[[GRETA O/C]] ON PLUGGED IN … THE BEGINNING OF THE END … TO AMERICA’S “FOREVER WAR.” [[BIDEN SOT: “We went to war with clear goals. We achieved those objectives.” ]] PRESIDENT BIDEN … ANNOUNCES AN END … TO TWENTY YEARS ... OF U.S. MILITARY PRESENCE ... IN AFGHANISTAN. [[CHUCK HAGEL SOT: “Foreign policy is an imperfect process and after 20 years I think an honest assessment has to be made.”]] THE IMPACT ... ON FOREIGN POLICY … COUNTER TERRORISM ... AND HUMAN RIGHTS ... ON PLUGGED IN ... US PULLOUT FROM AFGHANISTAN [[STOP]] [[GRETA O/C]] HELLO AND WELCOME … TO PLUGGED IN. I’M GRETA VAN SUSTEREN … REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON, DC. DECLARING THAT THE … “WAR IN AFGHANISTAN ... WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE … A MULTIGENERATIONAL UNDERTAKING...” PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ... ANNOUNCING U.S. TROOPS … WILL BE OUT OF AFGHANISTAN … BY THIS SEPTEMBER 11TH … THAT’S THE DATE OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY … OF THE ATTACKS ON THE U.S … THAT TRIGGERED THE WAR. BIDEN’S DECISION … COMES WEEKS BEFORE … A WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE … OF MAY FIRST … NEGOTIATED IN 2020 … BETWEEN THE TALIBAN … AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. A TALIBAN SPOKESMAN... WARNING THAT… “PROBLEMS WILL CERTAINLY … BE COMPOUNDED” … FOR FOREIGN FORCES … STILL IN THEIR COUNTRY … AFTER MAY FIRST. THE TIMING OF THE PULLOUT … HAS RECEIVED MIXED REVIEWS … IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE. SOME HAVE CONCERNS THE U.S. EXIT ... WILL LEAD TO THE COLLAPSE ... OF THE KABUL GOVERNMENT ... JEOPARDIZING PROGRESS … IN HEALTH, EDUCATION ... AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS. VOA SENIOR … DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT ... CINDY SAINE … BEGINS OUR COVERAGE … OF THE U.S. PULLOUT … FROM AFGHANISTAN. [[STOP]] [[SAINE PKG]] ((Video: AFP V000_9833UK: Pan left Blinken gets out of the car and elbow bumps Abdullah Abdullah Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation in Kabul)) ((NARRATOR)) ((MANDATORY COURTESY: HIGH COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION)) Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kabul with one central message for the Afghan people - the United States is not abandoning the country. ((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State)) "We have a partnership that is changing but enduring.” ((END COURTESY)) ((Video:AFP: V000_97Z96V: President Biden’s WH speech, file footage of US troops on the ground in Afghanistan, over to AFP Video for the Abdullah SOT: AFP V000_9833UK:)) ((NARRATOR)) His visit came one day after President Joe Biden ((MANDATORY COURTESY: DVIDS)) announced all U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Afghan national reconciliation head Abdullah Abdullah asked for continued U.S. support. ((END COURTESY)) ((MANDATORY COURTESY: HIGH COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION)) ((Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman, High Council for National Reconciliation)) "The decision about the moving to the next phase into the next chapter we respect that, but at the same time thank you for your continued commitment and support of peace.” ((END COURTESY)) ((Video of Afghan women at a bazaar, Afghan women graduates and female troops, over to Samkanai SOT: TC: 01:34 – 01: 46 link to the video: https://we.tl/t-XT4SACabAO?src=dnl )) ((NARRATOR)) Afghan women leaders worry their two decades of hard-won gains in women’s rights will be lost and are calling for regional and international guarantees. ((Fawzia Samkanai, Member of Parliament Upper House (in Pashto with English voiceover)) “Of course, women’s rights, those rights that Afghan women want in the framework of Islam, would be 100 percent threatened.” ((Video: MRT Blinken SOT in Frame, Central Published MRT for Cindy: https://app.frame.io/player/66e19cb7-5628-4cbd-8085-676ff56398d1)) ((NARRATOR)) Secretary Blinken addressed the issue while in Kabul. ((Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State) “We’ll continue to support civil society, and to advocate for equal rights for women, including their meaningful participation in the ongoing negotiations, and their equal representation throughout society.” ((Video: AFP V000_9697JU:shots of