WHY I SUPPORT THE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

There are a number of reasons, and here's a hint - Terrorism isn't even in the top 5.

Afghanistan is for me, first and foremost, a humanitarian mission. How anyone can read these links and not support the mission in Afghanistan is beyond me:

Humanity Denied: Systematic Violation of Women's Right in Afghanistan

Women in Post-Taliban Afghanistan

"Taliban decrees have greatly restricted women's movement, behavior, and dress, and in fact, virtually all aspects of their lives. In public, women are required under threat of severe punishment to wear the chadari, and to be accompanied by a close male relative at all times. Violations of the dress code, in particular, can result in public beatings and lashing by the Religious Police, who wield leather batons reinforced with metal studs. Women are not permitted to work outside the home except in the area of health care, and girls over eight years old are not permitted to attend school. According to reports on Afghanistan by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, these decrees are generally more strictly enforced in urban areas, and are especially targeted against educated women who, before the Taliban took power, accounted for 70 percent of all teachers, about 50 percent of civil servants, and 40 percent of medical doctors in the country.

These decrees have had a significant negative impact on women's lives. The rate of illiteracy among girls in Afghanistan is now over 90 percent. The restriction on women's mobility has meant that women do not enjoy satisfactory access to health care. As a result, an estimated forty-five women die everyday from pregnancy-related causes."