(This fact sheet is a product of the White House "Coalition Information Center" (CIC) conveying talking points on the recent military order on military tribunals. This is to be used on an "as asked" basis. Posts may use these themes at their discretion in their ongoing outreach activity.)

(begin fact sheet)

AL QAEDA & THE TALIBAN: THE MAKING OF A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire. Years of civil war -- compounded by the cruel and selfish rule of the Taliban and the worst drought in living memory - have made matters worse.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban have not only failed to provide security, food, and shelter for the Afghan people, but they have disrupted the efforts of international relief agencies to deliver desperately needed food and medical supplies to the Afghan people. Among other things, the Taliban have seized and looted humanitarian supplies for themselves and have harassed and beaten Afghan and international aid workers.

The U.S. has long been the largest humanitarian aid donor to the people of Afghanistan.

The Taliban are clearly more interested in protecting Al Qaeda than feeding the starving innocent people of Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11

Afghanistan has suffered two decades of war, the worst drought in living memory, and the collapse of government infrastructure and access to basic social services. As Al Qaeda and the Taliban directed national resources toward war and imposed severe restrictions on its people, including a restriction on women working outside the home, the situation of the Afghan people worsened. The statistics are alarming:

-- Millions face the threat of starvation.

-- 70% of the Afghan people are malnourished.

-- Only 13% of the Afghan people have access to clean water.

-- One in four Afghan children will not make it to their fifth birthday.

-- One in three Afghan children is an orphan.

-- One in two Afghan children is malnourished.

-- Afghanistan has the world's fourth worst child mortality rate.

-- Afghanistan ranks number one worldwide in maternal mortality.

-- According to U.N. estimates, there were over a million displaced people in Afghanistan prior to September 11.

-- Before September 11 there were over 3.5 million Afghan refugees

-- Six million people in Afghanistan and 1.5 million Afghan refugees depend on international relief programs for food.

-- As many as 50,000 widows lost husbands and other male relatives in the course of Afghanistan's long civil war.

-- The average life expectancy in Afghanistan is 46 years.

THE HARSH AFGHAN WINTER

Afghanistan is a mountainous country in a dry part of the world which experiences extremes of climate and weather. Afghanistan experiences extreme winter weather, with heavy snow in the mountains and the high plateaus. Even low-lying areas like Kabul can have up to 25 inches of snow on the ground in late winter.

The Afghan winters are harsh. Whole families of refugees live in tents no more than 3.5 feet square. They sleep on the ground with no blankets or protection from the brutal winters. Last winter, desperate parents dug holes in the ground, placed their children in the holes, and laid on top of them to give their children a slight respite from frigid temperatures.

Countless Afghans find themselves with no protection whatsoever against the harsh Afghan winter. For example, the U.N. Coordinator for Afghanistan reported that over 110 displaced persons taking shelter in camps in Herat died from extreme cold on the night of January 29, 2001. Children, the elderly, and women were among the main victims of the cold snap, which saw temperatures as low as -25 degrees centigrade.

THE TERRORIST CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUFFERING AFGHAN PEOPLE

The U.S. and its coalition partners work around the clock to help get food and other aid to the Afghan people.

The Al Qaeda and Taliban contribution to the Afghan people has been a deliberate and systematic campaign to disrupt the efforts of international relief agencies to deliver desperately needed food and medical supplies to the Afghan people.

Among other things, the Taliban have seized and looted humanitarian supplies for themselves and have harassed and beaten Afghan and international aid workers.

The Taliban and Al Qaeda are clearly more interested in protecting Al Qaeda than feeding the starving people of Afghanistan.

The following specific examples of Taliban disruptions are contained in the November 6 State Department Fact Sheet: The Taliban's Betrayal of the Afghan People:

-- October 16: The Taliban seized control of two U.N. World Food Program (WFP) warehouses, one in Kabul, and one in Kandahar, containing more than half the World Food Program's wheat supply for Afghanistan. The WFP in Kandahar had been feeding 150,000 Afghans a month before the Taliban seizure. The WFP reports that 1,600 tons of food and several vehicles have since disappeared from the Kandahar WFP warehouse. (Source: World Food Program)

-- The Taliban are actually hijacking humanitarian convoys for military purposes. The November 6 Washington Post reports, "A truck in a convoy purportedly on a humanitarian mission to deliver food tipped over, and crates of tank and mortar shells could be seen spilling to the ground underneath a thin layer of flour."

