The Long, Long Struggle for Women's Rights in Afghanistan

A clothing bazaar with female shoppers in Mazar-i Sharif, 1996

Source: from Author

The Blue Mosque at Mazar-i Sharif at dawn, 1996.

Source: from Author

Afghan men at a restaurant in Mazar-i-Sharif, 1996

Source: from Author

The author (crouching, middle) with a military commandant (crouching to his right, mustache and billed hat) in Mazar-i Sharif, 1996

Source: from Author

Mahmud Tarzi, influential poet and leader of Afghanistan near the turn of the 20th century, with his wife, Asma Rasmiya

Source: Public Domain (wikipedia.org)

Actress Pamela Anderson as Baywatch lifeguard CJ Parker. Symbol internationally of American women, with the red swimsuit as an opposite extreme to the burqa

Source: It is believed that use of this image constitutes fair use under U.S. copyright law--no public domain image of this fictional character exists, and it is used for identification and commentary purposes by Origins, a non profit institution hosted on servers in the United States

The Pass of Salang, a road connecting Kabul with Mazar-i-Sharif in the mountains of Hindu Kush

Source: GNU license (wikipedia.org)

Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan 1901-1919, son of Abdur Rahman Khan

Source: GNU license (wikipedia.org)

Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan feminist and activist and founder of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, (1977)

Source: Creative Commons License

Queen Soraya Tarzi with her husband King Amanullah Khan at the Berlin airport, 1928. Soraya was an active champion of women's rights in Afghanistan, evidenced in her style of clothing.

Source: Creative Commons License, Germany. Made available to wikipedia.org by the Bundesarchiv

Abdur Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan 1880-1901

Source: Public Domain (wikipedia.org)

Afghan Women wearing traditional burqas

Source: Creative Commons License

Amanullah Khan (June 1, 1892 – April 25, 1960) - the Emir of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1926, then to 1929 as Shah

Source: Public Domain (wikipedia.org)

Pullout of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. 1988

Source: Creative Commons License (Mikhail Evastiev)

Girl in a Kabul Orphange, January 2002

Source: Creative Commons License (Barbara Millucci)

Hamid Karzai reviews troops of the first graduating class, for the 1st Battalion, Afghan National Army (ANA), during a ceremony held at the Kabul Military Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2002

Source: Public Domain-Work of US Air Force