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The Herald (Glasgow), February 26, 2003
Afghanistan has been well and truly betrayed
David Hayman, head of operations, Spirit Aid, 45 King Street,
Glasgow.
I HAVE just returned from the last country we went to war with,
barely 16 months ago, Afghanistan. I spent a month there taking in
medical aid to 13 mountain villages that collectively go by the name
of Sheik-Jalaal. Out of a population of 5000, 50% were children and
they were dying. Dying of tuberculosis, diphtheria, malaria, whooping
cough, gastroenteritis, and URI. They haven't seen a doctor in 24
years! I arranged and paid for teams of doctors, nurses, and drivers.
I bought thousands of pounds worth of medicines, and the Halo Trust
(the mine-clearing organisation) loaned me a fleet of two ambulances
and two Land Rovers.
Over a period of two weeks we medically examined and treated the
whole population. It was mission accomplished and the people and
schoolchildren of Scotland who donated to our "Children of the
Rubble" campaign can be very proud of what those donations achieved.
At the end of the day, though, what I managed to achieve was but a
sticking -plaster on the wounds of that beleaguered and forgotten
country. Wasn't this the country that Tony Blair and George Bush
pledged, in the same breath that announced war, that the people of
Afghanistan would not be forgotten? Well, I can say after two visits
to Afghanistan that they are not only forgotten but well and truly
betrayed. The country is on its knees: roads, bridges, tunnels,
schools, homes, hospitals, and farmlands are reduced to rubble and
dust. It is one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the
world. Only 5% of the rural population have access to clean water,
17% have access to medical services, 13% have access to education,
25% of all children are dead by the age of five. Life expectancy is
43. An estimated three million people are still in refugee camps in
Iran and Pakistan, let alone the hundreds of thousands of internally
displaced peoples. This country is in a mess and if anyone tells me
that millions of dollars worth of aid is getting into this country
then I will gladly take them to Afghanistan and point out the brutal
truth. The people are dying! And we are turning a blind eye.
The people are dying and we are heading off to war with yet another
country that hasn't bombed us or attacked us. How can we even
contemplate creating another, inevitable, humanitarian disaster when
the evidence of Saddam Hussein's threat to us all has yet to be
proven? Surely, at the start of our 21st century, we should have
evolved beyond the point where we reduce a country and a people to
dust, for the flimsiest of excuses. War is the failure of politics!
War is the failure of diplomacy! It is the absence of wisdom and
understanding. The humanitarian crises, the desperation of the
children, the betrayal of a people I witnessed in Afghanistan must
not be repeated. Not in our name, Mr Blair.
Afghanistan has been well and truly betrayed
David Hayman, head of operations, Spirit Aid, 45 King Street,
Glasgow.
I HAVE just returned from the last country we went to war with,
barely 16 months ago, Afghanistan. I spent a month there taking in
medical aid to 13 mountain villages that collectively go by the name
of Sheik-Jalaal. Out of a population of 5000, 50% were children and
they were dying. Dying of tuberculosis, diphtheria, malaria, whooping
cough, gastroenteritis, and URI. They haven't seen a doctor in 24
years! I arranged and paid for teams of doctors, nurses, and drivers.
I bought thousands of pounds worth of medicines, and the Halo Trust
(the mine-clearing organisation) loaned me a fleet of two ambulances
and two Land Rovers.
Over a period of two weeks we medically examined and treated the
whole population. It was mission accomplished and the people and
schoolchildren of Scotland who donated to our "Children of the
Rubble" campaign can be very proud of what those donations achieved.
At the end of the day, though, what I managed to achieve was but a
sticking -plaster on the wounds of that beleaguered and forgotten
country. Wasn't this the country that Tony Blair and George Bush
pledged, in the same breath that announced war, that the people of
Afghanistan would not be forgotten? Well, I can say after two visits
to Afghanistan that they are not only forgotten but well and truly
betrayed. The country is on its knees: roads, bridges, tunnels,
schools, homes, hospitals, and farmlands are reduced to rubble and
dust. It is one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the
world. Only 5% of the rural population have access to clean water,
17% have access to medical services, 13% have access to education,
25% of all children are dead by the age of five. Life expectancy is
43. An estimated three million people are still in refugee camps in
Iran and Pakistan, let alone the hundreds of thousands of internally
displaced peoples. This country is in a mess and if anyone tells me
that millions of dollars worth of aid is getting into this country
then I will gladly take them to Afghanistan and point out the brutal
truth. The people are dying! And we are turning a blind eye.
The people are dying and we are heading off to war with yet another
country that hasn't bombed us or attacked us. How can we even
contemplate creating another, inevitable, humanitarian disaster when
the evidence of Saddam Hussein's threat to us all has yet to be
proven? Surely, at the start of our 21st century, we should have
evolved beyond the point where we reduce a country and a people to
dust, for the flimsiest of excuses. War is the failure of politics!
War is the failure of diplomacy! It is the absence of wisdom and
understanding. The humanitarian crises, the desperation of the
children, the betrayal of a people I witnessed in Afghanistan must
not be repeated. Not in our name, Mr Blair.
___________________________________________________
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