If so, he's much worse than previously thought. The law that legalizes rape better be scrapped or it's time to scrap Karzai. Afghanistan is not improving and steadily declined when Bush changed the focus to Iraq. This is why Laura Bush did fly-by visits inside secure US airbases, why Afghanistan sent a journalist student to prison for speaking about women's rights and why the drug trade and corruption have skyrocketed. The Independent:
Last night it emerged that the United Nations was quietly seeking emergency funds from donors to provide bodyguards, cars and safe houses to protect MPs who had dared to speak out against the legislation. Wenny Kusuma, the head of the UN Development Fund for Women in Afghanistan, said a number of activists had already received death threats. "There's no other country in the world where working for women's rights puts you at a higher risk of death," she said.
Analysts believe Mr Karzai signed the legislation to win support from Afghanistan's minority Shia leaders, but instead he scored a spectacular own goal as talk of its draconian clauses dominated Nato's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg, alienating his already-weary Western backers.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the issue had been raised in no uncertain terms with Mr Karzai. "I made it absolutely clear to the president that we could not tolerate that situation. [Karzai] responded by saying this law would not be enacted in the way it has been presented," he told Sky News.
Afghan women who campaigned against the legislation said they would keep up the pressure. MP Shinkai Karokhail, who described the law as "worse than the Taliban", said: "I get around 12 calls a day threatening me, but I don't even listen. I don't care. I have been branded a bad Muslim. I have been accused of being against Shias. It's not true. I am a woman and an MP."
