a napkin and a match one match? what do you do with one match? smoke one cigarette (not included)?? according to CNN, these packages are labeled "Gift from the American People" that's nice... I wanted to send a starving Afghani a match... rH
I'm guessing the one match is intended to be used to start one fire, which will cook the beans included in the packet. These refugees may be far from a gas-powered stove.
They also enclosed a letter stating they were after the taliban and not he citizens of Afghanistan. (I doubt they all speak the same language, so I don't know how they did this...)
US FOOD DROPS 'USELESS' FOR HUNGRY HORDES excerpt: The Americans claim they have been trying to deliver aid to the country. More than 130,000 food parcels were dropped in the last week. But Zia said: "Air drops have worked in other parts of the world but only as a last resort. In this situation, they are not effective and they are very expensive." Other aid workers agreed, claiming many of the packages, which are dropped from a great height, have been scattered across Afghanistan's many minefields. Organisation of Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation spokesman Alhaj Fazel said: "When the food lands, these desperately hungry people will simply rush towards it. Women and children are most vulnerable." A spokesman for French aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres added: "This is not a humanitarian effort, this is part of a military campaign designed to gather approval for the attacks. It is virtually useless and may even be doing harm." Aid agencies said the food itself was of little use because it is totally unsuitable. Most Afghans live on bread and rice and have never seen the kind of food in the parcels. They contain baked beans, beans in a tomato vinaigrette, peanut butter, strawberry jam, a biscuit, salt and pepper and a fruit bar. None of the food meets strict Islamic requirements for food preparation . And reports from the few aid workers left in the country say those who do eat it suffer digestive problems because their malnourished stomachs can't cope. Zia Choudhury said: "Where air drops have been effective, they have been dropped on to a specific site where aid workers are in place to distribute it to those who most need it. "We have worked out that this food costs 10 to 15 times more than the wheat and grain we would like to distribute in Afghanistan. "The best thing would be to stop the air drops and open up two roads into Afghanistan so we can deliver food by truck. That way it will reach the people who need it most." ========================================== I had a pretty good idea that starving Afghani's weren't goint to be able to stomach "Americanized" food... If you ask me, these would be the kind of aid packages a government would drop to Western countries... If you're gonna drop food to natives, drop food that at least, they could eat!? I mean how often does the average afghani get peanut butter, tomato vinaigrette and a fruit bar? This whole food drop thing was total propaganda to begin with, I mean the aid packages supposedly had a note in them saying that the attack wasn't meant for the "people" of Afghanistan. The package is also marked, "Gift from the American People" --INSERT SARCASM-- I love the way our government thinks... rH
There have been incidents like this before. One time their was food aid done in Africa (cannot remember where). The region needed liquid because the local water was contaminated. What did we send? Powdered milk. Not only did it require water to be mixed with it (we did not supply any), but Africans are also lactose intolerant. This problem was brought to the proper authorites and their response was to send a whole second round of...powdered milk. I think it is just a matter of sending what we have available and not conforming them to specific needs. Cheaper that way, I guess.
How about this idea. We provide armed patrols with air support to get the food trucks rolling, now. We are suposd to have 10% air superiority. We've have bin Laden traped and holed up somewhere so he can keep if it slows looking for him a bit. I believe, however, we can do both things at the same time. Sort of makes me think that food to the starving is not a big priority. I'm not bringing this up, just to be pessimistic. If you believe in the just war theory, which I do. You need to try mightily to cause as little damage as possibly while pursuing your just goal. As I believe it is a just goal to bring bin Laden to justice as Bush says dead or alive, I am concerned about more than lip service to the "as little damage as possible" of the theory.
My government professor was talking about this exact thing last week. He said the food drops were basically useless also. The food packs were not designed for Afghani's but instead initially for the U.S. military. The packs were made in McAllen, TX and except for some diagrams everything else is in English. No other pamphlets etc..included he said. Like some poor Afghani in the middle of no where can read "Gift from the American People" in english.
Eat it! Demmit stop being picky....I bet if I dropped 37,500 squirrels out there, they would pick it up and eat it from being so hungry.
Fortunately none of the food packs contain any meat products. And what exactly is strict Islamic requirements for food preparation? These people are starving, they need to eat something. I can understand if they protested meat since its not halal, but not eating biscuits, beans, and fruit bars because it was not prepared by a Muslim makes no sense.
Brings to mind several cliches..... Beggars can't be choosers. (not intended to offend) Don't bite the hand that feeds you. I have mixed opinions on this. While I do feel for these people, and the fact that they are malnourished, they are getting food. But they are too picky to eat it? Western countries, Eastern countries....YOU ARE STARVING, WE ARE GIVING YOU FOOD. EAT IT OR CONTINUE TO STARVE. It's all very simple. I mean really.....some of them have to be eating this stuff. I am hoping that it's a small group that is complaining or dissatisfied.
I'm with Achebe on this one. Playstations would be diabolially subversive of the Taliban. Psych experiments have shown that monkeys would in some cases rather have stimulation to their pleasure centers than eat. I know this is true of my own teenage son.
yeah send them playstations, old nintendo's, any old gaming system, some games, a TV and a radio! oh be sure to send them some women's bathing suits, maybe a some beer and liquor and some music. REALLY piss of the Taliban! rH
