The Horrible Fury of the Republicans
Written in 2002
After 23 years of unrest, much of it funded by the U.S.
government, Afghanistan now has two million widows.(*1)
The entire country has been turned upside down in one of
the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world.
In addition to many households headed by women, there are
also now many households headed by unaccompanied minors,
households with missing children and households with
unaccompanied old people.(*2)
The loss of income from the death, absence or disability of
men means many women and children must beg door to door
on the streets for food;(*3) many children are sent out
to earn money by collecting scrap wood or metal.(*4)
Even when a husband has not been killed or disabled, he
may have difficulty providing for his family. Heavy and
small-scale industries, communication networks and
trans****tation systems ³have all been almost completely
destroyed.²(*5)
With the resulting shortage of goods, prices in Kandahar
increased by 40 percent.(*6)
Some families have survived by eating wheat ****ridge,
wild gr*****, seeds and roots found around their village.
(*7) In addition to a lack of food, there is also a lack
of money for heat, health services or safe water.(*8)
When it was time to plant wheat, bombs were falling.
Many fled in a panic without even gathering their
laundry hanging on the line.(*9) Many that left had
barefooted children with clothes worn thin. They
were unprepared for the cold winter they would
have to face.
There are now 4 million Afghans living in Iran
and Pakistan and 1.2 million displaced within the
country.(*10)
At night while fleeing, some of the families slept
in cold damp trenches lined with plastic. They
huddled close together for heat in the below
freezing weather. Some developed coughs or
ailments such as tuberculosis, watery diarrhea
or pneumonia.(*11)
One young UNICEF worker found a family
of five locked together in an embrace, frozen
to death. In another camp, 150 people froze
to death. Many suffered frostbite or
dehydration.(*12)
International aid reached many of the neediest
with such items as tents, mats, warm blankets,
quilts, buckets, kettles, plates, soap, kerosene
stoves, medicine, high energy biscuits, wheat
and other food items. But the amount was
insufficient for the enormous need.(*13)
Furthermore, some people couldn't be found,
and some of the camps were difficult to reach,
along mountainous terrain on desert tracks, with
no proper roads.(*14) It became especially
difficult after snows or when there was fighting.
Helicopters have been used to reach some of these.
In October, there were hundreds of thousands of
children without shelter, clothing, water, food
or healthcare.(*15)
While in Afghanistan as a whole, one in four
children have been dying of preventable causes,
(*16) in the camps, it has been one out of three.
(*17) The graveyards near the camps are littered
with "small mounds of earth, children who died
of disease, sickness and malnutrition," said Eric
Laroche, UNICEF representative of Afghanistan.
"I is not unusual to see a mother walking in the
morning with her dead child in her arms," he said.(*18)
Every year, about 300,000 children have died
of preventable diseases in Afghanistan(*19)-- about
35,000 have died from measles(*20) and about
85,000 from diarrhea,(*21) which they get
from drinking unsafe water.
Repeated bouts of diarrhea has malnourishes
children and weakens the immune system. The
child is then vulnerable to life-threatening
infections and diseases. Diarrhea can easily
and cheaply be cured with oral rehydration
salts.
About 52 percent of the children have stunted
growth.(*22)
Mothers have also suffered immensely. Many
of them are malnourished and their bodies
unfit for normal delivery, according to
Afghanistan Country Representative Eric
Larouche. "Rarely, has a womanıs body
regained strength after the birth of her
first child, when she conceives again," he
said.
According to him, a woman dies in childbirth
every 20 minutes in Afghanistan, with 87
per cent of maternal deaths preventable.
Those with severe nutritional anemia can
die with the loss of just one pint of blood,
he said.(*23)
One survey found that 80-90 percent of the
women were anemic.(*24) Another crisis is
the dire threat of landmines; Afghanistan has
an estimated 10 million landmines<40 per mile,
(*25) and is one of the most heavily mined
countries in the world.(*26) One of every
10 males in Afghanistan is a landmine victim.(*27)
At least 360 million square meters are known
to be littered with landmines--land the people
need for grazing, growing food and for building
homes, roads and irrigation systems.(*28)
Landmines often look like stones, butterflies
or like pineapples, attracting the curiosity
of children. While an adult that is damaged
by a landmine may only lose a limb, a child is
likely to be killed.(*29) Those children that
survive and have missing limbs are not likely
to get a prostheses.
The United Nations has 3,000 people now
working to de-mine Afghanistan and 16
teams teaching the people mine awareness.(*30)
It has all been too much for the people.
"Afghanistan is facing a staggering mental
health crisis: almost half the population is
striving to cope with psychological distress
caused by living though more than two decades
of violence, human rights abuses, and
displacement," said Eric Falt with the U.N
Office for Pakistan and Afghanistan.(*31)
Colin Powell said in his book, "Use all the
force necessary and do not apologize for
going in big if that's what it takes."
But most Americans are about living their
lives with compassion and integrity -- not
about using their tax dollars to punish a
whole country, even children who never
even heard of the World Trade Center.
________________________________________
No More War: Breaking Dependency on Mid East Oil
We can not wait on Wa****ngton to take action
to break our dependency on Middle East Oil,
which is causing not only the agony of war but
also global warming.
We must work on a local level to get cars off
the road. In London, many people take public
trans****taton to work. That's because if you
want to drive your car into the heart of the
city, there is a $15 toll. It has taken about
70,000 cars off the road, according to the
agency that manages the tolls. Imagine how
many cars we could get off the roads if every
major city did this.
To do this, you must first expand public
trans****tation, putting more buses on the
roads and perhaps increasing their frequency.
To me, all of the money from a toll as this
should be used to expand make light rail,
trolleys, subways and buses free of charge.
