U.N. just short of declaring a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan!

[flpoljunkie]

From the BBC, of course...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4310863.stm



"Despite years of promises to rebuild Afghanistan, the international community is still failing to do so"

Cold exposes Afghanistan's broken promises

By Ahmed Rashid

The winter weather death toll in Afghanistan has exposed the country's acute lack of infrastructure, writes journalist Ahmed Rashid in his latest guest column for the BBC News website. More than 600 people, many of them children, have died in a prolonged bout of bad winter weather in Afghanistan that has included unprecedented snowfall, heavy rain and below freezing temperatures.

In some eastern provinces ravenous wolves have been attacking equally hungry children.

The United Nations is just short of declaring "a humanitarian crisis" for Afghanistan.

Pledges

The international community pledged $13.4bn at the Tokyo and Berlin reconstruction conferences for the five years starting December 2001. This despite a needs assessment by the Afghan government of $27bn. Yet, according to the Centre on International Cooperation at New York University, until last month only $3.9bn had been given out for reconstruction projects. Of that only $900m worth of projects has actually been completed.

In comparison Iraq is receiving many times what Afghanistan is getting in funds for reconstruction.



more...

[cornermouse]

1. Oddly enough. I don't see anything that really resembles

reconstruction, an infrastructure, or basic "law and order" in Iraq either.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. The oily bird gets the worm.... can we now say....

"mission accomplished" in Afghanistan? Countries in this state.. i.e. Saudi Arabia, produce, grief, despair, unrest, disillusionment, untold human suffering and terrorists. Good job george. Well done, bully, bully for you.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Well at least the poppy fields are back on line

nothing like an illegal drug trade to rebuild a local economy.

Those Taliban guys just took law enforcement way too seriously.

[kentuck]

4. Democracy....

Winners and losers....you know.