Where Is the Afghan Female Runner?

[SpookyCat]

I'm so angry right now, I can hardly type.

I've been looking forward to seeing Mehbooba Andyar run for Afganistan in the Olympics, because she went through so much to get there.

Just now they announced that she fled in Italy to seek asylum because so many death threats.

Death threats because she wants to fucking run!

Here is an article I found in Time just now about it...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1821203,00.html


And because it is the only way I know how to deal with rage like this besides getting loaded, below is a poem I just wrote about it.

I don't know if anyone will see this post this late, and with so much else going on in the world that's bigger, but I'm so upset and I had no idea I would feel so angry and sad.

Anyway, for what it's worth...



For Mehbooba Anadyr


Because she wants to run

she must run

away from dreams and family

or meet with death

at the hands of hate.


Because she wants to run

she must hide

in shadow and fear

or die by rocks and sword.


So she must run.


Run fast sister and be free.

Someday I hope

the world will meet you where you are.

A world no longer ruled by

hateful fairy tales.



Be in peace until that day.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. I hope she left on her own and that she is safe.

Thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware of the story.

[comrade snarky]

9. I'm hoping

She'll appear in China and run in her race.

Probably wont happen but I'd love to see it.

[prayin4rain]

2. nice poem :) n/t

[SpookyCat]

3. Thank you. I just want to know she's ok. n/t

[ConeFlower78]

4. Norway?

I thought they said tonight that she was seeking asylum in Norway.

[SpookyCat]

5. Has that been confirmed?

The Time article is from earlier, so I haven't heard anything else. I hope she can escape, disappear, I know Ayaan Hirsi Ali has had to be guarded and still doesn't feel safe.

Thank you for that, though...missed that sentence in the coverage.

[ConeFlower78]

18. Not sure

I heard it last night on the Olympic coverage, but I don't believe it was confirmed.

We can all hope for the best.

[ConsAreLiars]

6. Before the US and Brzezinski began recruiting and importing fundie crazies,

Afghanistan was described as, and was, a land of moderates when it comes to ideology. That monster Brzezinski, not the Afghan people, is the reason she fears for her life. They, Carter the Clueless and Reagan the Idiot, were used by Brzezinski and Kissinger and those they served to turn a peaceful land into a killing field. Be clear about who are the enemies who drove her into exile. They are far closer to home than you might first suspect, and in both parties.

[SpookyCat]

7. There are many heads to this snake, to be sure,

and I do not blame all Afghani people, obviously. But the people who are shooting at her house? Harassing her family? Beat up her brother? Send death threats?

Yeah, I blame them. Unless they have all lost the power of free will, then yes, they are to blame for their own actions. I am VERY clear about who drove her into exile.

[comrade snarky]

8. Not all the Afgan people, of course not

But lets not absolve the ones who shot at her or beat her brother because she dared to break the mold of what they thought she should be allowed to do.

Afghanistan has been screwed by the western powers. Used as a pawn then thrown away but that can NOT absolve the crimes against humanity committed by the evil bastards who would try to kill an innocent woman because she wants to do something more than they think she should.

Nothing could excuse that.

[crimsonblue]

12. like Afghanistan would be sunshine and daisies if the Soviets had overrun the country..

Different oppressive assholes, same result.

[comrade snarky]

16. I included

The soviets in the western powers in my thinking. I could have been more clear.

Both sides in the cold war screwed them over.

[goodgd_yall]

10. Thank you for the post

I remember reading about her, but I don't know if I made the connection with the Olympics. I hope she will find safety. Too bad the fools in Afghanistan who hate her have prevented their country from being represented by this brave, strong woman.

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. we live in a woman-hating world

Equality and freedom for women is a long way away.

[MH1]

13. Horrible to think about.

But I'm sure it won't be covered in the TV and radio tributes to the athletes.

[SpookyCat]

17. That's one of the things I was looking forward to.

Had she run, she would not have won. Not even close. But that wouldn't have been the point for her. The news picking up her story as the triumph of the human spirit, plus bringing attention maybe back to Afghanistan and the job unfinished there.

Just breaks my heart.

[MH1]

14. Digg it here:

http://digg.com/olympics/Where_is_the_Afghan_Female_Runner

[windoe]

15. I hope she is safe now

and runs free and happy. I cannot but think she learned to survive in that culture by being a good runner. Bless her, may she find a peaceful life.