Potential humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan

According to the United Nations, over 900,000 Afghans are starving to death as we speak. Another 6.6 million are in danger of dying within the next few months. When winter arrives in under two weeks, relief organizations will be unable to get aid to many Afghan refugees.

Please, please call on your country's leadership to do everything in their power to get aid to the Afghan people NOW. You can do so very easily at:

http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3

There's more information about this potential humanitarian disaster below. But first, if you don't want to hear from us again, just go to:

 http://www.9-11peace.org/optout.php3

WHAT WE'VE DONE

In early October, we delivered over half a million online signatures from 190 countries to:

* U.S. President Bush;
* NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson;
* European Commission President Romano Prodi.

In Great Britain, MP Lynne Jones and three other Members of Parliament delivered the petition by hand to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Media around the world wrote about our effort, from the Chicago Sun-Times to the South China Morning Post.

WHAT WE CAN DO NEXT

Call on world leaders to make aid to the Afghan people a priority:

http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3

The prolonged bombing has worsened the plight of the Afghan people because aid organizations haven't been able to get food and medicine into the country. The food dropped by the US is woefully inadequate for the 7 million Afghans who rely on aid.

With the Northern Alliance's capture of most of Northern Afghanistan, aid organizations may finally be able to bring large quantities food and medicine into the country. But unless the US and its allies facilitate the delivery, hundreds of thousands of people may die.

It's crucial that world leaders hear from us now. They need to know that we are counting on them to prevent the imminent starvation of millions of innocent people, and that this should be one of the highest priorities for the next few weeks. They need to know that we don't want to have to explain to our grandchildren why our countries allowed one of the largest mass starvations in history to take place. Tell them now:

http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3

Some facts about the aid crisis:

* The UN estimates that 7.5 million Afghan refugees rely on food and medical aid to survive.

* Of these, 900,000 face imminent starvation.

* Nearly 20% of those struggling to survive are children under 5.

* Recent bombing attacks have damaged the warehouses of the International Red Cross as well as the United Nations World Food Programme. The agencies' staff, laborers and truckers are now afraid to load, unload or transport food inside Afghanistan.

* Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, and officials in the UN have all called for a stop in the bombing so that aid can be delivered before it's too late.

More information about the aid crisis in Afghanistan is available at the website above.

Thank you. Many lives are at stake, but if we act now, we can change the face of this conflict.

Sincerely,

Eli Pariser 9-11peace.org November 14, 2001