Re: What do we do?

Douglas Whitworth (douglas@centrenet.co.uk)
Sun, 8 Nov 1998 20:42:17 -0000

Dan wrote
>Again, I'm no expert, but I thought most Afgan women were illiterate.
Sending
>in books is not likely to work.
This is a very salient point - trying to precipitate change in a climate where literacy, and thus education, are of a very low level, can have potentially catastophic concequences ( witness the numerous revolutions and counter revolutions in Africa etc). In order to gain meaningfull change, those who have their fingers on the triggers, so to speak, also have to be convinced that to change is in their interests too, otherwise, as so often happens, all that changes are the hands holding the guns

Well intentioned interventions is such volatile environments as those that exist in extremist societies like the Taliban's can so easily have very violent repercussions for the very people in need of assistance.

I would suggest that any intervention would have to be very carefully considered beforehand . Spaming Taliban Leaders with Porn doesn't sound like one of them, as was suggested on a previous post

Douglas