Friday November 16 1:46 AM ET
Mrs. Bush Makes Case Against Taliban
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is dispatching high-profile female messengers, including Laura Bush and Cherie Blair, to help make its case that the Taliban have repressed women.
In a Saturday morning radio address, Mrs. Bush will tell listeners that the Taliban have sought to oppress women and to export such practices elsewhere, an administration official said.
Her address - the first solely by a first lady, according to Bush aides - is part of an administration campaign in which prominent women will remind the world of the Taliban militia's record in ruling Afghanistan.
``There's no question the Taliban is the most repressive, backward group of people we have seen on the face of the Earth in a long period of time, including and particularly how they treat women,'' President Bush said Thursday as he fielded questions from students in Crawford, Texas.
``Women in Afghanistan are basically not treated as people,'' said Russian President Vladimir Putin, standing at Bush's side.
Putin called for ``specific, gender-oriented programs'' to ensure Afghan women receive better treatment. ``What we should avoid in the course of the implementation of such programs, and as an end result of their implementation, is that a lady would turn into a man,'' Putin said, drawing laughs.
The administration's new effort casts food drops in the country as ``humanitarian successes for Afghan women and children.''
The campaign is less about new programs, however, than about persuading U.S. and world audiences about women's plight under the Taliban, whose control over much of the country has teetered in recent days.
Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky and Mary Matalin, Vice President Dick Cheney's political adviser, were to brief female members of Congress on Friday.
Dobriansky was to meet with female Muslim leaders on Monday, and Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke was addressing women business leaders.
Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was to spread the message at an event in London the same day.
Tuesday, Dobriansky and Karen Hughes, a top Bush adviser, were to field questions from female editors and publishers.
The administration also was trying to influence opinion by seeking publication of sympathetic articles in newspapers. It cabled numerous U.S. embassies in Muslim countries to ask them to convey the message.
Also, a fact sheet has been prepared arguing that the Taliban ``targeted Afghan women and children.''
Taliban women were not allowed to leave their homes unless accompanied by close male relatives, outside observers and refugees have said. They were prohibited from working except in health care, and schools were closed for girls over the age of 8.
Those who defied the rules were beaten, sometimes savagely, by Taliban police.
The information campaign also comes as officials of the United Nations prepare to meet in the United Arab Emirates with representatives of Afghan factions to plan a new government.
``Afghan women had important rights and freedoms before the Taliban. The Taliban took those,'' said Jim Wilkinson, day-to-day manager of the White House war room.
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