09621

01/02/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09621

AMERICA AND AFGHANISTAN

An interim administration led by Chairman Hamid Karzai is now in office in Afghanistan. The Taleban and their foreign al-Qaida terrorist allies are no longer in control. They have been routed and ousted.

The new Afghan administration is being helped by an international security force, led by the British, under the auspices of the United Nations. The United States will remain in Afghanistan to help in the search for remaining Taleban fighters and al-Qaida terrorists. Aiding the effort is Pakistan. Pakistani authorities have detained dozens of suspected Taleban and al-Qaida who tried to cross the border.

The U-S does not plan to be part of the security force in Afghanistan. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sees America’s mission as making sure that the Taleban are disarmed and no longer have the ability "to kill people." Another American objective is to catch and imprison the remaining al-Qaida so that they can’t go someplace else to carry out their terrorist acts.

Once these military tasks are accomplished, the humanitarian effort will continue. The United States is the largest donor of foreign aid to Afghanistan. Since September 11^th, the U-S has increased its contribution to three-hundred-twenty million dollars from the nearly one hundred eighty-million it provided in the year 2000. The U-S has supplied more than eighty percent of all food aid to Afghanistan through the World Food Program. The U.S. will continue to be the lead donor.

For Afghans to resume a normal life, the reconstruction of their country is critical. Damaged housing must be rebuilt. Roads and bridges must be reconstructed and upgraded. Wells must be drilled, and irrigation and water supply systems repaired. The U-S and other countries will work with the new Afghan government to make all of these things possible.

As President George W. Bush said, "We will fight evil. But in order to overcome evil, the great goodness of America must come forth and shine forth. And one way to do so is to help the poor souls in Afghanistan. And we’re going to do so."