Doctors Without Borders Leaves Afghanistan

This headline says it all:

After 24 Years of Independent Aid to the Afghan People Doctors Without Borders Withdraws from Afghanistan Following Killings, Threats, and Insecurity

Before anyone starts erecting strawmen, yes I know that the Taliban is responsible for this, but consider the following:

The violence directed against humanitarian aid workers has come in a context in which the United States-backed coalition has consistently sought to use humanitarian aid to build support for its military and political ambitions. MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières the French name] denounces the coalition’s attempts to co-opt humanitarian aid and use it to "win hearts and minds." By doing so, providing aid is no longer seen as an impartial and neutral act, endangering the lives of humanitarian volunteers and jeopardizing the aid to people in need. Only recently, on May 12, 2004, MSF publicly condemned the distribution of leaflets by the coalition forces in southern Afghanistan in which the population was informed that providing information about the Taliban and al Qaeda was necessary if they wanted the delivery of aid to continue.

Even if you want to place the most benign reading on that comment from MSF, the danger to aid workers is clear:

Taliban-led militants have been blamed for attacks that have killed more than 30 aid workers since March 2003 and made much of the south and east virtually off-limits. The killings of the MSF workers occurred in the northwest and raised fears that the violence was spreading and becoming too dangerous.

This is a real tragedy for the people of Afghanistan:

Over the last 24 years, MSF has continued to provide health care throughout difficult periods of Afghanistan’s history, regardless of the political party or military group in power. "After having worked nearly without interruption alongside the most vulnerable Afghan people since 1980, it is with outrage and bitterness that we take the decision to abandon them. But we simply cannot sacrifice the security of our volunteers while warring parties seek to target and kill humanitarian workers. Ultimately it is the sick and destitute that suffer," said Marine Buissonnière, Secretary General of MSF.

Draw your own conclusions, but in my humble opinion I really don't see how one can make the case that security in Afghanistan has gotten better.

Comments

[Michael J. Totten]

Well, security certainly isn't better for these guys. And that's a shame. But they are not the whole security story.

Andrew Sullivan linked to an Afghanistan poll the other day where Afghans do think they are safer.

* 64 percent say the country is heading in the right direction.
* 81 percent say that they plan to vote in the October election.
* 77 percent say they believe the elections will "make a difference."
* 64 percent say they rarely or never worry about their personal safety, while under the Taliban only 36 percent felt that way.
* 62 percent rate President Hamid Karzai's performance as either good or excellent.

[Michael J. Totten]

By the way, don't know if you follow Sullivan, he's decided to back Kerry against Bush. Not that this has anything to do with his linking of that poll, I just don't know how much you follow the blogs that are supposedly "right-wing" but actually aren't.

[Randy Paul]

Well it's always worthwhile to dig a little deeper into the poll and the way it was conducted.

To begin with it was a survey, not a poll and this important because a number of questions get asked and there are a number of issues to examine.

The survey was commissioned by the Asia Foundation (their press release with a link to the PDF file of the survey is here.

It's worth noting the following:

The study was commissioned by The Asia Foundation in order to provide detailed, quantified information on the knowledge and attitudes of Afghan citizens regarding their country’s forthcoming elections. The questionnaire was developed and the report prepared by Charney Research, a New York polling firm, with fieldwork conducted by the Afghan Media Resource Center (AMRC) of Kabul and technical assistance provided by AC Nielsen India Org-Marg of New Delhi. Craig Charney, Radhika Nanda, and Nicole Yakatan of Charney Research authored the survey report. Interviews were held with 804 randomly-selected male and female Afghan citizens, aged 18 and over, in both rural and urban areas. These interviews were conducted in the appropriate languages, either Dari or Pashtu. Trained Afghan interviewers conducted all interviews, with men interviewing men and women interviewing women. The margin of sampling error for national-level results is +/-3.5%.

The survey was conducted in 29 of the (then) 32 provinces between February 22 and March 13, 2004. (Three provinces, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Ghor, were not reachable due to security concerns or inaccessibility. Together, these provinces make up 6% of the population.) [my emphasis]

I certainly understand the difficulties in conducting such a survey, but the data is now more than four months old. Since Sullivan chose to show only the good news, I'll show some of the other findings that are both good news and not-so-good news:

- The overwhelming majority of Afghans surveyed (91%) was aware of upcoming elections and wished to participate in them. 90% of the electorate countrywide had “heard something” about registration requirements.

- Only 37% of respondents were confident that the elections would be a free and fair process, although a majority (60%) said they “Didn’t know”. When the interviewers told respondents about ballot secrecy and the potential presence of monitors, and then asked again about whether the vote would be free and fair, 69% then reported that they thought it would.

- 87% of all Afghans interviewed said women would need their husband’s permission to vote. 18% of men said they would not let their wives vote. This was the most pronounced in the South and Northwest regions, where 24% and 32% of men, respectively, said that they would not let their wives vote. 35% of Afghan women said they were not sure if their husbands or male elders would give them permission to vote. 72% of all respondents said that men should advise women on their voting choices.

- 52% of Afghans asked through this survey said that people in their areas feel free to express their opinion, while 23% that said that people in their areas are reluctant to express their opinions. Only 1% said that people felt free to do so under the Taliban.

- Nearly two-thirds of Afghans (64%) interviewed said they rarely or never worry about their personal safety, while under the Taliban only 36% felt that way. Some 53% of Afghans surveyed rated the security situation in their areas as excellent or good, while 46% say it is fair or poor. The majority of citizens in the South and Northwest said they were dissatisfied with security, while three-fifths or more of those in other regions said it is good or excellent.

- A majority of Afghans surveyed approved of the performance of President Karzai and the Transitional Government. 62% of those surveyed rated President Karzai’s performance as either good or excellent, while 57% rated as good or excellent the work of the Transitional Government as a whole.

- 75% of those surveyed held an unfavorable view (62% very unfavorable) of the Taliban, while 13% held a favorable view. Majorities were unfavorable to the Taliban in every region and even among those who held a negative view of Transitional Government.

- The United Nations was viewed positively by 84% of those surveyed, and foreign aid workers in Afghanistan were viewed favorably by 80%. Majorities in every region were favorable to both – even in the South and Northwest. Roughly two-thirds of Afghans surveyed were positive towards the US (65% were favorable), though a plurality was unfavorable in the South and the Northwest. [my emphasis]

Look, I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but both Sullivan and Sager put the best possible spin on this without mentioning any of the troubling issues (particularly the South and Northwest and the treatment of women) and fail to mention that the data is now four to five months old, perspective which is important in light of what has taken place since March of this year.

[Kevin Hayden]

I credit the kindness and diligence of our troops for whatever positive feelings they feel towards Americans. Yes, I think it's great we took out the Taliban; it's the only thing I've seen Bush get right.

But the question remains about what comes next. "Walk softly but carry a US Marine" can't be the lasting option.

[Randy Paul]

Just one other point Michael. The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee fears that Afghanistan could implode and that Iraq could become a failed state and that it has "become a 'battleground' for al-Qaida, with appalling consequences for the Iraqi people."