Despite Current War, U.S. Must Remember Afghanistan
The Editorial Board

General Azimi, head of the economic council of the province of Herat in western Afghanistan, was quoted in an Iranian newspaper in February as fearing that an attack on Iraq would cause Afghanistan to become "sidelined on the international level." Certainly this has proven to be true in that international attention has now shifted towards Iraq. However, the lack of focus on Afghanistan in the media does not correspond to the end of action or need within the nation.

The United States presence in the nation was as of January of this year around 9000 troops. Recent military activity included a raid on Afghan towns conducted by 1000 troops on March 20 in a search for al Qaeda members. This raid was part of what the Bush Administration is calling operation Valiant Strike. On March 24, U.S. Special Forces exchanged fire with supporters of the warlord Bacha Khan Zardran, who in the past had aided the United States in fighting against the Taliban regime and members of al Qaeda. Additionally, since the beginning of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, three members of the Special Forces have committed suicide after killing their wives. Peace and stability still remain far from guaranteed in the nation and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)-a coalition of forces committed to maintaining security and aiding in reconstruction-has not accomplished as much as had been hoped by the Afghan people and the forces themselves.

General Azimi also reported to an Iranian newspaper that while there is relative security in some parts of Afghanistan there is virtually no security in other regions. U.S. troops are heavily concentrated in Kabul but have very little presence in the surrounding area.

Beyond issues of security that result in almost regular conflict, little has been done to rebuild the infrastructure of the nation or to ensure the strength of its new government. An Afghan newspaper, printed in Dari, called Payam-e Mojahed published an article critiquing the government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan on March 20. The paper was especially critical of the current president Hamed Karzai, whom the paper claims has failed to unify the nation, included Taliban sympathizers in the new government and failed to explain how the 1.2 billion dollars worth of foreign aid meant for reconstruction has been spent thus far.

In the past year, the Vice President Haji Abdol Qadir was assassinated, Mines and Industry Minister Engineer Joma Mohammad Mohammadi was killed in a plane crash and several of the current ministers have disclosed that they only hold American citizenship.

This unstable transitional government has also inherited a country in which less than a quarter of the population has access to clean drinking water and only 10 percent of the rural population has access to sanitary facilities. At least a quarter of urban houses are destroyed and over 40 percent of urban housing is in unplanned areas. Only 15 percent of the female population is literate and infant mortality is 117 out of every 1000 births.

Opium is still a major export, as farmers continue to grow poppies for the illegal drug trade.

On March 25, 18 Afghans who had been in prison in Guantánamo Bay detention center for the past 18 months were released and returned to Afghanistan. Upon returning to the nation, they received no welcome, as their relatives had not been notified, no money to return to their homes, and saw little around them to indicate the beneficial role of the United States in their country. Afghanistan, despite the present war in Iraq, has not disappeared. The international community needs to keep its commitments if it is ever to effect any positive change.