On aid for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a crushing and brutal place all year, but especially so in winter. The U.S.-led coalition did not initially destabilize the country, and we are not at fault for all its starvation and suffering. But common decency and the urgent need to prevent mass starvation demand that we quickly expand our humanitarian aid effort for civilians within and outside Afghanistan before winter sets in.

Six to 7 million people, mostly women and children, now face starvation, dwarfing the more than 1-million ration packets air- dropped so far. Without aid workers on the ground there is no way to assure that the rations reach the civilians who need it.

The World Food Program says it takes 55,000 tons of food monthly to feed those facing famine, and that excludes among others clean water, fuel for cooking and sheltermaking materials. Almost all those shipments have been suspended since the bombing campaign began.

Since the only steady way to move so many goods is by truck, the international community must act quickly to provide safe passage for aid convoys before mountain roads become impassable and interior regions of Afghanistan are closed off until spring.

If we fail to prepare for the coming humanitarian crises in Central Asia, we risk intensifying the tumult there and weakening international support for the war against terror.

-- St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Florida