a damaged bus after a blast, over to Frame, Ambassador Olson SOT: Intv.Amb Olson.mp4 - Frame.io-TC: 00:01:11 - 00:02:14 ) ((NARRATOR)) There are also concerns about even greater violence in the war-torn country, say experts such as former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Richard Olson. ((Richard Olson, Former US Ambassador)) ((Mandatory Skype Video Courtesy)) “I think it is likely that Afghanistan will be going into a period of intensified conflict. It is my hope, and I believe this will be the US policy as well, that the U.S. will continue to support the government of Afghanistan principally through financial means.” ((Video: AFP V000_9834KX: Blinken with Afghan President Ghani: Mid shot Blinken and Afghan President Ghani coming down a red carpet into the presidential palace )) ((NARRATOR)) ((MANDATORY COURTESY: AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL MEDIA OFFICE HANDOUT)) Secretary Blinken said Thursday the only path forward to a lasting end to Afghanistan’s conflict is through negotiations, a political agreement and compromise. ((Cindy Saine, VOA News, Washington)) [[GRETA]] IN THE 20 YEARS, MORE THAN … 775 THOUSAND INDIVIDUAL … U.S. SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN … MADE AT LEAST … ONE DEPLOYMENT … TO AFGHANISTAN. THE WAR COST THE UNITED STATES … MORE THAN A TRILLION DOLLARS. AND DESPITE ALL THE EVENTS … THAT DOT THE TIMELINE … OF THE PAST 20 YEARS … IT IS THE SIZE OF THE NUMBERS … THAT STANDS OUT. [[STOP]] [[TIMELINE PKG]] Since Operation Enduring Freedom… dropped its first bombs … on Taliban targets in 2001 … U.S. troop deployments surged … to nearly 100,000 … at their peak in 2011 … and drawn down … to its current 35-hundred. Afghanistan ratified a constitution. Elections were held … and presidential power … transferred peacefully. Peace talks broke off … and then persevered. Plans were projected and reversed. Modernization brought electricity and education … particularly to Afghanistan’s girls. Osama bin Laden was found … and killed in nearby Pakistan. Yet suicide attacks persisted … while improvised explosive devices… maimed and killed. After two decades of war in Afghanistan … what has endured is the war’s human cost: More than 23-hundred American troops killed …. and another thousand from allied countries. More than 60 thousand … Afghanistan security forces … have been killed. And the number … of Afghan civilians … killed or injured … is well beyond 100 thousand. Also enduring: The Taliban. 20 years ago … it was harboring Al Qaeda … plotting the September 11th attacks … on the United States. Now, the Taliban’s resiliency … is the big challenge … facing a democratic Afghanistan … beyond this September 11th. [[STOP]] [[GRETA]] HOURS AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT… PRESIDENT BIDEN VISITED … ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY’S SECTION 60 ... WHERE VETERANS … OF THE AFGHANISTAN … AND IRAQ WARS ... ARE BURIED. [[FS GRAPHIC]] U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND … WHICH OVERSAW MANY … OF THE U.S. MISSIONS … IN AFGHANISTAN ... RELEASED A LETTER ... RECOGNIZING THE "SIGNIFICANT SACRIFICE MADE BY UNIFORMED SERVICE MEMBERS, GOVERNMENT CIVILIANS, CONTRACTORS, AND THEIR LOVED ONES, BUT MOST OF ALL, OUR GOLD STAR FAMILIES." [[ON CAM]] ONCE THE DECISION IS MADE … TO COMMIT U.S. FORCES TO WAR … OR TO WITHDRAW FROM WAR … EXECUTING THE MISSION … IS THE RESPONSIBILITY … OF THE DEFENSE SECRERTARY. CHUCK HAGEL … FILLED THAT POST … UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA … FROM 2013 TO 2015. WE TALKED ABOUT ... ENDING AMERICA’S LONGEST WAR … AND THE CONTINUING BATTLE ... AGAINST TERRORISM. [[STOP]] [[HAGEL INTERVIEW SOT]] CH: CHUCK HAGEL GVS: GRETA VAN SUSTEREN CH: Well there are national security implications, there are risks, but there are risks to every decision and every non-decision. Foreign policy is an imperfect process and after 20 years I think an honest assessment has to be made. I don't think we can continue this as a status quo project. It's not status quo. Afghanistan’s situation today is totally different than it was 20 years ago in 2001. The dynamics in world affairs, the risks around the world are different Everything is different. And I think what President Biden has done is come up with a responsible way to end our longest