• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

When a trove of more than 100 photos of mutilated Afghan corpses and U.S. soldiers posing next to them, recently surfaced, it was expected to be a scandal on the scale of Abu Ghraib. But since the publication of the photos by Rolling Stone magazine, there has been little of the type of national disgust that the Iraq prison photos elicited. The photos were taken last year by members of the 5th Stryker Brigade and had smiling soldiers posing next to horrifically maimed Afghan bodies. Passed around as war trophies, Rolling Stone says “the Pentagon went to extraordinary measures to suppress the photos, launching a massive effort to find every file and pull the pictures out of circulation.” Malalai Joya, former member of the Afghan parliament, targeted for speaking out against U.S.-backed warlords, wrote in the Guardian about the so-called “kill teams” that took the photos. She said, “While these photos are new, the murder of innocents is not. Such crimes have sparked many protests in Afghanistan and have sharply raised anti-American sentiment among ordinary Afghans.” Malalai Joya is a hero in Afghanistan to to the vast majority of the population. But for her outspokenness she has survived numerous assassination attempts by the warlords she criticizes. She is also a staunch critic of the U.S.-NATO war, and was recently denied a visa into the U.S for an extensive speaking tour. Listeners may recall the interview we had with Ms. Joya on March 22nd while she was attempting to obtain the visa. After an extensive national campaign that involved letters by multiple members of Congress, petitions, and a national call-in day to the U.S. State Department, Malalai Joya was finally allowed to the enter the country. She has traveled across the U.S. to promote the paper-back edition of her book, A Woman Among Warlords, and and has finally arrived in Southern California. I’m very pleased to welcome her in person to Uprising.

NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I have worked intimately with Ms. Joya for years and my organization Afghan Women’s Mission, which I run in a volunteer capacity, is one of the main sponsors of her tour.

GUEST: Malalai Joya, author of A Woman Among Warlords, former member of the Afghan parliament.

Malalai Joya will be speaking at the following events in Southern California:

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OF LOS ANGELES

When: Thursday April 7, 1:30 – 3 pm
Where: Cal State Los Angeles campus, University Student Union LA room, 5154 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032
Co-Sponsor: Students for Social Justice at CSULA, Earth LA
For more info: email info@afghanwomensmission.org, call 626-676-7884.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

When: Thursday April 7 at 7 pm
Where: University of Southern California Campus, Taper Hall of Humanities (THH) Rm 201, 3501 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, CA 90089.
Co-Sponsor: Political Student Assembly at USC
For more info: email info@afghanwomensmission.org, call 626-676-7884.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SANTA BARBARA

When: Friday April 8 from 12 noon – 2 pm
Where: University of California Santa Barbara, Multicultural Center Lounge. Click here for a map and directions.
Co-Sponsors: Multicultural Center, Mellichamp Fund – Department of Religious Studies at UCSB
For more info: call 805 893 8411.

GOLDEN WEST UNIVERSITY IN HUNTINGTON BEACH

When: Friday April 8, Doors open 6 pm, event begins 7 pm
Where: Golden West College, Forum I, 15744 Golden West Street, Huntington Beach (Exit at Golden West or Edinger from the 405 Freeway). Click here for a map of the campus. Forum I is in Building 12 in the south end of campus, and the closest parking lot is “D”.
Co-Sponsors: Peace Mind, and Body Club at GWC
For more info: email info@afghanwomensmission.org, call 626-676-7884.