The Real War on Terrorism, Part 2

@Mother Jones:

In 2001, shortly after 9/11, we invaded Afghanistan. The purpose was to topple the Taliban regime, destroy al-Qaeda, and ultimately capture Osama bin Laden.

We all know how that plan turned out.

There is a horrific, frightening, and telling photo essay ("The Hidden Half: A Photo Essay on Women in Afghanistan) on the effects the Taliban insurgency has had on Afghan women and girls.

The author reminds us that former First Lady Laura Bush said that fighting terrorism included giving Afghan women their rights back. Unfortunately, Afghan women's rights are disturbingly infringed upon:

Six years later, the burka is more common than before, an "overwhelming majority" of Afghan women suffer domestic violence, according to aid group Womankind, and honor killings are on the rise. Health care is so threadbare that every 28 minutes a mother dies in childbirth—the secondhighest maternal mortality rate in the world. Girls attend school at half the rate boys do, and in 2006 at least 40 teachers were killed by the Taliban.

(To the faint-hearted: the photos are real and intense.)

Stay tuned for part 3 when I discuss what was wrong with the war on terror and what the steps the Obama administration should take in the coming years.