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U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces are gathering on the outskirts of Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan to prepare for the latest offensive in President Obama’s “surge” strategy. The troops plan to secure areas around Kandahar, which has recently witnessed a sudden increase in insurgent attacks. General David Petraeus has argued that if NATO’s counterinsurgency strikes work, they will result in improved security, giving the Afghan government a chance to find stability as the international community distributes aid to improve the quality of life for residents. But for an already-unstable government in a country crumbling beneath the pressure of bombardment from within and without, the surge could mean disaster. By August, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will reach 100,000—78,000 more soldiers than were deployed when Obama took office. Opponents of the Afghan war point to the killing by American troops of an Afghan parliamentarian’s relative on Friday, and the illegal, botched night raid that killed two pregnant women, a teenage girl, and two Afghan officials in February. Outspoken Afghan activist and former member of the Parliament, Malalai Joya has called for an end to the occupation of Afghanistan, pointing out that Americans “have not been told the truth…[The U.S. has] replaced the fundamentalist rule of Taliban with another fundamentalist regime of warlords. [That is] what your soldiers are dying for.” Joya was suspended from Parliament nearly 3 years ago. Her memoir, A Woman Among Warlords with Derrick O’Keefe was published late last year. Last week she was named one of Time Magazine’s “’100 Most Influential People” of 2010. I reached her via satellite phone in Afghanistan earlier this morning.

GUEST: Malalai Joya, dissident former Parliamentarian in Afghanistan, author with Derrick O’Keefe of A Woman Among Warlords.

Find out more at www.malalaijoya.com.

Read Time Magazine’s announcement of Joya’s as one of the 100 most influential people of 2010: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984949_1985238,00.html

Malalai Joya took offense at the following excerpt of Time’s write-up:

“I hope in time she comes to see the U.S. and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on her side instead of out of her country. The road to freedom is long and arduous and needs every hand.”

The Defense Committee for Malalai Joya published a response to the Time Magazine write-up:

We strongly object to the inaccuracies in the write-up by Ayaan Hirshi Ali on Malalai Joya here.

We believe it is disrespectful of Ms. Joya not to make clear her consistent and vocal opposition to the NATO occupation of Afghanistan. In fact, it is her opposition to war which has made her influential throughout the world, since in the vast majority of NATO countries public opinion is also opposed to the war.

Hirshi Ali criticizes Ms. Joya’s views on the NATO occupation of Afghanistan without ever actually letting the reader know what they are. Surely the TIME 100 honorees have all earned the right to have their own views represented in a non-patronizing, accurate manner to your readers.

The very first sentence — “To be a woman growing up in Afghanistan under the Taliban and to survive is in itself a major feat…” — betrays an unfamiliarity with the subject’s biography. In fact, Ms. Joya grew up in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. The Taliban only came to power in the period of 1994-1996, and Joya only returned to her homeland in 1998, at the age of 19. The whole tenor and content of the write-up plays into the common misconception in the United States that the only fundamentalist, reactionary political forces in Afghanistan are the Taliban. There is no reference to the civil war and the massacres carried out by fundamentalist warlords — many of whom have been returned to power under the Karzai regime.

Rough Transcript of Interview

Sonali Kolhatkar: You were just named one of the 100 most influential people of 2010 by TIME Magazine. But author Hirsi Ali, who wrote the announcement, said “I hope in time she comes to see the U.S. and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on her side instead of out of her country.” How do you respond to this statement?

Malalai Joya: On behalf of the voiceless people of my country, thank you for interviewing me. I am very angry with the way they have introduced me. They have a completely painted a false picture of me and does not mention at all about my struggle against the occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO, which is disgusting. In fact every one knows that I stand side by side with the glorious anti war movement around the world and have proved again and again that I will never compromise with the US And NATO who have occupied my country, empowered the most bloody enemies of my people and are killing my innocent compatriots [inaudible] in Afghanistan. What TIME did was like giving an award to someone by one hand and getting it back by another hand. I have sent my protest to it to the Defense Committee [for Malalai Joya] but TIME did not bother to even answer than protest letter. Perhaps this is the kind of freedom of expression exercised by TIME and the USA. But I’m happy to see that many of my friends and supporters have objected to the write up and either expressed it by posting their comments on TIME’s site or sending me many emails.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Earlier this year some journalists were able to confirm that US troops had killed two pregnant women during a night-time raid. How common are such occurrences in Afghanistan today?

