A plea for the United States to help Afghan women, and others persecuted there

Read the op-ed piece by Nader Nadery and Haseeb Humayoon in today's New York Times. It calls for the U.S. government to expect progress toward democratization in Afghanistan, and it begins with examples illustrating the courage of Afghan women:

[C]rowds of women in Kabul this week who protested a new law that restricts their rights ... demonstrate unbending courage and resolve for progress. They don’t fear much — except that the world might abandon them.

That is why President Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan policy speech last month and his administration’s related white paper are worrisome: both avoided any reference to democracy in Afghanistan, while pointedly pushing democratic reforms in Pakistan.