01/27/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09669

OPENING UP AFGHANISTAN

The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The U-S is committed to helping the Afghan people.

Progress has been made. The oppressive Taleban regime is no longer in power. An interim government is in place. The U-S and other nations are helping Afghanistan get back on its feet.

Eleven major overland routes are open for the truck convoys that carry the bulk of humanitarian aid. Airfields throughout the country are also receiving shipments.

International and non-governmental organizations are returning with both personnel and much-needed supplies. Spain and South Korea are preparing to send medical help. The Russians have had a hospital open in Kabul since the middle of December, where more than five-thousand Afghans have received treatment.

Schools are also opening. Women were prohibited from being teachers or students under the Taleban. Now, eighty female staff members have rejoined the faculty of Kabul University. Two-hundred women have registered for classes there next semester.

Of prime concern is security. U-S Army General Tommy Franks is leading the anti-terrorist coalition’s military efforts. He says that land mine removal is a major priority in Afghanistan. In more than two decades of war, ten to eleven million mines were laid in Afghanistan, one of the largest concentrations on the planet.

More than four-thousand de-miners are now at work.

Seven nations, led by Britain, have contributed troops to a security force in Kabul. The force will demonstrate to Afghanistan that there is an international commitment to ending the violence there.

America’s mission to eradicate the al-Qaida terrorist sanctuary in Afghanistan will continue as long as there are terrorists on the ground. Now the task is to provide humanitarian assistance so that the Afghan people can make up for lost time. As U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "The American-led coalition is determined that Afghanistan not lose another generation to war, exile, and misery."