Robert Scheer/Los Angeles Times | May 22, 2001
BUSH'S FAUSTIAN DEAL WITH THE TALIBAN
Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously.
That's the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today. The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention.
Never mind that Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his base in Afghanistan, from which, among other crimes, he launched two bloody attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998.
Sadly, the Bush administration is cozying up to the Taliban regime at a time when the United Nations, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul government will not turn over Bin Laden.
The war on drugs has become our own fanatics' obsession and easily trumps all other concerns. How else could we come to reward the Taliban, who has subjected the female half of the Afghan population to a continual reign of terror in a country once considered enlightened in its treatment of women.
At no point in modern history have women and girls been more systematically abused than in Afghanistan where, in the name of madness masquerading as Islam, the government in Kabul obliterates their fundamental human rights. Women may not appear in public without being covered from head to toe with the oppressive shroud called the burkha , and they may not leave the house without being accompanied by a male family member. They've not been permitted to attend school or be treated by male doctors, yet women have been banned from practicing medicine or any profession for that matter.
The lot of males is better if they blindly accept the laws of an extreme religious theocracy that prescribes strict rules governing all behavior, from a ban on shaving to what crops may be grown. It is this last power that has captured the enthusiasm of the Bush White House.
The Taliban fanatics, economically and diplomatically isolated, are at the breaking point, and so, in return for a pittance of legitimacy and cash from the Bush administration, they have been willing to appear to reverse themselves on the growing of opium. That a totalitarian country can effectively crack down on its farmers is not surprising. But it is grotesque for a U.S. official, James P. Callahan, director of the State Department's Asian anti-drug program, to describe the Taliban's special methods in the language of representative democracy: "The Taliban used a system of consensus-building," Callahan said after a visit with the Taliban, adding that the Taliban justified the ban on drugs "in very religious terms."
Of course, Callahan also reported, those who didn't obey the theocratic edict would be sent to prison.
In a country where those who break minor rules are simply beaten on the spot by religious police and others are stoned to death, it's understandable that the government's "religious" argument might be compelling. Even if it means, as Callahan concedes, that most of the farmers who grew the poppies will now confront starvation. That's because the Afghan economy has been ruined by the religious extremism of the Taliban, making the attraction of opium as a previously tolerated quick cash crop overwhelming.
For that reason, the opium ban will not last unless the U.S. is willing to pour far larger amounts of money into underwriting the Afghan economy.
As the Drug Enforcement Administration's Steven Casteel admitted, "The bad side of the ban is that it's bringing their country -- or certain regions of their country -- to economic ruin." Nor did he hold out much hope for Afghan farmers growing other crops such as wheat, which require a vast infrastructure to supply water and fertilizer that no longer exists in that devastated country. There's little doubt that the Taliban will turn once again to the easily taxed cash crop of opium in order to stay in power.
The Taliban may suddenly be the dream regime of our own war drug war zealots, but in the end this alliance will prove a costly failure. Our long sad history of signing up dictators in the war on drugs demonstrates the futility of building a foreign policy on a domestic obsession.
The Associated Press | Powell Announces Afghan Aid Program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- May 17, 2001-- Calling Afghanistan a crisis area, Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Thursday a $43 million program of emergency assistance for that drought- and war-plagued country.
Powell told reporters that the lives of nearly 4 million Afghanis are at risk, and he warned that a widespread famine could be in prospect.
``If the international community does not take immediate action, countless deaths and terrible tragedy are certain to follow,'' he said.
Powell noted that the crisis stems from three years of drought coupled with a devastating civil war that has lasted more than 20 years.
The new commitment raised the U.S. assistance total for the year to $124 million, compared with $114 million for all of last year.
The donation includes 65,000 tons of wheat, as well as vegetable oil and blended foods like corn-soy blend, which are particularly useful in feeding the sick and undernourished. Funds also are being earmarked for health and shelter programs.
U.S. aid to Afghanistan bypasses the ruling Taliban militia, which controls the bulk of the country but has no official relationship with the United States because of its alleged role as a sponsor of terrorism.
There are no U.S. officials in Afghanistan managing the aid program. The assistance is donated through international agencies of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
According to U.N. officials, more than 200,000 Afghanis have fled to neighboring Iran and Pakistan, joining more than 2 million who had fled there earlier because of the war. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is expected to issue an appeal to donors for additional aid to Afghani refugees in Pakistan.
About a half million Afghanis are internally displaced, with refugee camps in Herat in western Afghanistan growing by an estimated 1,200 a day.
Leonard Rogers, a top official of the Agency for International Development, citing estimates by U.N. agencies, said the crop shortfall for Afghanistan is estimated at 2 million tons this year, about twice the figure for last year.
Rogers said precise information about the depth of the problem is hard to obtain because war-related security problems inhibit in-depth assessments. ``We have imperfect understanding of what's going on there,'' he said.
The new aid commitment was welcomed by the Feminist Majority Foundation, which has been urging an increase of humanitarian assistance to Afghanis, especially to women and children.
The Foundation said in a statement that the ``Taliban's barbaric rule'' was partially responsible for the uprooting of many Afghanis from their homes.
The group, working through its Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan, has been especially critical of the Taliban because of its policy of denying rights to women and girls.
(Editors Note : The day after this letter is dated the Bush administration announced a gift of $43 million dollars to the Taliban Leadership of Afghanistan.)
SCHAKOWSKY ORGANIZES CONGRESSIONAL LETTER
CALLING FOR AN END TO RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AGAINST
HINDUS BY TALIBAN GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN
URGES PRESIDENT BUSH TO INTERVENE
WASHINGTON - 05.23.01 | U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today organized a letter signed by more than 100 of her colleagues, including Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO), calling on President Bush to intervene on behalf of Afghanistan's Hindu minority. Afghanistan's Taliban government is planning to force Hindu residents and other religious minorities to wear labels on their clothes to differentiate them from Muslim citizens.
"The action of the Taliban toward Afghanistan's Hindu minority is disturbingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jews. The United States has a responsibility as the world leader to speak up now and to demand an immediate end to this policy, before it's too late," said Schakowsky.
The Letter to President Bush is below.
May 23, 2001
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
We are writing to you today because we are extremely concerned after hearing news reports which indicate that the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan plans to force Afghan Hindus to wear labels on their clothing to differentiate them from Muslims. We urge you to immediately take steps that will convince the Taliban to withdraw this proposal.
History has shown over and over that segregation of this kind can lead to genocide. This action alone is enough to raise that specter. Afghanistan is also the source of disturbing reports of persecution of religious minorities and women in particular, making this recent news all the more troubling.
News reports also indicated that the policy was justified by Taliban officials as a way to protect the Hindu population in that country. We believe this action will be counter-productive to that goal. As the leader of the free world, our nation has a solemn obligation to lead in opposition to such dangerous plans. We urge you to immediately fulfill that obligation.
We appreciate your consideration of our request, and look forward to your response.
t r u t h o u t - http://www.truthout.com
-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), October 10, 2001