By IAN BENJAMIN
Executive Editor
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2011
In the still quiet of the Hubbard Sanctuary a panel discussion entitled “Women Speaking Against War” evoked both curiosity and tension Wednesday afternoon. The panel, composed of human rights activist Mabel Leon, photojournalist Connie Houde and former public school educator Maureen Armaud, was a general discussion of war focused in Afghanistan and its effects on the Afghan people.
Hanging murals from the Windows and Mirrors exhibit, with which the discussion was held in conjunction, surrounded the listeners seated in the center floor. The murals depict reproductions of original art made war borne tribulations of the Afghan people. “These murals tell you a story that statistics can’t tell you, that words can’t tell you,” said human rights activist and opening speaker Mabel Leon. “The pain of war is evidenced in these murals.”
The panelists, as specified in the talk’s title, gave special concern to Afghan women. While Leon advocated for immediate withdrawal she also expressed great concern for the women in Afghanistan who might again fall under the Taleban’s rules with the US departure. Connie Houde, a photojournalist who has traveled to Afghanistan several times in the past decade, touched on the same topic saying that Afghan women had indicated to her “that the burka was still in the closet because they knew that the Taleban had just gone underground somewhere else.” As the final speaker Maureen Armaud, a former public school educator, stated what the had touched on indirectly, that Afghanistan “is considered by international standards the worst place on the planet to be born a woman.”
Focusing strongly on the plight of civilians in Afghanistan, Leon cited several statistics: an Afghan’s average lifespan is 45 years; Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world; one of the highest maternal death rates in the world; and that more than half of the population lives without clean water. While not stating whether or not the US has influenced these statistics, Leon said, “We [the United States] have been there for ten years. Have we [the United States] improved the life of the Afghan people, the majority of the Afghan people? And the answer is very simply no.”
Continuing her reflections on the “cost of war” Leon spoke on the funding for the war. She cited the current widespread concern with the nation’s debt, saying that national discourse has been focused on the question “Which human service shall we cut first?” Instead of focusing on cutting human services, Leon believes that the populace, and most especially the politicians, should look at the cost of war. She cited a $1.27 trillion price tag for the war and stated that it costs $1 million to keep one soldier in Afghanistan for one year and that for every dollar collect in federal taxes, 60% of it goes to the military.
“Think of what that money could do back here for jobs, think of what that money could do for education and healthcare, think of what that money might do for the human needs of the Afghan people,” said Leon.
Gary Miller, Saint Rose student and military service member, found fault with what he saw as the panelist’s “military-bashing.” He stated that it was “disgusting” that the panelists were putting down soldiers.
On behalf of the panel, Leon responded to his pointed statements, drawing a line between soldiers and the war they fight. “In no way are any people on this panel anti-soldier” and that “We could be sending doctors, we could be sending agricultural people, we could have sent you in there to help build a well, we could have sent you in there to build schools.”
Miller said that the military is and has been acting in such a fashion and that his unit received $20,000 a week to put towards humanitarian projects. “Here, I’ve never seen the US go out into the streets and give out food supplies, but we’re doing it overseas, over there.” He also gave the example of his unit’s combat medic who was “out there taking care of people in the streets, more than he was taking care of his own soldiers.”
In response, Houde said that while she believed all the actions stated occurred, “There is a lot that goes along with that in the same token” and that “It is not the only reason you [Miller] are there.”
Miller disagreed and said that the ultimate goal of the military in Afghanistan is the welfare of the Afghan people, but that “at the same time we have our own rules of engagement we have to follow. If someone fires on us we have to fire back. That’s just how it is.”
This discussion was the first of two that are being held in conjunction with the Windows and Mirrors Community exhibit. The next free panel discussion, “The Human Cost of War,” will be taking place November 9 at the Hubbard Sanctuary. It will broadly address questions relating to the intersection of human rights and war.
The “Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan” exhibit will be showing in the Hubbard Sanctuary from October 30 – November 11. The exhibit, organized by Vaneeta Palecanda, is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and was created by the American Friends Service Committee. For more information on the upcoming discussion or the exhibit contact Vaneeta Palecanda at palecanv@strose.edu.
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