Malalai Joya: Yes, civilians casualties of course has been a factor which killed many people, not only in Afghanistan but around the world against the US and NATO war in Afghanistan. Therefore they are trying very hard to lie when they kill innocent people and also stop media from reporting it. Most of the civilian casualties take place in remote areas of Afghanistan where there is no media to report it. So no one notices it. In many cases after killing people NATO [releases] statements saying that many insurgents were killed. When you try to find out from the local people, they are actually many women and children, not insurgents. Afghan media are also truly in the hands of the Afghan criminal bands. They rarely report civilians killed by the US and NATO. In Afghanistan behind any media outlet, especially TV channels they are a force for warlords of the Northern Alliance. For example those from Atta Mohammed, Qanooni, Mohseni, Mohaqqiq, Rabbani and others, each have their own TV channels and they naturally do not want to report civilian casualties by their US and NATO masters. The US Embassy in Kabul have a media who carefully motnitors all media in Afghanistan and if they find any of them reporting against US interests, then they try through different means to stop it. Bribes are a very common means used. For the US it’s not just fighting a war through military means, but they also fight on the propaganda front. I think propaganda plays a major role. They are trying to show the war as justifiable. For this they are using their lie-machines. When they kill civilians they immediately deny it and say all they have killed are Taliban. When there is no chance for any independent confirmation, the [inaudible] lies are reflected in the world media. There are only a few cases where some brave and justice loving journalists like John Starkey have come forward to unmake their shameful lies.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Much has been made recently of Karzai’s statements in favor of the Taliban. How close is the Afghan central government to forging a peace with the Taliban? What will that mean for the US/NATO war? What will it mean for the people of Afghanistan?

Malalai Joya: I think Karzai cannot dare to give such a statement or try to meet the Taliban and Gulbuddin party leaders without having an OK from the White House. Actually it is the US that asks him to do peace with the Taliban and Gulbuddin party or at least share power with some parts of them to reduce its casualties in Afghanistan. Also the US government needs to show the people of NATO and especially to the US people that it is not a war monger and is in favor of peace talks with the Taliban. But it is a show. The US never wants to defeat the Taliban forever {??} as they need them as an excuse to continue the occupation of Afghanistan and implementation of its strategic, regional, and military interests. I think some Taliban and Gulbuddin leaders are already part of Karzai’s regime [?]. One of the main leaders of Hekmatyar’s party called Hadi Arghandiwal is now the economy Minister under Karzai. But probably some more such people of Taliban and Hekmatyar will join this puppet regime and this is what the US wants. No one else can can [inaudible] of the US government than these brutal and inhuman leaders. They have been created by the US in the past and are ready to work for the US as long as their pockets are filled with dollars and high posts are offered to them in the government. Actually the US government is trying hard to empower reactionary forces and individuals in Afghanistan as they are [inaudible] to stop the emergence of pro-democracy loving and national forces and groups in my country.

Sonali Kolhatkar: You also discuss in your piece on the Daily Beast that there are a lot of anti-US protests happening in Afghanistan today that go unreported. Tell us more about these protests – where are they happening, who is protesting, and are they also against the fundamentalists or just the US/NATO?

Malalai Joya: Yes, we have witnessed the “surge” and the protest of people especially in the Eastern and Western part of Afghanistan over the past year. They are mostly reactions to civilians killed by the US and NATO. With every bombardment of NATO, angry people come to the streets to raise anti-US slogans. But unfortunately they are not organized and in some cases the Taliban uses them. We have seen most of these protests in Nangahar, in Ghazni, in Logar, Herat amd Helmand provinces but they are usually not reported. A few days ago angry protestors burned around 20 fuel tankers of NATO in Loghar which was done out of many such protests which was reported by the world media. Maybe you also heard about this news. These protestors are not only against the US and NATO but also against the Afghan government. People see that this government is deeply corrupt and in the hands of looters and murderers of the Northern Alliance. So they are deeply fed up. Last month a large crowd of thousands of workers in Baghlan province protested against Mahmood Karzai [vice chairman of the Afghanistan chamber of commerce and Hamid Karzai’s younger brother], head of the economic mafia of Afghanistan has his hold on some previously state-owned factories. The US and NATO and the Afghan government usually ignore people’s protests. But I believe that given enough time, such protest will become even more organized out of people’s anger. Afghans are on the verge of uprising but poverty, destitution, and the non-existence of a powerful democratic-minded forces in our country stops them from a very serious uprising. I’m sure in the next few years such forces will emerge and these protests will turn more powerful to shake the Afghan puppet government and also occupation forces.

