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There Is No Victory While Millions Suffer
Monday, January 14, 2002
(12:00 AM PT)
By Dan ONeill
Special to The Times

Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan appear, in large part, to be defeated. Their corpses litter the desolate landscape; their survivors are fleeing to their dark hideouts or are in detention.

Aid convoys are rushing relief supplies around the clock to cold and hungry multitudes. The U.S. government has declared that famine has been averted. And sufficient food stocks are in country or positioned nearby to temporarily feed the Afghan people -- thanks in large measure to U.S. leadership.

But can any real victory be declared? The sobering answer is, no.

One million Afghan people are internally displaced. More than 3.6 million
Afghans are refugees outside of their country, unable to return to their homes. Seventy percent of the population is malnourished, and 7.5 million are currently at risk of hunger and exposure as Afghanistan's harsh winter descends with merciless, bitter wind and cold. Insecurity and lawlessness exist in the countryside.

The United Nations is not yet meaningfully deployed in this war-torn country. Warlords jockey for position in the regional power vacuum. Taliban and al-Qaida resisters have yet to be disarmed in outlying areas. Bandits rob commercial and aid convoys. Mines and unexploded ordnance lie strewn and sown to a frightening degree, ensuring that a steady stream of news stories will report mayhem and dismemberment for years to come.

Victory? Not yet. We have a very long way to go.
(More: The Seattle Times News Source)
2002 © The Seattle Times Co.

Dan