Attempts to implant women's rights in Afghanistan have done little to advance real gender equality and are in danger of becoming slogans without substance, said some prominent Afghani women who spoke last week at an Independent Women's Forum event at the National Press Club in Washington.

"This is a struggle that continues and continues," said Orzala Ashraf, a former Afghan refugee who founded an assistance program for women and children in her home country.

"I am not scared if the Taliban gives a statement against me," she said. "What scares me is when I go to one of the Ministers (of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzia's government) and he treats me badly. That horrifies me because I say, 'He is my ally.'"

Ashraf and the other women at the event said they are hoping cultural attitudes toward women will catch up to the western-inspired laws being implemented in their societies.

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The United States has devoted extensive effort to supporting women's equality in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan through humanitarian assistance programs. What our policy-makers fail to recognize is that Muslim women's rights is more than a human rights concern. It is a national security issue with far-reaching implications for our future.

Muslim women's voices can help us win the war against terror by tempering their societies long-term. Many quasi-democracies of mostly male-participants are overly influenced by extremism and do not benefit from half the population's input.

In other words, the hand that rocks the cradle could also moderate the nation, a theory evident when population researchers warn that societies with significantly more men face higher crime rates and other social ills. China's one-child policy combined with its baby boy-favored culture has its leaders worried about this exact problem.

However, Muslim women's rights are generally relegated to the "humanitarian assistance" column of the federal budget ledger. These efforts pale in comparison to those with a military objective. Without a strategic policy in place, support for Islamic women will never receive the kind of investments that could make a long-term difference.

Our broad military strategy for the long war on terror hinges upon undermining extremist ideologies, but we rely too much on investments in "moderate leaders," some of whom won't even condemn suicide bombers.

A home-grown conservative women's rights movement is building momentum in countries from Iraq to Egypt to Palestine to Iran and embodies much of the moderate spirit we hope to cultivate within Muslim societies. We should send a significant amount of support to movements like these because Islamic feminism, as it's sometimes called, is mutually beneficial.

Women like Pakistan's Mukhtaran Mai -- who was victim to a tribe-sanctioned gang rape to pay for the alleged crimes of her brother -- are challenging practices they say have roots in paganism, not Islam. By pressing for a renewal of ijtihad, the once vital Islamic practice of reasoning with sacred texts and traditions, these women are organizing networks that transcend national borders and also appeal to moderate Islamic men.

So how do we significantly support the Islamic feminist movement?

First, do no harm. As explained by its proponents, the movement is nothing like the Western-style feminism of the liberal left. Muslim women have hardly anything in common with those who rail against religion, men and the family like the National Organization for Women (which has been conspicuously silent on their Muslim sisters' plight).

Rather, conservative Islamic feminists promote their rights from behind the burqas many choose to wear. They're working for gender equality while respecting traditional norms. This natural accommodation may withstand the test of time.

Second, we should incorporate support for Islamic women's rights into our National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism so the movement gets the amount of support it needs.

"Without women participation, there will be no security, peace, prosperity in Afghanistan," said Shukria Barakzai, one of the parliamentarians at last week's event. "We are almost more than half the population and we want to be messengers for peace and prosperity."

Equal rights for Muslim women is not just a human rights issue, it is a national security issue. The right thing for America to do is also the best thing to do for America.

Rachel Blackmon Bryars is a writer living in Washington, D.C. and a former reporter for WRIC in Richmond.