-- "UNICEF lost all its properties and had its offices looted when the Taliban took control in north Afghanistan in 1997, and U.N. operations were suspended." (Source: UNICEF)

-- November 6: The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says the Taliban is hindering humanitarian efforts inside Afghanistan... Speaking on behalf of the UNHCR, Peter Kessler said the Taliban was failing to cooperate: "The UNHCR and our partner agencies have had our vehicles stolen, our offices taken over and our staff beaten." (Source: BBC)

-- October 31: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) offices in Spin Boldak were taken over by Taliban soldiers. (Source: UNHCR)

-- October 18: Taliban soldiers seized the Mercy Corps International Office in Kandahar, and remain in possession of the office and MCI vehicles. (Source: Mercy Corps)

-- October 17: The Taliban occupied the Kunduz office and warehouse of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The warehouse had been stocked with winter clothing, shoes and blankets to be distributed to internally displaced persons in the region. (Source: IOM)

-- October 16: The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan reported that its compound in Taliban-controlled Mazar-I-Sharif was seized on October 16, with fuel stores set ablaze by the Taliban. (Source: Human Rights Watch)

-- October 16: The UN Security Council demanded that the Taliban cease obstructing aid destined for the Afghan people.

-- October 8: Armed Taliban entered the compound of a demining NGO in Kandahar and demanded vehicles. Staff who resisted were beaten. The Taliban left with several ambulances, seven pick-up trucks, and six cargo trucks from the compound. (Source: Human Rights Watch)

THE U.S. COMMITMENT TO FEEDING & PROTECTING THE AFGHAN PEOPLE

The United States has long been the leading donor of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan:

-- The U.S. has supplied more than 80 percent of all food aid to vulnerable Afghans through the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP). Since September 11th, WFP has delivered about 70,000 tons of food into Afghanistan. In November so far, WFP has delivered enough food commodities to cover the needs of 4.3 million people.

-- Last year, the U.S. Government provided over $178 million in humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.

-- The U.S. Government has provided over $164 million in aid to Afghanistan thus far since October 1.

-- With U.S. support, WFP delivered over 30,000 metric tons of food into Afghanistan in the first half of November, exceeding records for food delivery into the country. The more than 29,000 metric tons that WFP moved in October had been the most food ever moved in a whole month in Afghanistan.

-- The U.S. airlifted 20,000 wool blankets, 100 rolls of plastic sheeting, 200 metric tons of High Energy Biscuits, and one metric ton of sugar to Turkmenistan for distribution in Afghanistan.

-- The U.S. purchased 15,000 metric tons of wheat in Kazakstan, which is moving by railway to Turkmenabad. The first rail car of wheat arrived on November 23 carrying 1,500 metric tons of wheat.

-- The U.S. Department of Defense has airdropped nearly 2 million Humanitarian Daily Rations into Afghanistan. Each ration is enough to sustain
a person with a day's worth of calories.

-- On November 20, a ship departed Port Lake Charles, Louisiana with 10,000 metric tons of U.S.-donated food for the people of Afghanistan.

-- A shipment of five large USAID-funded medical shipments arrived in Turkmenistan on November 12 for distribution by UNICEF. Each shipment provides basic medical supplies and medicines for 10,000 people for three months. USAID has provided a total of 10 kits for Afghanistan.

-- On November 21, 65,000 metric tons of food provided by USAID arrived in Iran for transfer to WFP regional hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan for delivery into Afghanistan.

-- On November 24, USAID airlifted 350,000 wheat bags to Turkmenabad for WFP to use to package and distribute WFP wheat supplies.

-- USAID airlifted 1,000 rolls of plastic sheeting to Turkmenistan for emergency shelter use in Afghanistan.

-- USAID transported 20,400 blankets from its stockpiles on October 23, and an additional 15,000 blankets on October 25, to Pakistan for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to use in the event of a refugee influx.

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