Muslim Public Affairs Council Concerned for Afghan Civilians

The Muslim Public Affairs Council is deeply concerned about the killing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, the potential for mass famine in the upcoming winter months, and the continued worsening of the geo-political situation in the region. The Department of Defense should review its campaign that is now well into the fourth week of bombing Afghanistan.

In light of recent reports that the military campaign is not achieving its stated goals, MPAC calls for disclosure as to the effectiveness of this campaign and the level of civilian casualties. Our President, George W. Bush, made it clear that this not a war against the Afghani people, and the Pentagon should pursue the goal of eliminating terrorist cells without bringing more harm to the Afghani people.

MPAC is outraged by the Taliban regime's intransigence that has only added to the suffering of the Afghani people. The Taliban failed by not extraditing suspects of the September 11th terrorist attacks to the United States and by not dismantling the al-Qaeda terrorist network, led by Osama bin Laden. MPAC condemns the Taliban's oppression of the Afghani people, and is concerned with the needless endangerment of Afghani civilians.

Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee warned that we should avoid being perceived by the Muslim world as a "high tech bully". Senator Biden's sensitivity to our image in the Muslim world is well founded, as a positive image can only be in our interest and is of the utmost necessity for such a strategically important part of the world.

As Barnett Rubin, director of studies at New York University's Center on International Cooperation advises, "The only way to replace the Taliban is to support a political alternative to them. And the more these attacks continue . . . the more you'll find people siding with the Taliban to defend the country.