Opinion: There’s a reason women are mistreated in Afghanistan — radical Islam

To the editor: While I can sympathize with the plight of women in Afghanistan, Najia Karimi’s op-ed article fails to place the blame for this disaster where it belongs. (“What’s the most dangerous country in the world to be female? I know firsthand,� Opinion, April 11)

Not once in her piece does she mention the hardline practitioners of Islam who are responsible for these atrocities against women. In reality, U.S. troops in Afghanistan present little or no danger to women unless they happen to wander into an ongoing battle. They should not be held responsible for making it “the worst country for women.�

In the end, whether peace comes to Afghanistan or the country continues with its downward spiral, many of the women there will still be subjected to Sharia law and its gruesome consequences. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that Karimi has been able to keep her women’s shelter in Kabul in operation. I’m sure that she’s already made many enemies by doing so.

Charles Reilly, Manhattan Beach

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To the editor: I’m lucky enough to be a woman who hasn’t been beaten or raped.

But I still understand what Karimi means when she quotes author Valerie Hudson, who says, “The greatest predictor of whether a nation goes to war is the level of violence against women in that country.� After all, I had just read the sickening story of an angry man killing a woman and an innocent child in a school.

To be a woman is always to know that a man may want to hurt you because he can. And you have to be on guard for that.

And now our president is attacking other countries already after a few months in office. It’s pretty scary to be a woman in this country too.

Cheryl Clark O’Brien, Long Beach

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