Here's the source of the 7.5 mil figure. I got this from Oxfam's website:
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/humanitarian/afghanistan/index.html
How many people are actually at risk of starvation in Afghanistan? Where do the figures come from?
The United Nations estimates 7.5 million people are at risk, making the current situation in Afghanistan the worst humanitarian crisis on earth today.
Breakdown of where populations at risk are: Faizabad (North East) - 350,000 people Kabul (Central) - 1,500,000 people Bamyan (Hazarajat) - 860,000 people Mazar (North) - 2,000,000 people Kandahar (South) - 1,010,000 people Herat (West) - 1,200,000 people Jalalabad (East) - 600,000 people Total =7,520,000 people
--- Chip Berlet <cberlet at igc.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The range of figures from different groups I have
> seen is from 1.5 million to
> 7.5 million deaths. I suspect the higher figures
> have more to do with
> irresponsible scare tactics and fundraising
> hyperbole, but even the lowest
> figure of 1.5 million is grotesque and a crime
> against humanity.
>
> I would use the lower figure for a newspaper to
> avoid a challenge to the
> figures.
>
> -Chip
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carrol Cox" <cbcox at ilstu.edu>
> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>;
> <pen-l at galaxy.csuchico.edu>; "Discussions on the
> Socialist Register and its articles"
> <SOCIALIST-REGISTER at yorku.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 12:41 PM
> Subject: Query -- [Fwd: Does anybody in this country
> get it?]
>
>
> > How firm -- dependable -- is this description
> (below) of the situation
> > in Afghanistan. I'm tentatively planning on making
> it the core of a
> > letter to the local newspaper (letter limit 300
> words). And while I'm
> > quite willing to be wrong, in fact believe it is
> crucial to push
> > strongly enough that one risks being wrong, still
> I don't want to
> > suggest the possibility of millions of deaths if
> it isn't going to come
> > even close to that.
> >
> > Any comments?
> >
> > Carrol
> >
> > http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11855
> > The Coming Apocalypse
> > Geov Parrish, WorkingForChange.com
> > November 5, 2001
> >
> > Does anybody in this country get it?
> >
> >
> > Does anybody understand what the United States is
> on the verge of doing?
> >
> >
> > Experienced, respected food aid organizations warn
> that even before the
> > bombing of Afghanistan began on October 7, some
> 7,500,000 Afghans were
> > -- through a gut-wrenching combination of poverty,
> drought, war,
> > dislocation, and repression -- at risk of starving
> to death this winter.
> > When the bombing began, almost all delivery of
> food from the outside
> > world stopped. Now, roads and bridges are
> destroyed, millions more
> > people are dislocated, and the snow is steadily
> approaching from higher
> > elevations and from the north.
> >
> >
> > For weeks, aid organizations, along with voices
> from throughout the
> > region, have been begging the United States to
> call off its bombing
> > campaign, at least for long enough so that aid
> agencies can conduct the
> > massive transfer of food into and throughout
> Afghanistan that is
> > necessary to prevent death on a scale the world
> has not seen in a long,
> > long time. On our newscasts, it's politely
> referred to as a
> > "humanitarian crisis." That's a euphemism that
> makes "collateral damage"
> > seem humane.
> >
> >
> > Seven and a half million people at risk of dying
> in a matter of months.
> >
> > [clip]
>
===== Angie Manzano off our backs magazine 2337B 18th St NW Washington, DC 20009 ph: 202-234-8072/202-682-4000 fax: 202-234-8092 web: www.igc.org/oob
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