Taliban's Cruel Punishment of Woman

The Afghan war is becoming more unpopular every day and countries are coming under indreased pressure to pull their troops out of the war. On the front page of Time Magazine is the picture of a pretty 18 year old woman without any nose and the words 'What will happen if we leave Afghanistan?" Her punishment for running away from her cruel in-laws was handed down by a local Taliban judge - she was held down by her brother-in-law while her husband cut off her nose and ears. If ever there was a case to keep the troops in Afghanistan - this is it.

Time's managing editor Richard Stengel said Aisha had posed for the picture and she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years.... she knows that she will become a symbol of the price Afghan women have had to pay for the repressive ideology of the Taliban.

Aisha is in a safe house for women in Kabul and will have reconstructive surgery in the US. The editor apologised to readers who found the image too strong but said he "would rather confront readers with the Taliban's treatment of women than ignore it. I would rather people know that reality as they make up their minds about what the US and its allies should do in Afghanistan".

Yesterday the Netherlands became the first Western ally to end its mission in Afghanistan. They lost 24 soldiers and 140 were injured. Switzerland was the only country to have withdrawn its forces until now, bringing its two soldiers home from Afghanistan in March 2008.

Canada is set to withdraw its 2800 personnel next year, Poland is likely to pull out its 2500 troops in 2010 while Britain and the US have signalled that some of their forces will also leave next year, leading to an end of combat operations in 2014.

The governments of Germany and France, which have made the biggest force commitments after the US and Britain, are coming under public pressure to announce withdrawal timetables. Australia currently has 1500 troops in Afghanistan.

As this young woman's picture travels around the world, the question is, will it change our minds about wanting to bring our troops home from a war we believe we cannot possibly win. Sadly, I don't think so.