Getting Houses in Order

I read this.
It broke my heart.
I went to my daughter's school to watch her get some awards.
My heart broke open even wider.  Seriously, I was almost weeping in an elementary school awards ceremony.  I was so glad, even with all the stupid things that we do as a country, that the room was full of little girls who are going to get an education, and grow up without ever having to wear a burkha or feel like they are inferior to boys.
I have a problem though.  I can't be happy about my daughter and her friends without feeling terribly guilty about all the little girls in Afghanistan who are going to grow up without a snowball's chance in hell.  I can't help but feel my stomach knot up when I hear about those women who have suffered so much and come so far to gain a foothold on what we would consider "basic" human rights, and who are now about to be thrown back to the savagery of the Taliban.
Yes, I said, "savagery," and yes, I know it's judgmental, and no, I don't care if it's judgmental.  Someone needs to judge.  More people need to judge about the kind of despicable evil that grips large segments of the world's population.  As a white, middle class, American male, I am actually the last person who needs to judge, I'm the one whose best solution involves, bombs, Marines and drones.  I'm the one whose sense of liberty and justice can be and often is, imposed at the point of a rifle.  I'm a dangerous judge.  I'm also a father, who is generally opposed to war, but when I read stuff like what I read above, I'm fighting mad.  It actually makes me think that we shouldn't leave Afghanistan, not because of terrorists or national security, but just because someone needs to protect those women from their own men.
I hear all the time about how Islam is a religion of peace, and I've tried really hard to trust that statement, and I understand how extremism can turn even the best foundation violent (Lord knows Christianity has been used that way from time to time).  I also hear quite a bit about how Islam treats women, with the possible exception of the most modern, westernized forms. I remember that women are also made in the image of God.  I understand that Muslims don't want western "christians" imposing our way of things on them.  I get that they are the ones to put their own house in order, I believe that's how it should be, but the stench of this sort of evil is wafting out.  Honor killings, child brides, women denied their basic humanity in so many different ways, all in the name of some god?
I guess what I want is the people who have standing in the situation, namely the men of Islam, to stand up for their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, and stop allowing them to treated as pawns and property.  It is profoundly dishonorable to allow the vulnerable to suffer in these sorts of ways.  I would really appreciate it if we could figure out another way to go about tackling this problem, a way that doesn't involve guns and bombs, and Americans trying to play hall monitor to the world.  That's just not working out too well, but neither is letting the Taliban, kidnap, rape and kill teenage girls.  Neither is keeping 50% of the world's Islamic population completely oppressed.
I'm going to do what I can to keep my house in order, I'm going to vote, I'm going to work, I'm going to do my best to raise my daughter in a world where she has every opportunity to live fully and equally with her brother.
I just want to let you know that what is happening to girls on the other side of the world breaks my heart.
Stop it already.
Happy Father's Day.