Countries 'wasting money and blood' in Afghanistan

A politician who has been described as "the bravest woman in Afghanistan" says that military intervention is not the way to find democracy in the war-torn county. Malalai Joya gained international attention for standing before Afghanistan's constitutional grand assembly and accusing her country's leaders of war crimes, human rights violations and supporting the Taliban. She spent most of her childhood in refugee camps and as a young woman she worked as a women's rights activist under the Taliban. She ran underground classes and clinics that would have resulted in her torture and execution had she been caught. In 2003 the secular Muslim made a fearless and emotional public appearance at a constitutional assembly in Kabul. "War lords are responsible for our country's situation," she said in the speech. "Afghanistan is the centre for national and international conflicts. They oppress women and have ruined our country. They should be prosecuted. "They might be forgiven by the Afghan people, but not by history." Her remarks were met by uproar from the 300 delegates, most of them former mujaheddin commanders and ex-Taliban officials.