WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2001
Women United On Afghanistan
Commentary By CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch
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First lady Laura Bush has taken a high profile on the issue of women in Afghanistan. (AP)
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Name the authors of the following statements:
No, it's not Ellie Smeal or Madeleine Albright or Hillary Clinton. The first quote came from Secretary of State Colin Powell at a conference on women in Afghanistan on November 19. The second was part of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's daily press briefing that same day. Does it sound like these guys were "on message" or what?
In fact, they were part of a communications campaign designed and orchestrated by White House counselor Karen Hughes to focus on the plight of women in Afghanistan. The centerpiece of the plan was the decision to have first lady Laura Bush pre-empt the president and give the weekly radio on address on this topic on November 17. This followed a meeting which Hughes and National Security advisor Condoleezza Rice had with activists Eleanor Smeal and Mavus (Mrs. Jay) Leno, who have been beating the drum on the issue for five years.
As recently as last summer, the world seemed more concerned about the Taliban's smashing of ancient icons that in its treatment of women. Smeal said that Hughes and Rice "were part of a series of meetings with high-level Bush administration officials." She said that the first response to their request for a meeting came from the office of Donald Rumsfeld, whose press secretary, Torie Clark, has been part of the message group.
Laura Bush's profile on this issue got even higher last week. Melanne Verveer, former chief of staff for Hillary Clinton and now head of an international women's organization called Vital Voices, phoned her successor at the White House, Andy Ball, to see if the first lady would be willing to meet with a delegation of women from Afghanistan who were visiting the United States.
Verveer said that the meeting got scheduled in record time and Mrs. Bush met with the women for over 45 minutes, listened to them intently and asked about their hopes for the future. They then met with the press and Mrs. Bush answered questions in front of the cameras. According to Verveer, the women were "extremely impressed with the first lady" and talked about the symboliimportance of having the such high-level people from the U.S. government out front on this issue.
Following the meeting, Sen. Clinton called Laura Bush to thank her for her commitment to this issue. Clinton then got herself and the Afghani women scheduled on the morning shows on CBS, NBC and CNN.
Over in the Senate, the same type of woman-to-woman bipartisanship was taking place. Senators Key Bailey Huchison and Barbara Mikulski introduced legislation authorizing the president to provide education and health-care assistance to women and children in Afghanistan. On Thursday, Clinton convened a hearing of women senators (joined by Sen. Christopher Dodd and briefly by Sen. Sam Brownback) to listen to the women from Afghanistan talk about what should be done in forming a new government. Clinton said that she is concerned that the U.S.-supported northern alliance has its own track record of abusing women.
Getting this issue on the agenda is an example what can be done when women have real power in government. In the 1970s, women in the Carter administration tried to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed. While the president paid lip service to the idea, it was low on the priority list. At the last minute, when the Florida legislature was about to take it up, OMB director Bert Lance was tapped to put in an urgent call to a buddy to deliver the message that the president really wanted his vote. Lance, a good soldier, agreed. As he placed the call, however, he asked a telling question. "Which side are we fer?"
The men as well as the women in the U.S. government today know clearly which side we're "fer" in Afghanistan. The women from the White House, past and present, have done an effective job getting the issue on the radar screen. But making sure that women are a part of a new Afghan government and that the government respects the rights of women will not be easy. The women from Afghanistan pleaded at the hearing on Thursday for the United States "not to leave them behind" and not to walk away from their country after the fighting is over. Keeping those things on the radar screen and actually getting them done may be the true way to tell the women from the girls.
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Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy 
