Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Issue No. 34 October 7 - 13, 2001 Quezon City, Philippines |
To Punish Innocent Afghans Would Be Immoral BY
CHRIS BUCKLEY Back to Bulatlat.com Alternative Reader Index I
have just returned from Afghanistan, and cannot avoid a growing feeling of dread
at what may be about to befall the people I have left there. The bellicose
statements being issued by America and her allies about revenge and retaliation
for Tuesday's horrific terrorist attacks against New York and Washington seem to
be softening up western electorates for some kind of massive military action
against the Afghan people. Because
of these threats, aid organisations have been forced to pull out their foreign
workers - fearing both that they may be caught in the expected raids, or that
they would be attacked as westerners after the NATO bombers have flown away. The
effects of this withdrawal could be infinitely more tragic and devastating than
the worst that a wounded America may now throw at this long, long-suffering
country. For,
although it has gone largely unreported, Afghanistan is in the grip of a
three-year drought and on the verge of mass starvation. According to the UN-run
World Food Programme, by the end of the year 5.5 million people will be entirely
dependent on food aid to survive the winter --- that's a quarter of the Afghan
population. As
Christian Aid's programme officer responsible for Afghanistan, I have been
helping supply food and seeds to communities in desperate need. In a few weeks
the winter snows will come, cutting off the hundreds of isolated villages whose
only links to the outside world are rutted dirt tracks. Without seeds they will
be unable to replant for next year. Without food aid now, thousands could be
dead before the spring. Already
fears on the ground about this pending catastrophe are filtering through. Only
yesterday (Thurs) I received this message from one of the local organisations
funded by Christian Aid. 'What
will happen to the people if aid agencies remain reluctant to resume full
operations? The consequences are quite clear that people who are already
suffering would be the victims. And if any military action is taken, Afghan
staff and civilians will be in real danger. 'Terrorism
is the worst thing and it shows how blind these people are as human beings. But
if the leaders do not have patience and tolerance they can only do further
damage.' This,
I think you must agree, is not a voice from a country of dedicated international
terrorists or religious fanatics. But it is a voice from the real Afghanistan,
unrecognisable from the demonised image we are being urged to accept. The
real Afghanistan is one where 85 per cent of the population are subsistence
farmers. Most Afghans don't have newspapers, television sets or radios. They
will not have heard of the World Trade Centre or the Pentagon, and most will
have no idea that a group of zealots has attacked these icons of western
civilisation. There isn't even a postal service. Now,
in these isolated villages, families are down to their last few weeks of food
and already men women and children in the bulging refugee camps are dying of
cholera and malnutrition. I have spoken to orphans with swollen bellies. I have
spoken to men who have no money to hire trucks to escape the drought and make it
to the camps. I have spoken to families who say they will wait in their villages
for death. And
that was before the aid agencies were forced to withdraw. Afghans are not
willing victims - they are hardy peoples, as any Soviet general will testify.
For the past three years they have been doing all they can to survive ---
sharing food, borrowing money to buy food, crossing the borders with Pakistan
and Iran to find illegal, badly-paid work. Many used to work on the opium farms
as casual labourers. But
all these sources of income have dried up. Pakistan and Iran are throwing
thousands of Afghans out each month, the Taliban have banned opium production
and there is no food or credit to be had after three years of drought. And
as I write this, our worst fears have just been realised. I have just received
the following message from a friend who works for another of our partner
organisations in western Afghanistan. He writes: 'I hope you are fine. We have
spoken to the World Food Programme in Herat, and asked them to release food so
we can distribute it to our beneficiaries who are in severe need. But WFP has
stopped their activities right now. Could you please see if it is possible to
get the release from WFP?' That
is a real cry for help. Other friends there have stressed the need for the world
to adopt a comprehensive approach to the terrorist threat --- addressing the
underlying causes of this terrifying phenomenon rather than just seeking to
extract revenge. Let
me be clear. The murder of thousands of innocent Americans has shocked and
appalled us all. But any military action which disrupts the flow of aid to
millions of equally innocent Afghans would be equally immoral. Christian Aid urges everyone involved to show civilised restraint in responding to an act of barbarism. Thousands of innocent people have died in the United States. We must now make sure that even more innocent lives are not lost. Back to Bulatlat.com Alternative Reader Index We want to know what you think of this article.
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