CIA Report: Use feminism to reduce Western opposition to military occupation of Afghanistan [2010]

"This classified CIA analysis from March outlines possible PR strategies to shore up public support in Germany and France for a continued war in Afghanistan. After the Dutch government fell on the issue of Dutch troops in Afghanistan last month, the CIA became worried that similar events could happen in the countries that post the third and fourth largest troop contingents to the ISAF mission. The proposed PR strategies focus on pressure points that have been identified within these countries. For France it is the sympathy of the public for Afghan refugees and women. For Germany it is the fear of the consequences of defeat (drugs, more refugees, terrorism) as well as for Germany's standing in NATO. The memo is a recipe for the targeted manipulation of public opinion in two NATO ally countries, written by the CIA. It is classified as Confidential/No Foreign Nationals."

https://file.wikileaks.org/file/cia-afghanistan.p…

In light of the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan I've previously mentioned that at least 75% of all civilian casualties in Afghanistan are men. It's actually hard to get data on this, because data on bad things happening to men is rarely collected. In this case, I have to infer from the data in the linked report, which says 12% of civilian causalities are women, and roughly a similar amount are children (the ratio between boys and girls is also similar to that of men and women, it's mostly boys being killed and injured). How many women are killed is worth collecting and reporting, but apparently not the number of men.

The reason why military age men are taking such desperate measure to flee is pretty straightforward in my opinion. No one is going to help them, the best methods of fleeing are preserved for women and children. Perhaps most importantly, when the Taliban show up they're going to be straight up killing a lot of these men. Women and children, while they will be abused in other ways, will largely be spared from being killed. Just like Srebrenica, mass-killing is almost entirely focused on men.

Not that these people care. In their mind, a dead man is a more just outcome than mistreated woman, and therefore dead men are not worthy of concern.

There's also a huge level of hypocrisy in expecting Afghan men to do 'their duty' and conform to their gender role and get themselves killed fighting a losing war, but also criticizing Afghanistan for their patriarchal treatment of women.

How does this make you feel? Discuss. 

A lil more for those inclined: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem

In May 1975, Redstockings, a radical feminist group, published a report that Steinem and others put together on the Vienna Youth Festival and its attendees for the Independent Research Service.[108][109]

Though she acknowledged having worked for the CIA-financed foundation in the late 1950s and early 1960s in interviews given to The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1967 in the wake of the Ramparts magazine CIA exposures (nearly two years before Steinem attended her first Redstockings or feminist meeting), Steinem in 1975 denied any continuing involvement.[110]

In 2004, however, a 1975 report by Human Events which reported Steinem's CIA ties and which had been classified by the CIA was made public.111

https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-gloria-steinem-cia-20151025-story.html

Gloria Steinem's new book, "My Life on the Road," recounts her life's journeys and travels. Early reviews and profiles reveal incredible detail of Steinem's barrier-breaking feminist role, liberal politics, romances, proclivities and style.

What is often missed, or mischaracterized, however, is the work she did as a CIA agent: Steinem was a spook.

From the same time period.

https://daily.jstor.org/was-modern-art-really-a-cia-psy-op/

Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?

In the mid-twentieth century, modern art and design represented the liberalism, individualism, dynamic activity, and creative risk possible in a free society. Jackson Pollock’s gestural style, for instance, drew an effective counterpoint to Nazi, and then Soviet, oppression. Modernism, in fact, became a weapon of the Cold War. Both the State Department and the CIA supported exhibitions of American art all over the world.