Hillary Clinton pledged not "to abandon" Afghan women

Report from WomensViewsonNews.org "Afghan women fear for the future after US troops pulled out":

As President Barack Obama announces the withdrawal of US troops tonight, Afghan women are demanding a place at the table to make sure that their rights are not negotiated away in peace talks.

The announcement comes after departing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that peace talks are taking place with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Despite Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s pledge to Afghan women last May that “we will not abandon you, we will stand with you always,” there are concerns that Afghan women could pay the price for peace with loss of the freedoms they have gained.

Further:

Maryam Hashimi, a 49-year-old office worker who had witnessed women being beaten for “crimes” that included allowing a glimpse of their ankle under their covering told King that she feared things would return to the way they were before the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

“They don’t change — if the Taliban had power, things would be just as they were before, when we could not work, or leave our houses, or even imagine a place like this, where we can walk freely.”

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