In a 2006 news release from the U.S. Department of Defense, former President George W. Bush was quoted as saying, “I hope the people of Afghanistan understand that as democracy takes hold, you’re inspiring others.”
This was the philosophy of President Bush’s foreign policy: By bringing democracy to certain places in the Middle East, it will create a push for democracy in other authoritarian regimes.
And perhaps Bush was right to an extent, if the Arab Spring is any indication. Citizens in Egypt, Syria, Libya and elsewhere have risen up against their leaders in attempts to change their governments.
Whether these changes will look anything like democracy as we know it is debatable.
In the same release, Bush continued, “And that inspiration will cause others to demand their freedom.”
Before we can determine whether this “freedom” has spread to places around the Middle East, we must first determine whether we can say that, after a decade of war, the people of Afghanistan have this “freedom.”
First, it is important to recognize that freedom is not the equivalent of democracy. Democracy is merely a form of government. It usually includes features such as representative legislatures and executive bodies, and the makeup of these bodies is determined by elections.
Afghanistan elected Hamid Karzai as its president in 2004 and re-elected him in 2009. Because of these and other elections held in Afghanistan, one can say that the country shows signs of being a democracy.
There are, however, certain other conditions common among democratic governments. For instance, most democracies have high levels of press freedom, freedom of speech, due process and equal protection under the law.
It is this final condition that the government of Afghanistan seems to lack.
Guidelines issued by Afghanistan’s religious council were recently backed by President Karzai, which would “relegate women to the position of second-class citizens,” according to the UK’s The Independent.
The Ulema Council, the group that sponsored these guidelines, said in a statement, “Men are fundamental and women are secondary.” The guidelines went on to suggest that “men and women should not mix in work or education, and that women must have a male guardian when they travel,” according to The Independent.
This is not the first time that the rights of Afghan women have come into question.
In 2009, Karzai signed a law that legalized the rape of women by their husbands, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women. These policies are not exactly what one would expect to be coming from a “democratic” government.
While the goal of our mission in Afghanistan might have been to spread democracy, one must ask whether the fact that elections were held is enough to proclaim that we have succeeded.
