War And Drought Threaten Afghan Food Supply

Bamian Province, in central Afghanistan, is short on food for the winter and has
been neglected by aid agencies, its governor says.

From New York Times:

YAKOWLANG, Afghanistan — A pitiable harvest this year has left small farmers all over central and northern Afghanistan facing hunger, and aid officials are warning of an acute food shortage this winter for nine million Afghans, more than a quarter of the population.

The crisis has been generated by the harshest winter in memory, followed by a drought across much of the country, which come on top of the broader problems of deteriorating security, the accumulated pressure of returning refugees and the effects of rising world food prices.

The failure of the Afghan government and foreign donors to develop the country’s main economic sector, agriculture, has compounded the problems, the officials say. They warn that the food crisis could make an already bad security situation worse.

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My Comment: I guess growing crops for opium did not bring the food necessary to live. The maddening thing about this issue is not the hundreds of millions of dollars in foodstuffs will now need to come in to feed the hungry ..... but I am willing to bet any money that it will be the Taliban through the use of their guns and their reputation of brutality that will insure that they are the ones who are going to be fed from this aid once it starts to come in.