Another alternative is to have every tax
payer pay public trans****tation fares
and be given free tickets, which would
mean the cost of it would be very cheap.
With war raging over oil and climate change
looming, we have to do something drastic.
During the Olympics in 1996, the city of
Atlanta, Georgia, got many cars off the
road by adding 1,000 city buses, closed
downtown streets to all and closed downtown
streets to all but public trans****tation
vehicles. Ozone levels dropped by 25
percent. Medicaid expenses for hospitalizations
for asthma dropped by 40 percent.
During the China-Africa Summit, China was
able to get a million cars off the roads.
Please see an article I wrote for Earth
Island Journal telling how ****tland,
Oregon got many cars off the road: Ten Thousand Bicycles in ****tland.
We CAN fight Middle East Dependency
on Oil without war. And we can fight global
warming without the help of businesses
and Wa****ngton.
End Notes for "The Horrible Fury of
Wa****ngton":
1) Ms. Julia Taft, assistant administrator and director of the Bureau for
Crisis Prevention and Recovery UNDP, "Afghan Women Today: realities and
Op****tunities," International Womenı Day Panel Discussion, March 8, 2002.
Available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.un.org/events/women/2002/taft.htm
.
2) Ariana Yaftali, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN Humanitarian
Coordinator for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing by the UN Offices for
Pakistan
and Afghanistan," Feb. 11, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=148&sID=4
.
3) Ibid, Ms. Julia Taft.
4) Edward Carwardine, communication consultant, United Nations
International
Childrenıs Emergency Fund Afghanistan, "Realism Helps to Bridge the
Poverty
Trap for Kabulıs Street Children." Available on the United Nationıs
International Childrenıs Emergency Fund website at:
http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/childprotection/wahida.html
5) "A Transition Strategy for Afghanistan and the Immediate Region,"
Available on the United Nations Development Program website at:
http://www.undp.org/afghanistan/transitionstrategy.htm
.
6) Peter Kessler, Spokesperson for UNHCR, "Press Briefing by the UN
Offices
for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Sept. 28, 2001. Available on the World Wide
Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=69&sID=4
.
7) Jennifer Abrahamson, spokesperson for the World Food Program, "Press
Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Feb. 28, 2002.
Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=14&sID=4
.
8) Ibid, Ms. Julia Taft.
9) Peter Kessler, Spokesperson for UNHCR, "Press Briefing by the UN
Offices
for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Sept. 28, 2001 Available on the World Wide
Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=69&sID=4
.
10) Stephanie Bunker, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian coordinator for
Afghanistan, "Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and
Afghanistan," Sept. 26, 2001, Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=71&sID=4
.
11) Edward Carwardine, communication officer, United Nationıs Internation
Childrenıs Emergency Fund Afghanistan, "Help for Those With Nothing."
Available on the United Nationıs Childrenıs Fund website at:
http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/humasst/ajhmal.html
.
12) Ariana Yaftali, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN Humanitarian
Coordinator for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing by the UN Offices for
Pakistan
and Afghanistan," Feb. 11, 2002 Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=148&sID=4
.
13) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, "Press Briefing by the UN
Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 15, 2001. Available on the
World
Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=55&sID=4
.
14) Onder Yucer, UN resident coordinator for Pakistan, UN Information
Centre, "Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
Sept. 21, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=74&sID=4
15) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing
by
the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 2, 2001. Available on
the
World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4
.
16) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing
by
the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 2, 2001. Available on
the
World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4
.
17) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing
by
the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 2, 2001. Available on
the
World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4
.
18) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, "Press Briefing
by
the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 2, 2001. Available on
the
World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4
.
19) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, "Press Briefing by the UN
Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Oct. 15, 2002. Available on the
World
Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=55&sID=4
.
20) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, "Press Briefing by the UN
Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Feb. 7, 2002. Available on the
World
Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=147&sID=4
.
21) Onder Yucer, UN resident coordinator for Pakistan, UN Information
Centre, "Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
Sept. 21, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=74&sID=4
.
22) "Special measures for infants and children." Available on the UNICEF
website at: http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/ecd/index.html
.
23) Eric Larouche, Afghanistan Country Representative, "We must invest
now,
at the highest possible level, to make the herstory of Afghanistan, a
story
of life, a story of hope, a story of success," UNICEF Executive Speeches.
Available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.unicef.org/exspeeches/02esplaroucheafghanmm.htm
.
24) "Reconstruction of the Afghanistan Health Sector: A Preliminary
*****sment of Needs and Op****tunities: December 2001-January 2002."
Available on the World Health Organization Website at:
http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7605.pdf
.
25) "Land Mines: Hidden Killers." Available on the United Nationıs
Childrenıs Fund website at http://www.unicef.org/sowc96pk/hidekill.htm
.
26) "Children in War: The Legacy of Landmines." Available on the United
Nations Childrenıs Fund website at:
http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/9ldmines.htm
.
27) "Impact of Small Arms and Landmines on Health." Available on the World
Health Organization website at:
http://www.who.int/mipfiles/1965/SmallArmsLandminesandHealth.pdf
28) "Afghanitan." Available on the website of the International Conference
to Ban Landmines website in the Landmine Monitor,
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/afghanistan.html
.
29) "Children in War: The Legacy of Landmines." Available on the United
Nations Childrenıs Fund website at:
http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/9ldmines.htm
.
30) "Impact of Armed Conflict on Children: Land-Mines: A Deadly
Inheritance." Available on the United Nations Childrenıs Fund website at
http://www.unicef.org/graca/mines.htm
.
31) Lori Hieber-Girardet, spokesperson for to World Health Organization,
"Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan," Jan. 21,
2002. Available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.un.org.pk/latest-dev/briefing020121.htm
.
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