re: #106 Ericus58

World’s best news photo is Time cover of disfigured Afghan woman

[Link: news.yahoo.com…]

The accompanying article was titled: “What happens if we leave Afghanistan”.

“The image was captured by Jodi Bieber, a photographer from South Africa. The woman it depicts is Bibi Aisha, who was 18 when she left her husband, a Taliban fighter, over claims of domestic abuse. In an act of retribution, the Taliban allowed him to cut off her ears and nose. Aisha’s husband abandoned her after the assault; American soldiers and aid workers later rescued her and transported her to the United States—where she now lives—for reconstructive surgery.

Time ignited a firestorm of debate over the suitability of the woman’s photo when the magazine’s editors featured it on the cover last August. Detractors called it “emotional blackmail” and “war porn,” according to the New York Times, while others saw it as “a powerful appeal to conscience.”“

The reasons for sending our military into Afghanistan in the first place were valid and just. And seeing how the previous Clinton Administration and how Democratic leaders were also stating Saddam’s intentions towards WMD’s… well, I guess Iraq will always be where good people can disagree.

I backed Afghanistan, but the idea that we went into save women and children from tribal brutality is absolutely ridiculous.