watching "In search of the Afghan girl" on National Geographic

 channel in Holland incited this comment:

The mystery of the burqa is presented to the

 western eye as an icon of banality. The banality of

 Islam. No difference made here between a Burqa

and a scarf. However, the Burqa, also inspires

 voyeurism. Triggers a desire for revealing. If not

 revelation of the banality of western eyes.

Or ripping it off. In a semiotic sense, it appears that

 once again women are raped twice. First they

 were forced to disappear from the street, the

 public space and the public eye, by men like

 Mujahedeen and Taliban. Next, that is after 911,

 they were forcibly brought back into the media

 landscape by western camera's.

It happened before. Remember the western

 reporters visiting camps for Bosnian refugees

 back in 1992. "Anybody raped here and speaks

 English?".

Now this  is epitomized by National Geographic.

 Photographer Steve McCurry  goes back to

 Pakistan to catch the girl that made him famous in

 1984 through his photo of her impressive green

 eyes. It made the cover of NG Magazine.

Seventeen years after, like a mediated Indiana

 Jones, he is struggling with cultural constraints like

 being dependent on a husband for permission to

see his wife. To verify if she is really the one he

 can buy assistance from elders and local

 journalists. But he has to do some serious

 symbolic masturbation, while waiting for

 permission. He goes to his favorite barbershop,

 where they do a decent head massage. He goes

 round in Peshawar looking at the pirated copies of

 his photo. When he begs for a "special price" for

 his own photo, and only gets 20 percent off, you

 feel he would like to kill the salesman. But he

 doesn't, in front of his own camera. He remains

 polite, although cynical enough in his comment.

Of course, the final proof is not looking into the

 eyes of the girl. "Cultural constraints" stand in the

 way. The girl is too shy. No need for further

 explanation or investigation. No attempt is made to

go beyond flying in and out the camp to get her

 picture and the proof that she is what she is

 dubbed to be: the girl wit the green eyes, the

 symbol of suffering of a nation. We, western eyes,

 know enough We don't really want to know who

 she is, or what she went through. We don't want to

 hear her story. Her comments or conclusion.

We are for her eyes only, remember?

So we take another photo and rush off to our lab to

 check and compare the iris scan with our

 advanced verification technologies.

Gotcha!

Commando Solo has struck again.

(Commando Solo was the nickname of the

 Pentagon sponsored  radio program aired from

 over the Indian Ocean to the wind-up radio's that

 were dropped on Afghanistan, together with

 cluster bombs and food parcels)

 jo van der spek