war and do it with our interests, certainly, the interests of the Afghan people and our allies. We've got to remember that we've had for 20 years a lot of allies serve and die there. We've had over 40 countries serve there. The people of Afghanistan deserve our consideration in every way but we can't continue the way we are. So yes, there are risks. I'm convinced though that the risks of moving in a different direction in Afghanistan are worth it because ISIS for example, al-Qaida the terrorists, the reason we went into Afghanistan, they're now all over. They’re all over North Africa they're all over the Middle East. It isn't just Afghanistan. it's a different place now. So I support the president's decision. GVS: Is this really President Biden's decision or is it President Trump's decision since he in February 2020 struck the deal with the Taliban that U.S. troops would leave by May 1st, and it seems to me that President Biden is just maintaining that that that deal that President Trump struck or is it different? CH: Well I think it's different. First of all we're not going to be out by May 1st. But President Biden has always been very skeptical I think, as you know, for years about, first of all, what is our mission in Afghanistan? It's never been clearly defined. When I was in the Senate on the Foreign Relations Committee, Intelligence Committees, we would ask the question, you know, what are we doing- is this nation building? define victory. When do we win? What's the exit strategy? We never could get any answers. So it's been pretty murky and unclear as to why we were there, not at the beginning, but why we continued to stay and stay and stay. And the Afghan people became totally dependent on us. We spent two and a half trillion dollars there. And it actually, it's in worse shape today, Taliban control more property today, more land than ever before, more poppy production, more corruption in government. So Biden has been consistent with his questioning of our long-term commitment to Afghanistan. It wasn't just because of the Trump decision. GVS: Well you've served in the military, served in the Senate, you've been secretary of defense. You've had all the experiences. Why wouldn't when the US went into Afghanistan in 2001 was the mission not defined? And why did why were we unable to at least at that time look at some sort of exit strategy? Because certainly we'd seen in history other wars that the US have been involved in and when we hadn't sorted that out, they dragged on long? CH: Well, you're right. And as you know I was in one of those wars in Vietnam, but I think the mistakes of the United States has made over the past certainly 50 years and beyond, mistakes that we make are we get into situations, we lead with the military first of all. And that's the wrong way. You can't lead with your military. There's always has to be and it's certainly always at the end a diplomatic solution. The military supports that diplomatic strategic objective and the strategy, but it has to be diplomatic. The military can't lead it. You put the military in a very impossible situation. The military can't turn the economy around in Afghanistan, government around, security around and so on, so I think that's part of it. Second, we never understood the history, never understood the history, the cultural, the tribal differences in Afghanistan. It has never been governed by a central government Never. Soviets driven out, the British driven out. Alexander the Great driven out. Now that's not a reason It can't be a democracy. But I don't think we ever understood Afghanistan at all. We didn't understand Vietnam. We really didn't understand Iraq. So when we when we take that approach and go in head first without really understanding what we're getting into and then not going through a series of questions: what happens next What happens next? Ultimately, what's the exit strategy then it's headed for a bad end. GVS: Can we be optimistic that Afghanistan not that it’s necessarily our responsibility, except for the fact if we want to say you know, if we broke something we've got to fix it. But can you be optimistic they have a bright future? CH: Well, I'm just naturally optimistic. but I'm also very much of a realist. and asking me that question today, and I thought about that question a