KABUL - While batting for the empowerment of Afghan women, a former American first lady has called for a continued military presence in the male-dominated country.
The call from Laura Bush came as the Obama administration is considering withdrawing 4,300 troops from Afghanistan, from 9,800 to 5,500, by the end of the current year.
In an interview with a media outlet on the sidelines of the Aspen Ideas Festival, she remarked withdrawing troops meant “we would have to start all over again” in Afghanistan.
Women would lose the ground they have gained since the 2001 US invasion of the country, she argued. “The Taliban had been there and we just hadn’t paid any attention. The plight of the women there was a shock to American women.” (Pajhwok)