The "Good" War: Local Afghan-, Pakistani-American Women to Debate Current Escalation in Afghanistan

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called it
"a long slog." Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan and
Pakistan, has called it "much tougher than Iraq." But what do Afghan-
and Pakistani-American women here think of escalating war in
Afghanistan, and what Americans can do?

WHAT: Discussion among NYC-area Afghan women, students and New
Yorkers on troop escalation in Afghanistan; film screening and concert

WHEN: 1 p.m. (film screening and discussion), 4:30 p.m. (concert), Sunday, March 8

WHERE: Greenburg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall, NYU Law School (film & discussion)

Eisner Lubin Hall, NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South (concert)

Local Afghan- and Pakistani-American women, students and members of the women's group CODEPINK NYC
will debate these challenging questions March 8 here, especially in
light of President Obama's commitment to 17,000 additional troops there
by spring, following a screening of the feature documentary "Afghan Women: A History of Struggle." The film chronicles the role of Afghan women in the past 25 years of war and occupation in the mountainous country.

Author and professor Fawzia Afzal-Khan and Fahima Vorgetts, of the New York non-profit Women for Afghan Women
will join the film's award-winning producer Kathleen Foster and each
offer her own perspective based on personal experiences, extensive
research and interviews with other Afghan women. They will discuss
Obama's recent decision to send 17,000 additional troops to
Afghanistan, concern of strengthening Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces, and
the effect of occupation on Afghan women.

Foster, whose photos have appeared in the New York Times, Time magazine
and more, began filming and creating documentaries about 20 years ago.
Afzal-Khan has authored numerous books including "Shattering The
Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out." Vorgetts, a former chemist,
Afghan immigrant and longtime human rights activist, is a board member
of Women for Afghan Women, an organization of Afghan and non-Afghan
women from the New York area committed to ensuring the human rights of
Afghan women worldwide.

Following the film, the internationally acclaimed Middle Eastern folk ensemble NOUR will perform a benefit concert for Doctors Without Borders and CODEPINK NYC in Eisner Lubin Hall in NYU's Kimmel Center.

The event, organized by CODEPINK NYC
and co-sponsored by New York University Law Students for Human Rights,
and NYU Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and NYU Law Women, is
one of 270 events held worldwide March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day, designated by the United Nations.

For more information or interviews, please call Jean Stevens, national media coordinator, at 508-769-2138 or jean@codepinkalert.org.