If what doesn't kill you truly makes you stronger, Afghan women have to be some of the strongest people in the world by now. They've weathered invasion, civil strife, violence that threatened themselves and their families. Their rights were curtailed severely under the Taliban, but someone was always organizing, educating

, fighting for women.  Not all of these courageous women have survived. But the struggle continues.

George W. wanted to take credit for advancing women's rights through ousting the Taliban.  Maybe some people who had never heard of Afghanistan before believed him, I don't know.  I wonder, if W and those who believed him are even bothering to watch the news these days, what they would have to say about the fact that the Afghan government they worked to build, that the president they supported, have pushed through a law depriving married women of their rights under Afghanistan's constitution. A law that deprives married women of the right to work, education, and medical care without their husbands' permission.  A law that confines married women to the home unless their husbands allow them to leave it.  A law that legitimises marital rape. 

And to add insult to injury:

Ustad Mohammad Akbari, an MP and the leader of a Hazara political party, said the president had supported the law in order to curry favour among the Hazaras. But he said the law actually protected women's rights.

"Men and women have equal rights under Islam but there are differences in the way men and women are created. Men are stronger and women are a little bit weaker; even in the west you do not see women working as firefighters."

And this last little outrage is the one I'm latching on to now, to keep me from dissolving entirely into inarticulate sputtering rage.  Mr. Akbari, I say to you: O, rly???????????????