Female Afghan air force officer's story "most remarkable"

Afghan Air Force Lt. Masooma Hussaini trained in U.S. to become combat chopper pilot, bucking extremely long odds against her / CBS

Commentary:

It is remarkable.

Eighteen months ago, Afghan defense officials, to their great credit in this male-dominated, ethnically-divided culture, sent four young female Afghan air force officers to the U.S. to learn English, the international language of aviation, and to train to become helicopter pilots.

Few people know that Afghanistan even has an air force -- even fewer that it has female officers.

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Afghan women train to defend their country

Until today, it had one female helicopter pilot, Col. Latifa Nabizada, a famous figure in Afghanistan, who flies Russian MI-35 attack helicopters and, until recently, took her young daughter, Malali, who now goes to school, with her on every mission. The Afghan air force does not have a daycare center.

Now, as David Martin showed in a story on the "CBS Evening News," two officers, in their early 20s -- no Afghan knows his or her exact age -- Lt. Sourya Selah and Lt. Masooma Hussaini, have completed their missions, of learning English, and how to fly helicopters. They will return to Afghanistan soon.

"We have to defend our country," said Lt. Selah, a Tajik, from northern Afghanistan.

"At first our goal was to open the door," said Hussaini, "to be a military woman." She smiled proudly, adding, "to help our country as a woman."

What is most remarkable is that Hussaini is a Hazara, the third largest but lowest of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Hazara women, traditionally, are maids in Kabul, and the men perform coolie labor. They come early in the morning, riding their horse-drawn carts, before the traffic builds up. Yes, there is social inequality in Afghanistan, too.

The Hazaras, with their Mongol features are, in the eyes of Afghans, the descendents of Genghis Khan, the Mongol conqueror who wrecked havoc on Afghanistan in the 12th Century and whose destruction remains, with silted canals and silent ruins in the area around Bamiyan, where the Taliban destroyed famous 1,700-year-old Buddhist statues in March 2001.

Further, the Hazara are Shiites, in a Suuni-dominated nation. For centuries, they have been persecuted. They face discrimination today. The Taliban, who are Sunni, waged brutal war against the Hazaras.

Afghan defense officials put ads in Afghan newspapers urging women to join the Air force.

Hussani said in a 2011 interview with the U.S. Air Force Times done at Lackland Air Force Base, where they arrived to learn English, that even though her father wanted her to be a doctor, she dreamed of being a pilot. She, like Saleh and two other officers, Narges Safari and Mary Sharfzada, got permission from their families, without which they could not do anything, and signed up.

Now they are anxious to return home to see their families, and to fly Russian-made attack helicopters to support the Afghan National Army, and their country, against the Taliban.

[AviationSupporter]

OMG you miss the point and are probably an American Flag burner too. Just like the patriots from this country that went there to do a job, these women obviously feel strongly about defending their country. In their lifetime they have NEVER known peace or a time Afghanistan wasn't under the control of either a terrorist group or under attack from another country. They are trying to break down the barriers women face in their country and are doing it in order to make their country better. I'm sure you enjoy the freedoms fought for by the men and women of our military. I'm sure they want the same for their families. IT seems they know the risk to their lives, but it from the interview, I heard two 20 year olds say they are willing to stand up for their country even if it means dying for it. Since only 1 percent of our federal law makers have served and less than 10 percent of our youth even qualify to serve. I'd say they deserve all of our respect, regardless of what you think of their profession!

[RocketToTheStars]

Why Russian attack helicopters? Are these left over from the 1988 Russian-Afghanistan War? It seems to me they should be flying American attack helicopters. Maybe with some sales of defense hardware to the Afghanistani government, we can begin to get some kind of monetary payback for the billions we spent in Afghanistan.

[tbrown17]

Still with one foot in the 5th century these young ladies can't do anything w/o family permission. They had better gas up their helos and be ready to make a break for it when the Taliban take over, as their flying careers won't last too much longer..

[independanted]

Jimbo7776,quincytodd; Your bigotry toward women is really quite evident. Could it be that you are also jealous of both these fine ladies and their acomplishments. These officers are patriots to their country and deserve the utmost respect.However you two deserve complete disgust.

[quincytodd]

Wrong Independanted. I'm quite bigoted against nihilism whether it be in women or men. I want to reiterate here that there is absolutely no glory in killing another human being, no matter how politically popular that may be!

[jimbo7776]

I agree with Quincy Todd. If these women were now able to engage in say, alternative energy research, that would be something to celebrate. We no doubt have dollars on the penny for their training and will be rewarded with the eternal contempt of their countrymen.
More blood and treasure down the drain.

[quincytodd]

A chance to kill, what a thrill! This makes me want to puke indeed. It's bad enough to kill people without bragging about it.