lot, based on the decisions that Trump made last year, Biden made here recently. Yes I'm optimistic. I don't think you're going to roll all that back. I just don't think the people of Afghanistan are going to allow that. There will be areas of Afghanistan that we've really not touched. Some of the most remote areas, that haven't changed much in the last 20 years, haven't changed much the last two hundred years. But I think the overall success in women's rights, rights overall in the country, education opportunities, I don't think that's that's going to all be lost. I just don't, because I think the people themselves have seen what can be done and how it benefits them in so many ways, culturally and every way. GVS: It's interesting to look at President Biden's cabinet response- Secretary of State Blinken said “no military solution to Afghan conflict,” that's what his comments about it. CIA Director Burns says “upon withdrawal, the US government's ability to collect and act on terrorism will be diminished.” Your thoughts? CH: Well, what Bill Burns point is, I mean, the reality is yes, it will be diminished because we won't have, we won't have thousands of troops there and thousands of allied troops there, maintaining outposts and maintaining air power and with the platforms we have. So yes, it will be diminished. But will it be diminished to a point where we don't have good intelligence anymore or sufficient intelligence for for our efforts? That remains to be seen, but I don't think so. And Bill's point is right I mean of course it's going to be diminished, but that doesn't mean that we won't have intelligence there. We've got tremendous sophistication for intelligence gathering and sharing today versus 20 years ago. Totally different. Totally better. GVS: Well I hope we've learned something from our past experience as we move forward. CH: Well I do too Greta. We must and I think we will. It's been a terribly expensive 20 years for this country in the lives that were lost, both Iraqi civilians and Afghan civilians, as well as American lives, our allies lives, huge sums of money spent. I hope we can we can learn from this and build on what good we did do and that we can move on. But that's that's a story of history. That's why we need to read history to try to learn. [[GRETA]] ONE CONSISTENCY … OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS … IS U.S. OFFICIALS HAVE SAID ... ANY DECISION … TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN … WOULD BE MADE … IN CONSULTATION … WITH NATO ALLIES. SEPTEMBER 11TH IS... SET AS THE TARGET DATE ... FOR A FULL MILITARY WITHDRAWAL. NOW THE PROCESS ... OF SENDING 10 THOUSAND TROOPS ... BACK TO THEIR HOMELANDS... IS GETTING UNDERWAY. FROM LONDON ... HERE’S VOA’S … HENRY RIDGWELL. [[STOP]] [[RIDGWELL PKG]] ((NARRATOR)) Britain has 750 troops in Afghanistan – part of the NATO mission to train Afghan forces. Within months, those Afghan forces will be on their own. The U.S. announcement that it will withdraw all its troops by September 11 means NATO allies will also pull out. ((Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General)) “We plan to complete the withdraw down for all our troops within a few months.” ((NARRATOR)) The withdrawal by British and NATO troops was inevitable, says analyst Julie Norman. ((Julie Norman, University College London Security Analyst)) ((cf. mandatory Skype logo)) “The U.S. presence there really enabled a lot of the logistical support that enabled NATO troops to be there.” ((NARRATOR)) Britain was among the first U.S. allies to join the invasion of Afghanistan, which was triggered by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Nearly two decades on, the former head of the British armed forces fears for the future of the country. ((Gen. Sir Richard Barrons, Former Commander of UK Joint Forces Command)) “I think many people will argue that the Taliban will effectively have a summer holiday and then assume they can come back in the autumn when the Americans have left and much of NATO has drawn down, and then continue their armed disputes with the Afghan government and expect to prevail.” ((NARRATOR)) Over 450 British troops were killed in the Afghan conflict. In total, more than three-and-a-half thousand NATO service personnel – including U.S. soldiers – have lost their lives. ((Julie