Conditions for women in Afghanistan worse now, but media spins the opposite

Dawg's Blawg: "Time" exploits victim to promote Afghan war
Excerpt:

"I heard Aisha's story from her a few weeks before the
image of her face was displayed all over the world", Ann Jones, author
of Kabul in Winter, wrote in the August 12 Nation. "She told me that her
father-in-law caught up with her after she ran away, and took a knife
to her on his own; village elders later approved, but the Taliban didn't
figure at all in this account."

The Time story, however,
attributes Aisha's mutilation to a husband under orders of a Talib
commander, thereby transforming a personal story, similar to those of
countless women in Afghanistan today, into a portent of things to come
for all women if the Taliban return to power ...

Afghan feminist
Malalai Joya : "During the Taliban’s regime such atrocities weren’t as
rife as it is now and the graph is hiking each day."

The article at RAWA cites a March 11, 2010 CIA document on spinning the war, published by WikiLeaks : CIA Red Cell

"Afghan
women could serve as ideal messengers in humanizing the ISAF role in
combating the Taliban because of women’s ability to speak personally and
credibly about their experiences under the Taliban, their aspirations
for the future, and their fears of a Taliban victory. Outreach
initiatives that create media opportunities for Afghan women to share
their stories with French, German, and other European women could help
to overcome pervasive skepticism among women in Western Europe toward
the ISAF mission.

Media events that feature testimonials by Afghan
women would probably be most effective if broadcast on programs that
have large and disproportionately female audiences.