Thomas P.M. Barnett

ARTICLE: "For Afghan Girls, Learning Goes On, In the Shadows: Home classes proliferate as insurgents attack schools," by Pamela Constable, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 2-8 October 2006, p. 17.

It all starts with educating young girls, the one great predictor of development.

Naturally, in Afghanistan, it is the great consistent target of the Taliban, who have "targeted dozens of schools in the past year, especially those teaching girls."

The resurrection of schooling, especially that for girls, was heralded as the great advance in post-Taliban Afghanistan. From nowhere, five million kids were in school. Now that tide is receding in areas threatened by the Taliban and across much of the rest of the country--just too dangerous:

According to UNICEF, 106 attacks or threats against schools occurred from January to August, with incidents in 31 Afghan provinces. They included one missile attack, 11 explosions, 50 burnings and 37 threats. In the four southern provinces under serious assault by Taliban forces, UNICEF said, nearly half of the 748 schools have stopped operating.

That's the enemy we fight in the Long War: someone who rams a missile into a school full of kids from their own society:

In Kandahar, all schools are now closed in five districts. Attackers have thrown hand grenades through school windows and threatened to throw acid on girls who attend school.

But then just see how brave these kids are to seek out an education:

During the 1990s... especially in rural areas, public education became virtually inaccessible, especially for girls. In some areas, female literacy fell to less than 1 percent.

Today, most Afghans appear eager to make up for lost time. Their thirst for knowledge is strong... In northern provinces, where the Taliban threat is minimal and tribal customs tend to be more modern, many communities have welcomed foreign offers to build schools for girls.

One teacher summed it up nicely: "If our people do not get educated, it will be a disaster for our country. We see how far ahead other countries are getting, and we are just falling behind."