Norman, University College London Security Analyst)) ((cf. mandatory Skype logo)) “There's the sense from some that almost questioning was the sacrifice worth it if there was just going to be the withdrawal at the end. Others however feel, is it right to keep British, American and other NATO forces service members in this kind of harm's way for a war that does not seem winnable in the conventional sense?” ((NARRATOR)) Among Afghans, the withdrawal of foreign troops provokes mixed feelings. ((Mohammad Karim, Kabul Kite Maker (in Dari) )) “What we saw during the Taliban, it doesn't even exist in my memory anymore. I don't want to think about it because our country is moving toward development, it is moving toward peace.” ((Sayed Ahad Azizi, Kabul Resident (in Dari) )) “Peace is the only thing that all people want but if foreign troops stay here, the realization of peace in Afghanistan will be impossible.” ((NARRATOR)) For the U.S. and its allies - the Afghan withdrawal is a watershed moment to reflect on what has been achieved in two decades of conflict. For Afghanistan, the fight for democracy and freedom is far from over. ((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London)) [[GRETA]] AMERICA’S EXIT … FROM AFGHANISTAN … WILL HAVE RAMIFICATIONS … THROUGHOUT THE REGION. MORE ON THE REACTION … FROM VOA’S ARASH ARABASADI. (pronounced uh-RAHSH ARAB-uh-sah-dee) [[STOP]] [[ARABASADI PKG]] ((NARRATOR)) The decision pushes back a May deadline the president’s predecessor negotiated with the Taliban. ((BIDEN IN TREATY ROOM, AP/MRT, 04/14)) ((BITE PARTIALLY COVERED BY VAR AFGHANISTAN WAR, DVIDS)) “I’ve concluded that it’s time to end America’s longest war. It’s time for American troops to come home… ((VAR, KABUL/KANDAHAR, AP, VAR DATES)) ((NARRATOR)) But experts warn a total withdrawal of American troops threatens stability across the region. ((VOX POP: Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute)) ((mandatory SKYPE)) “I’m just flabbergasted at the shortsightedness here.” ((VAR, FIRING MORTARS, AFP)) ((NARRATOR)) Marvin Weinbaum is director of the Middle East Institute’s Afghanistan and Pakistan studies. He predicts the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will collapse without U.S. support. ((Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute)) ((mandatory SKYPE)) ((BITE PARTIALLY COVERED BY VAR, TALIBAN, AFP)) “Some will try to strike some kind of deal with the Taliban, very likely an interim-government arrangement. But it will be on the Taliban’s terms, not their terms. So, it will amount to a soft surrender. Finally, there will be those who say, ‘Okay. I’ve got my heavily-armed militia, and bring the Taliban on, because we’re going to fight them.’ That leads, inevitably to, what we’ve been fearing most, and that is a wide open, chaotic civil war.” ((VAR, TALIBAN, ZABUL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN, AP, 08/15/2016)) ((NARRATOR)) Weinbaum calls it a fantasy that regional powers would join forces in stopping the rise of the Taliban or the export of Sunni extremism, despite sharing a common interest in doing so. Afghan civilians, he says, will bear the brunt. ((Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute)) ((mandatory SKYPE)) ((BITE PARTIALLY COVERED BY VAR, TALIBAN, ZABUL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN, AP, 08/15/2016)) “The implications here for the average person is the economy will collapse. No jobs. The only source of income will be poppy. If there’s a civil war, even the poppy crop will be in jeopardy because of the inability to safely move goods. A civil war is an open civil war – such as existed in the early 1990s – is everybody’s nightmare. Certainly far beyond the current scariness of the current situation. It’s when, effectively, there is no authority. That’s anarchy.” ((VAR, NATO SPECIAL FORCES TRAINING, DVIDS)) ((NARRATOR)) Weinbaum says a troop withdrawal takes with it any leverage the United States may have had while opening the door to the resurgence of groups like Islamic State. For its part, the Biden administration pledges continued engagement with Afghanistan, including working with and training Afghan security forces. Arash Arabasadi, VOA News, Washington. [[GRETA]] WHAT HAPPENS AFTER... THE U.S. LEAVES AFGHANISTAN... WILL HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT... ON