This is the fifth in a series on popular myths about Afghanistan. For Myth #1, read Popular Myths About Afghan Women,  Myth #2 is The Afghan Women's Movement on International Forces, for Myth #3, read The Myth That Afghans Don't Want Us There, for Myth #4, read Guest Myth-Buster Melissa Roddy's The Persistent Afghan Pipeline Conspiracy Theory, and Myth #6 is Afghanistan has never been conquered by outside forces.

Myth #5: Afghanistan is backwards and irreparable

The Truth: In 2006, when I was speaking at the women's conference of the World Peace Forum in Vancouver, I found a pile of flyers in the hallway that were left by a "peace" group on Saltspring Island. "Get Out of Afghanistan Now!" was the heading. On the flyer it said,

"Afghanis do not want us in their country. They have been fighting this war or that since the beginning of time. They are an inherently bloodthirsty, warrior people. They will never change, and we will never win. They thrive on violence."

I quickly reworked the speech I had planned to give, and instead, I read the text of this flyer to the...More >>