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Continue U.S. Aid to Afghanistan
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16651 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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10 / 1989 |
2,207 Words |
| Author
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Charles Wilson
Charles Wilson is a Democratic congressman from Texas. |
Since 1982, my deepest foreign policy concern has been that of gaining Western assistance for the freedom fighters in Afghanistan and support for the civilian refugees displaced by the war. My hope has focused on a future of peace and self-determination for the Afghan people.
The Geneva accords signed in April 1988 called for the withdrawal of all Soviet troops and a hands-off commitment from Moscow. Regrettably, during the first six months after the end of Soviet occupation, the communist government in Kabul (the PDPA) was supplied by its Soviet benefactor with more military equipment than had been given to the PDPA since the beginning of the conflict. There was no indication as of midsummer that this pipeline would slack off or be shut down.
What should have constituted a first step toward peace--after ten years of war and nine years of brutal Soviet occupation--has been marred by continued fighting and loss of civilian lives. The extensive weapons strength of the communist Afghan army is causing serious problems for the resistance.
But perhaps the most canny move during recent months on the part of Najibullah's government has been to open Kabul to Western journalists and begin subtle yet effective public relations efforts to strengthen his government's profile in the world community and undermine support for the resistance. News reports from Afghanistan have shifted their focus from the will of the resistance and the determination of the Afghan refugees to return to their homes only under a noncommunist government to the limited view of the war from inside Kabul.
Not one story has detailed the fact that most (probably 90 percent) of the rural countryside is under mujahideen control. Populated areas administered by the resistance are beginning to benefit from medical facilities, schools, and agricultural support programs being provided by the Afghan Interim Government (AIG) based in Peshawar, Pakistan, with the backing of the United Stats, Pakistan, and other nations.
Justifying continued U.S. involvement in assisting the mujahideen will become increasingly difficult as the world's memory of the Soviet invasion fades. But such arguments exist. As Elie Krakowski stated in his article in THE WORLD & I (October 1988):
Just as U.S. inaction, or loss of interest in Afghanistan,
could well
...
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