THE AFGHAN PEOPLE... THEIR GOVERNMENT... AND OTHER GEOPOLITICAL... PLAYERS IN THE REGION. LAUREL MILLER... IS A FORMER ACTING... SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE... FOR AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN... AT THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT. WE SPOKE EARLIER ABOUT THE DIPLOMATIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE US TROOP PULLOUT FROM AFGHANISTAN. [[STOP]] [[MILLER INTERVIEW SOT]] LM = Laurel Miller GVS = Greta Van Susteren LM : I think we're going to see the US trying as President Biden and other officials said they were going to do to continue efforts to get a peace process for Afghanistan launched to continue efforts to work with countries in Afghanistan's region. Toward that end, but I have to say the chances of that effort succeeding are pretty low. And that's partly because of the troop withdrawal and the way that that lessens American stakes in the region and therefore American influence in Afghanistan, but it's also partly because of the trajectory of declining chances of getting this diplomacy launched over a period of a few years now. I am not expecting the Taliban to just roll through Kabul and other urban areas in short order, the Afghan government security forces that they're up against are a lot stronger than what they, the Taliban were up against in the 1990s. It doesn't mean that the Afghan government is about to defeat the Taliban either if that were the case that would have happened already. I do think what we're going to see is a very bloody continuation of the Civil War. GVS : It's no secret many Americans are war weary and wanted to get out sooner. The US has been in Afghanistan, about 20 years. What took so long to get to this point? LM : Well, I think one thing that took so long is that American aims in Afghanistan, expanded over time. And so it became very difficult to say you had satisfied your goals, I mean those who, who think that we should have pulled out much sooner say look we you know we achieved the main counterterrorism goals a long time ago that was enough. But the aims did increase over time. Another reason it was so difficult and I think this is really the, the main one is risk aversion. It was easier, in a sense to just keep trying then to then to stop and to really, you know, rip the band aid off so to say, in acknowledging that you're not going to achieve all of your aims, but I think people have known for a long time that we didn't win the war in Afghanistan in a military sense and that we weren't going to, in the sense of defeating definitively, the Taliban. But the withdrawal, really underscores that in a way that nothing else could I mean it is fundamentally an acknowledgement that the war is not going to be won and we're just going to stop trying. GVS : The original mission that the United States went into Afghanistan was the anti-terrorism was a national security after the US got attacked on September, 11, after, after the US got in there, of course, we know what many Americans saw for the first time is the way the Taliban treated the women in Afghanistan, and that, of course, is horrifying to so many women, you know, what's going to happen to the Afghan women when the US, pull out? LM : Well, circumstances are difficult for Afghan women already in Afghanistan. First of all, there have been a lot of gains in their freedoms and their ability to participate in public life, but those gains have been very uneven in the country. Moreover, there. Afghanistan is still one of the deadliest places in the world. It is the conflict in which through direct conflict, the most number of people die year in year out for the last several years so that affects women just as much as it affects men and everyone else. So, circumstances are difficult now there is certainly a possibility that in areas where Taliban gain strength I would save in a probability that in areas where the Taliban gain strength, there will be a return to significant constraints on the ability of women to enjoy the kinds of freedoms that they have had in recent years. Again, I mean the question more broadly in Afghanistan is what is going to happen in terms of the big picture at the national level, are we going to see a Taliban dominated government in the