(drum beat)(air swooshes)

- Jennifer, thanks for being with us.

You hear a lot from theBiden administration

about equity for transgenders,

for women in American society,

but with a sudden takeover of Afghanistan,

we're not hearing much

about protecting therights of women there.

Why is Washington silent on that?

- Well, that's right.

It seems as though womenonly matter every four years

or when the left is usingus as a political pawn

against their, someone they disagree with,

say like Brett Kavanaugh.

All of a sudden women andwhat we have to say matters.

In this instance, in Afghanistan,

our President has failedto honor his commitments.

He has failed to live up to the standard.

He says that he is going tohelp and take care of women

and now you see the devastationthis is going to take

on the 18 million Afghan women and girls

that once lived under our aegis,

that lived free because of the Americans,

are now going to become victims

because of the decision ofthe Biden administration.

And sadly, even our ownPresident in the United States

is not showing the care andconcern for women and girls.

And by the way, where isour female Vice President?

This was supposed to besome watershed moment

for women and girls around the world.

She's the most, ostensibly,

the most powerful woman in the world.

Where is she?

What is, where is her words?

Where are her actions?

Where is she to advocateon women's behalf?

She's not there.

- Let's talk some specificshere and remind people

who don't remember from 20years ago, 20, 25 years ago,

I do because I've covered itfor 40 years, Afghanistan,

Shabana Basij-Rasikh, thefounder of a girl's school

in Afghanistan, along with250 students and staff

have fled the country.

And Ms. Rasikh, remembershow she was treated

by the Taliban 25 years ago

when she was a young, school-age girl.

So to protect her students,

she destroyed all therecords identifying them.

So what would likely havehappened to these girls

and others if she hadn't done that?

What does the future hold for them,

female students in Afghanistan?

- As we, as Americans,understand the future,

there is not one forthese women and girls.

If you see the headlines today,

the Taliban is sayingwomen should stay inside.

Girls should stay inside.

That the soldiers are not, quote, trained

to respect or treat women well.

And let's be really clear

if we're looking at thehistory of the Taliban

and we really can't look at anything else,

this is not going to change.

Things are not going toget better for these women.

And the women, the averageage of women in Afghanistan,

is 19 1/2 years old.

These are young girls.

They lived almost all their lives

under the aegis of the United States.

They lived free. They were being educated.

And all that, all thatis being taken from them

because of President'sBiden failure to plan,

to think of what wouldhappen to these women,

to have in any way adequatelyprepared our nation

or the Afghans for whathe was about to do.

This is one of the greatest

and most catastrophic militarymaneuvers in the modern era.

I honestly can't think of one.

It makes Dunkirk look successful.

- And last fall Afghanistanwas given a seat

on the UN Commissionon the Status of Women.

The term starts this year.It ends in four years.

Should that decision bereversed? What do you think?

- Look, I do not takeseriously the Human Right Watch

and others that come outfrom the United Nations.

And in 2020 they issued areport on the United States

that accused the Trumpadministration of human rights abuses

due to our foreign policy.

Due to the fact that we were,

that he was meeting withNorth Korea and South Korea

at the same time and continuedto point out policies

that actually brought about greater peace

and brought about calm andstability in the world,

whether you liked it or not.

As to where today, we'reseeing a catastrophe unfold.

And where was the Human RightsWatch before this happened?

Why aren't we reallyaddressing human rights abuses

on groups like the Taliban?

Why aren't they more vigorous on that

or putting on equal footing

a country like the United States,

just because they don'tagree with the administration

and pretending somehow thatthe Trump administration

was harmful to women or girls

because they don't likeour healthcare policies.

- Okay, Jennifer Stefano,Republican strategist,

Fellow the Independent Women's Forum.

Thank you for providing thoseinsights. We appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me.