TIME magazine ends debate on the war in Afghanistan?

Leaving Afghanistan: "Zohal Sagar lost her father and two brothers in the war. Her mother hopes they can leave Afghanistan and find a new life in Canada," TIME captions this bitterweet image of one of the innocent victims of war. But it gets oh so much worse. Their cover image will haunt you forever unless you're a moral relativist like Editor Peter Stengel, who makes a fine point of assuring us he isn't taking sides (see below).

"We do not run this story or show this image either in support of the U.S. war effort or in opposition to it," protests TIME Managing Editor Peter Stengel, sending the moral relativist's "secret signal" even as he has decided to go ahead and publish what's got to be the best argument ever — the image itself — for staying the course in Afghanistan:

Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.

Asked for comment on the plight of women in Afghanistan — presumably not yet having seen TIME's cover portrait of Aisha — former National Organization for Women President Ellie Smeal had this to say, according to a Washington Times report:

The future of Afghan women "has just dropped out of all public discourse. What happens with females over and over again is we're forgotten."

Caption from our June 2 post "An increasingly impotent chattering class of credulous Chris Matthewses": "Palin isn't a feminist — not in the slightest," huffs card-carrying postmodern feminist Jessica Valenti of the blog Feministing, stumbling inadvertently onto the truth that will soon send her and her sob sisters tumbling into the dustbin of history: "What she calls 'the emerging conservative feminist identity' isn't a structural analysis of patriarchal norms. It's an empty rallying call to women who are disdainful of or apathetic to women's rights."

Try telling that to Sarah Palin and her Army of Mama Grizzlies, Ms. Smeal. Woman as victim? That's SO yesterday. "She's playing the "woman card," notes Tuck. Yet more proof if needed that postmodern feminists are on the wrong side of history.

Our friend Peter Ingemi of Da Tech Guy's Blog has action steps:

That TIME magazine cover … should be put up every time the debate on the war takes place.

Note. Despite its bad press under the recent ramming down the nation's throat of ObamaCare, the best medicine in the world is still being practiced in the land of the free and the home of the brave, as TIME Managing Editor Stengel acknowledges, in spite of himself:

To learn more about Aisha, and how an NGO is helping her get reconstructive surgery in the United States, go to Women for Afghan Women.

Update: This just in on Twitter as we were about to publish, from twitterfriend Paul Levitt:

A friend spent several months in Afghanistan last year teaching traditional songs to women and kids … Told me of people crying at being able to sing again — the Taliban killed anyone who sang, played music.

It isn't just for the women. It's for our very humanity that we must win the war in Afghanistan.

Update II: Trending on Memeorandum.

Update III: Michelle Malkin "Buzzworthy" link!

Crossposted at Riehl World View, Cloven Not Crested and Liberty Pundits.

Comments

[chickelit]

Dick Dale briefly emerged from his latest bout with cancer and had something to say about this at the show I saw last Saturday. He gave up his beach life decades ago and has since lived alongside the USMC at Twentynine Palms. He dedicated the last song in what I pray is not his last show to the men and women fighting in Afghanistan. He derided what he called an insane policy of our soldiers not being able to fire back unless being fired upon with rockets. I don't recall his exact words but he said something along the lines of "These are our kids we're sacrificing-if I were there I'd want to shoot back." Then he launched into a free-style version "Amazing Grace."

[goomp]

Those who have total power tend to abuse those over whom they have the power. There was a day in the past when the Catholic rulers abused the non Catholics. Today it is some Muslims that have such power. Only a free society such as we have had in the past in the USA can be trusted to rule with little abuse.

[Gayle Miller]

Sarah Palin is magnificent and the hope of a waiting (impatiently) nation. I pray and hope that she will have the strength and tenacity to correct all the ills that the current "Boy King" is visiting upon our Republic.

[Tom the Redhunter]

I subscribed to Time for a few years after I graduated from college in 1983, but gave it up after a few years. All they did was repeat what I'd already read in the newspapers and put an even more liberal spin on it. I think my final straw was an interview with Gorby in which they did nothing but toss softballs.