future, or are we going to see something that eventually after a protracted conflict. Looks more like power sharing and a patchwork of control by different groups in different parts of the country. GVS : You know, there's some NGs, some Americans over there, civilians who have things like schools, and they're trying to help the Afghan people, what happens to them? LM : I hate to be very blunt about it, but I suggest they leave the country. I mean it's just I think going to be an increasingly unsafe to be placed to be. The numbers of civilians who have been there, who are in Afghanistan, working on development projects humanitarian projects etc. have dwindled quite considerably over the years as the security situation has deteriorated. So, the number of foreigners overall who were in Afghanistan, not only Americans is not nearly what it was at the height of American involvement there, you know 10 years ago, but I do expect that Afghanistan is going to be increasingly an unsafe place to be. (GRETA) DESPITE BETETR ACCESS... TO HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION... MANY WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN... FACE DISCRIMINATION... AND LARGER SOCIO-ECONOMIC... BARRIERS TO PROGRESS. ONE SURVIVOR... OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE... IS NOW USING HER EXPERIENCE... TO SPEAK UP FOR... THE WOMEN OF... HER COUNTRY. VOA’s Bezhan Hamdard (PRONO: BEIGE-on HAM-dard) HAS HER STORY. [[STOP]] [[HAMDARD PKG]] ((NARRATOR)) At just 15, Shakila Zareen was married off in her native Afghanistan. At 16, her husband shot her in the face, scarring her for life. ((Shakila Zareen, Domestic Violence Survivor))) ((Female in Dari)) “Sometimes I wish to wake up to see a miracle that my face has been fixed. But when I wake up, this miracle isn’t there.” ((NARRATOR)) But she did not stop fighting for safety, freedom and a better life. In 2013, Zareen was granted asylum in Canada where she fulfilled a dream. ((Shakila Zareen, Domestic Violence Survivor (Female in Dari))) “I was stopped from going to school. But, after getting asylum in Canada, I got my dream of going back to school. On the first day of school, when I sat next to my classmates, I cried. However, that was tears of joy.” ((NARRATOR)) ((mandatory cg: Shakila Zareen)) Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Zareen and promised his full support. ((Shakila Zareen, Domestic Violence Survivor (Female in Dari))) “Apart from many things, the Canadian government’s biggest favor to me has been providing me treatment for my face. They have supported 15 surgeries so far.” ((NARRATOR)) ((mandatory cg: Shakila Zareen)) Zareen says that despite her husband’s brutal actions, her voice didn’t matter much in Afghanistan. Now, she’s fighting for thousands of unheard voices through public speaking. ((Shakila Zareen, Domestic Violence Survivor)) ((Female in Dari)) “Here in Canada, I am a public speaker. I demand justice for those women facing violence and I tell the painful story of my life, and other Afghan women’s lives who suffered like me, to the whole world.” ((NARRATOR)) Zareen has the backing of groups who are also fighting against domestic violence. ((Dr. Lauryn Oates, Human Rights Activist (Female in English)) “We gave her some support on how to prepare for a presentation and she has become very active in that area. She is very fearlessly telling her story not only in Canada in countries around the world talking about the issue of violence against women and the impact it had in her own life.” ((NARRATOR)) Zareen says communities must unite to combat this global problem ((Shakila Zareen, Domestic Violence Survivor (Female in Dari))) “Shakila cannot change the world all alone. All the women who facing violence should come together. We should not cry and stay back in our homes because it does not solve our problems. Instead, we should be united against those who are involved in violence against women.” ((For Noshaba Ashna in Vancouver, Canada – Bezhan Hamdard – VOANEWS)) [[GRETA]] THAT’S ALL THE TIME … WE HAVE FOR NOW. MY THANKS … TO FORMER… DEFENSE SECRETARY ... CHUCK HAGEL… AND LAUREL MILLER …. FROM THE INTERNATIONAL… CRISIS GROUP. STAY UP TO DATE … WITH THE LATEST NEWS … AT VOANEWS.COM. AND FOLLOW ME … ON TWITTER … AT GRETA. THANK YOU FOR BEING … PLUGGED IN. [[STOP]] ####