Will Women be Abandoned When the Taliban Join the Afghan Government?

The departure of ISAF troops from Afghanistan by 2014 is hailed as a good thing by many people. Karzai says he doesn't need us anymore (but he loves our money), the Afghan people don't seem to appreciate us, and many believe we have accomplished our mission (bin Laden is dead, the Taliban are out of power, and the Afghans have a government and military).

However the departure will not bode well for the women of Afghanistan who have benefited greatly with the fall of the Taliban by the U.S. military (and its allies) since 2001. Some wonder if the current government will survive. It is possible that the Taliban could re-gain control of the south and southeast parts of Afghanistan and/or assume an important role in the Afghan government as the result of negotiations between the Taliban and the United States.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana", provides us with some insight on the dilemma of women with the coming withdrawal of ISAF from Afghanistan in 2014. Read her article in "U.S. must not abandon Afghan women to the Taliban", CNN, March 15, 2012.