Wendy McElroy has a typically terrific piece on why the war in Afghanistan is not one to force American style feminism on Afghanistan:

A lasting peace is the prerequisite for improving the lives of every human being in Afghanistan. It is in that peace where Afghan women will almost certainly make remarkable advances. The global attention and money now directed at their cause almost guarantees this progress. It can occur through diplomacy, global pressure, the funding of women's rights agencies. But any "advance" for Afghan women that occurs due to a fear of U.S. or U.N. military action is unlikely to last.