killing of millions of unborn is one such example. The last Government stacked with Emily's listers showed that woman are just as up to and beyond corruption as any others even if they were young and naive. From ignoring cancer centres so as to pork barrow electorates, to setting up slush funds, to pushing perverse lifestyles the list goes on.

Interesting those who scream of invasion are now the ones insisting on the West helping. No amount of hypocrisy.

Loudmouth

In case you haven't noticed, feminism isn't about women having 'the same rights before law' as men; it's about sexist double standards favouring women. It's you who need to get over your brainwashing.

There is no such thing as a "right" to use aggressive force or threats to get what you want; and any attempt to do so creates greater inequality, not less.

You may suggest that 'culture' is relative. But men are not 'relative', they are real entities - a man in Australia, a man in Afghanistan, a man anywhere, should have similar rights before the law as women in Australia, Afghanistan or anywhere. People are absolute, not relative. They are not theoretical concepts, they exist in real life, not just in anthropological texts, and they are entitled to similar rights to anyone else who exists 'in real life'.

"Conservatives such as yourself may not see it that way - 'whatever is, or has been, should continue to be. If men have ruled in Afghanistan from time immemorial, they should keep ruling'. No, no, a thousand times no: you may not understand the concept of equal rights for all, regardless of gender or ethnicity or religion or class, but sooner or later, that principle will prevail, against all the reactionary forces that can be mustered by the 'useful idiots' of anthropology."

You're talking to yourself. It's not me whose saying that gender is a social construct - it's you, you fool.

You do not have an absolute right to force people to obey your sexual opinions.

JKJ
what exactly are you objecting to? The article doesn't advocate violence or coercion, only that women have the same rights as men and a seat at the table in deciding their country's future.

While the central argument of the article – that women need more a place at the negotiating table – is irrefutable, it ain't gonna happen.

JKJ is right - painfully so. Invading countries to give women rights is as ridiculous as it is hypocritical. (And let's face it. The Pentagon players who declared war on Afghanistan in 2001 didn't give a flying rubber duck about the rights of women anywhere.)

This stupid faux-feminism warmongering is back to front. In the 70s, Afghanistan was a troubled but well functioning society which, if left alone, would have evolved into a modern sovereign state - with the usual developments in education, per capita incomes, human rights and the status of women – that all peaceful countries build for themselves when left alone.

But that wasn't to be. The reason? It had a leftie government and was too close to Russia. So Washington went into panic-overload, as it always does if it smells a whiff of socialism within 30,000 miles of the White House, and started courting and training the usual Washington-friendly fanatics and psychopaths it gets on so well with.

Thirty years of macho superpower meddling and macho theocratic warfare later, Afghan women have completely lost the battle for even the most fundamental of rights being at all possible for them in any kind of post-occupation future – as have the women of Iraq and Libya, and soon Syria. They are living on borrowed time.