Statement
for Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights
The Afghan People vs. The Taliban: The Struggle for Freedom Intensifies
Congressman
Joseph R. Pitts
October
31, 2001
Madam Chairwoman, thank you for holding this timely and important hearing on The Afghan People vs. The Taliban: The Struggle for Freedom Intensifies. As has been clearly documented, the people of Afghanistan have suffered terribly under the Taliban regime that claimed it would make the nation a place of security and safety for the people. There has been no safety for ethnic minorities. Instead there have been massacres conducted against them. Contrary to Taliban claims, there has been no safety or dignity restored for women. Instead there is increased prostitution and more women begging than anytime before the Soviet invasion. The Taliban claim that they restored peace and security, but women are not allowed outside their homes because of security concerns. The Taliban took away women’s rights to education and employment, yet the Prophet Mohammed’s first employer was a female. The contradictions in the Taliban’s claims are rife. The tragic irony is that the only people for whom the Taliban have made Afghanistan safe are Bin Laden and his terrorists.
It is
vital that our nation restore our credibility in the eyes of the people of
Afghanistan and the surrounding region. We
must tell the people of Afghanistan that even though our government abandoned
them after their war with Russia and their loss of at least 1.5 million lives,
the American people have not forgotten their sacrifice.
The people of Afghanistan need to know that the international community
is clearly aware that their suffering is caused by the Taliban and this
regime’s wasting of the tremendous resources of the nation and people of
Afghanistan. The Taliban have
not provided the people of Afghanistan with basic necessities such as food and
shelter, but have increased their suffering so that more people than ever are
starving, freezing and also dying from easily preventable medical problems. The Taliban callously allow the Afghan people to die.
It is the international community and aid organizations who have given
food and medicine, who have helped build wells and shelters.
The Taliban, in its commitment to conflict, has used the resources of the
Afghan nation for its own selfish and destructive aims.
Numerous reports and analyses reflect that the battle in which we currently are engaged is not only a military battle, but also a battle to win the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan. We cannot let the Taliban and Osama bin Laden win the battle by effectively spreading the propaganda that the United States will again abandon the Afghan people. Key steps in combating the Taliban’s claims against the United States and our taking the offensive are increasing our ability to get accurate information to the people, increasing our humanitarian assistance to the suffering refugees and internally displaced people, and clearly and deliberately supporting the Loya Jirga.
Various
governmental and extra-governmental bodies around the world have their plans for
the people of Afghanistan. All of
these bodies, however, seek to impose their own views on the Afghan people.
History clearly shows that this will never work.
The people of Afghanistan need to be free to choose their own leaders.
The convening of a Loya Jirga, or a Grand Assembly, so that the Afghan
people can come together and coordinate their plans for their own government is
the only way to bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan.
A State Department poll three months ago showed the Afghan people
overwhelmingly support holding a Loya Jirga, the traditional Afghan method of
national reconciliation. It is vital that the United States people and government
actively support the work of His Majesty the former King of Afghanistan and the
United Front/Northern Alliance in coordinating the Loya Jirga.
A new structure has been formed by the Afghan people which seeks to
restore peace and stability in Afghanistan under the symbolic leadership of His
Majesty and The Supreme Council for Unity of Afghanistan.
Madame Chairwoman, there is an urgency to these matters. News reports detail thousands of Pakistanis lining up at the borders to join the jihad of the Taliban against the forces of freedom. Our nation must work with the Afghan people to combat the scourge of humanity, the terrorists, so that Afghans, Americans, and the rest of the world can live in peace.