Sonali Kolhatkar: The US has made no secret for many months that it is about to launch an offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar. What do you think will happen this summer as a result of this offensive?

Malalai Joya: As I said before, the US does not want to defeat the Taliban forever. They only fight with them here and there to show the American people that the US is at war in Afghanistan and their presence is necessary here. The offensive of Kandahar will not be different from Marjah and other areas of Helmand where they had such operations in the past. They make such hue and cry about their military actions but in fact they just push the Taliban to other areas and then install some corrupt officials and police forces who are worse than the Taliban. In a few days the Taliban return as we experienced in the past as well. They declared Marjah as a Taliban-free district but in fact the Taliban has a permanent presence there. They had left the area for a short time. After Marjah operation, the spokesperson of the Afghan Defense Ministry was asked at a press conference why you allowed the Taliban to leave the area and they were neither killed nor arrested. He answered that the purpose of the operation was not killing or arresting them. Our purpose was to push them out of the area so they will do the same thing with Kandahar. They will launch the operation and then allow the Taliban to go to another area and then later start an operation there. This is a battle for show, not a real war against terrorism. Otherwise for the US and NATO, it is a task of a few days to uproot the Taliban and defeat them forever. But then everyone will ask them to end the occupation of Afghanistan. The only outcome of such operation is civilian casualties. Poor and innocent are killed in the war. But the Taliban do not experience any defeat and even major casualties. Afghans know well that the US will neither bring democracy nor peace in Afghanistan. They have come to a point now very well that as long as the US and NATO does not leave Afghanistan there will be no way for peace and democracy in our country in Afghanistan. They are empowering the enemies of democracy. But it is the duty of the Afghan people to fight for such values and the occupation can only more deeply drag us into slavery. As always I pass this message to justice-loving people around the world that no nation can donate liberation to another nation.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Can you tell us what the status of your own parliamentary position is right now, since you were stripped of your elected position by the fundamentalists some years ago. Have you ever been made to face a court? Can you run again for parliament in the next elections?

Malalai Joya: Although in the last stage of the Interparliamentary Union meeting, a delegation of Afghan parliamentarians promised that they would end my suspension and I could return to the Parliament but it was just a lie and they did not stand by their promise. The Parliament has failed their case against me in the court and I have received the court’s letter some months back and I answered in truth my strong position. They asked me to apologize and then they would allow me to go to the Parliament. But I stressed the correctness of my statements and said that I would never apologize to criminals and looters. Although I still can run for elections which is due later this year. But I have not made up my mind to run for it. But should I be in Parliament or out of it, I will continue my fight for justice, democracy and against the occupation. Parliament was just a small [inaudible] for my struggle but for following my struggle I have many other options and fields. Going to the Parliament of criminals was a big torture for me. It was a torture everyday to see the faces of these brutal men such as Qanooni, Sayyaf, Mohaqqiq, Piram Qul, Haji Almas, Haji Fayeed, etc there. But I accepted for my people in raising their voice there. I think the next election will be even more disgusting and full of fraud. The new chief of election commission is a known warlord of the Northern Alliance and he will try to bring all these warlords to the Parliament and stop the coming of democratic minded people like me. Many people think that at this point they will never allow me to win the election as they can’t bear to have me once more inside the parliament. That’s the reason that this time I got the decision to not run in the election. No matter, I will continue the struggle as long as these criminals are in power, these sworn enemies of democracy, women’s rights, human rights, and as long as these occupation forces are bombing from the sky, and [inaudible] supporting the enemies of my people and killing innocent people of my country. So as long as I am alive I am the same person. As always I am saying if a thousand times they will kill me and again I will be alive, and see that these same enemies are in power with the mask of democracy and continue with their wrong policy and their crimes and war crimes, these internal enemies of my country, these warlords, also Taliban, and also their foreign masters, these occupation forces, the US and NATO, I continue strongly to this struggle next to my people, next to them, beside them, we have this ownership [?] that we have the solidarity and support of antiwar movement and individuals around the world, peace-loving, women’s rights organizations, human rights activists and organization, democratic journalists, they support us, but we need more of their solidarity and support to raise their voice against occupation, against warlords, against Taliban and join their hands with democratic-minded, justice-loving poor people of my country.