>>>Humanitarian aid groups warned that the bombing would create an aid
catastrophe -- but
>>> they've brought in far more relief since the war than before it
began
Does anyone have more information or perspective? (I don't subscribe to Salon so don't have access to the whole article)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - By Laura Rozen
Nov. 16, 2001 | WASHINGTON --
While the citizens of Kabul cheered as the Taliban retreated from the Afghan capital this week, some humanitarian aid organizations warned that instability on the ground was hampering their efforts to reach Afghanistan's population of five million seriously hungry people.
"In Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of people will be helplessly exposed to the elements this winter, no matter which authority sits in Kabul," said Carol Bellamy, the executive director of the UN Children's fund, UNICEF, on Wednesday. "We are moving supplies every day, but we still face a very tough road ahead."
The statement echoed earlier warnings by humanitarian groups that the US bombing was disrupting their efforts to truck in and distribute aid in the few short weeks before winter arrived.
"We just don't know how many people may die if the bombing is not suspended and the aid effort assured," said Oxfam's Barbara Stocking, in an October 17 press release calling for a US bombing pause, signed by Oxfam, Islamic Relief, Christian Aid, Tear Fund, and ActionAid.
But aid experts say that the agencies' repeated alarms about impact of the U.S. military campaign against the Taliban on relief efforts has neglected the fact that more food has been reaching Afghanistan since the U.S. bombing began than was before -- a lot more.