Joe Pitts: “today in Kabul and other cities in northern Afghanistan, men are shaving off their beards. Women are going outside…”

“today in Kabul and other cities in northern Afghanistan, men are shaving off their beards. Women are going outside unescorted by male relatives, and without wearing burqas to cover themselves head to toe. Children are playing music on their tape recorders. These may seem like minor things, but they are minor things that the Afghan people have been denied for too long. We need to remind ourselves that our freedoms are not free. They were won by patriots who sometimes gave their lives. I am talking about the freedom to worship according to your beliefs. If you do that in Afghanistan, you are put to death. I am talking about the freedom of the press. If you try to publish a newspaper in Iraq, you are thrown in jail, never to return. I am talking about the freedom of assembly. If you try to organize a political rally in North Korea, you will wake up in a concentration camp. We are truly blessed in this country and those freedoms are worth defending. That is why we are at war, for freedom.”