Iconic human rights activist takes aim at America

Malalai Joya was nixed from her post in the Afghanistan parliament for critiquing the government, but now the celebrated advocate for women’s rights is saying that she's angry at the US—despite their allegations of bringing democracy to her home.

 Those efforts, she says, have been more disastrous than fruitful.“They are there for their own strategy,” says Joya to RT. What is being waged as a war for democracy has underlying intentions and they aren’t fooling anyone. “Democracy never comes by military invasion,” she says. “Women’s rights and human rights never come by war. Democracy never comes from…bombing our wedding parties… killing innocent civilians.”Joya knows that her and her people aren’t alone. “I think justice-loving, great people of the US [and] around the world agree with us,” she says. She’s certainly more right now than ever. Recent studies reveal that two-thirds of Americans are opposed to the occupation of Afghanistan. That’s the most that have spoken out against the war since its start nearly ten years ago.As politicians continue to make claims that American efforts overseas are for the good of the people—initiatives like the founding of schools and hospitals are over-exaggerated, says Joya.The US remains in Afghanistan, she says, because “they can easily control other Asian powers” from that front.“During this ten years of occupation…tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed,” Joya laments. “The White house has apologized—We’ve heard that.” An “I’m sorry” comes awfully far from providing a face-lift to the decade of destruction, however, and as the tally of the Afghan dead continue to add up, an apology can only do so little.“We want the end of this occupation as soon as possible,” says Joya.Had the US done this differently, Afghanistan could today be “like heaven,” she imagines.