NDP: Afghan politician says NATO mission has not brought more peace to the region.

The NDP is becoming an interesting anachronism it appears, much like the communist parties of the cold war days gone by. Odd, I wouldn't have thought about the party in that way, until I read the draft policy documents (see post below) for the convention this weekend in Quebec City. Some of that stuff is right out of the 1950s.

Stephen Taylor has begun "arm's length" coverage of the convention this morning on his website, and indicates that, contrary to the norm in Canadian conventions, the NDP has closed the policy discussions to observers and the press. So, the party that prides itself on its inclusiveness (the liberals only appropriated that term for political gain. What? Surprised?) is excluding all but the party faithful from discussions about what they stand for. That too, right out of the 1950s. I hope the irony is not lost that the party that ostensibly believes that they know what's right for the common people, aren't prepared to let the common people know how they come to what they believe.

But back to the title. Malalai Joya, "the youngest member of the Afghan National Assembly", is appearing at the convention to support Taliban Jack's position on Afghanistan. In an op-ed from the convention on ndp.ca, Ms. Joya is described as:

... elected in 2005 in Farah province, has worked to protect women's rights and is the head of the Organization of Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities. She brought a clear message: foreign troops in Afghanistan have not achieved any fundamental changes.

"When the entire nation is living under the shadow of the gun and warlordism, how can its women enjoy very basic freedoms?" asked Joya. "Contrary to the propaganda in certain Western media, Afghan women and men are not 'liberated' at all."

Ok, I hope the irony is not lost here either. If not for the U.S. and its coalition allies, and the continuing efforts of Canada and NATO, Ms. Joya, not only would not be sitting in the "Afghan National Assembly", stating her views on the evils of liberation, she likely would be dead for having them, or at the very least, very silent. Unless of course, she didn't live in Afghanistan during the Taliban era.

Not missing an opportunity to offer the requisite Bush-bash:

I think that if Canada really wants to help Afghan people and bring positive changes, they must act independently, rather than becoming a tool for implementing the policies of the US government."

Policies like "ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban so that she can return home and run in an election, sit in a parliament and continue fighting for the rights of Afghanis", I think she means, right?

She finishes with the dumbest statement yet for a supposed world savvy politician:

"No nation can donate liberation to another nation."

Perhaps not to ex-pat Afghanis. Apparently, like the president of Iran and Ernst Zundel, she believes the Holocaust, World Wars I and II didn't happen. There are a few million families around the world which might take exception to that statement as they remember their lost sons and daughters, and walk about the hectares of white-crossed gravesites around Europe. But then, that's what's left from the 1950s, too.

Update: The Globe and Mail, reporting on the NDP's successful convention endorsement of Layton's call for a pullout, is quoted as saying that the speech the night before by Joya "clearly influenced delegates", as she apparently stated that average Afghans view the U.S. actions in the country as simply having the effect of replacing one group of "misogynist war lords" with another.

So Jack appears to be content in the knowledge that Canadian troops are not only terrorists, but "misogynists" as well. Ms. Joya is certainly a piece of work. A strident muslim feminist who would have no platform in her own country, if not for those foreign "misogynists" who provided her that opportunity. Maybe Jack is right. Canadians should pull out of Afghanistan and leave it to he and Ms. Joya to do the lecture and peace promotion tour there after they're gone. What a buffoon.