NJPON

Date(s): Sat, Jan 2nd, 2010 thru Thu, Apr 1st, 2010

Senator Lautenberg, "Get Food to the Starving Afghanis NOW!"

* Time to Call and Write Sen. Lautenberg's Office *
1 Gateway Center, 23rd Floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Phone: 973.639.8700
Fax: 973.639.8723

Sen. Lautenberg's a member of the Appropriations
http://bit.ly/5CWGZr Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

Sen. Lautenberg can move appropriations of money to feed starving Afghanis

* YOU CAN REACH ANY CONGRESS MEMBER'S WASHINGTON OFFICE *
* TOLL-FREE AT 800.828.0498 *

Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Majority Members: 9 -- Total Members: 16
Minority Members: 7

* Call & Write All These Committee Members *

Patrick J. Leahy (VT), Chairman
Daniel K. Inouye (HI)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
Richard J. Durbin (IL)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Mary L. Landrieu (LA)
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
Arlen Specter (PA)
Judd Gregg (NH), Ranking Member
Mitch McConnell (KY)
Robert F. Bennett (UT)
Christopher S. Bond (MO)
Sam Brownback (KS)
George V. Voinovich (OH)
Thad Cochran (MS), Ex Officio

* Call & Write All The Congress Members You Can *
Also see http://www.prosecutethemnow.com/?q=node/2513 Peace ACTION

http://jobsforafghans.org/ Afghan Exit Strategy Project -- by Sue Serpa and Ralph Lopez -- Tragically and unforgivably, starvation has been allowed to occur by the occupying forces in various regions in previous years.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."-- President Dwight Eisenhower

Hey Friends,

Sue Serpa and I are mounting an offensive to avert winter starvation in Afghanistan, as happens in rural areas in many years. New Jersey senator Frank Lautenberg, could be a big key as he chairs the committee which oversees http://bit.ly/6yZCL5 USAID -- U.S. Agency for International Development, which can actually do something. We're all going to be in DC this March to oppose the escalation and occupation, but for now we want them to put airlifts of food and supplies on the drawing board as information comes in from snowed-in areas where ground travel in impossible. We are in contact with some Afghan women's association organizers in Afghanistan, from RAWA -- http://www.rawa.org/index.php Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, and others who are monitoring the situation.

Let me know what ya'll think. We aim to put Lautenberg on the hot-seat with visits in early January in order to insure this needless starvation not occur. They can put 20 billion dollars worth of fuckin military hardware in the air to bomb people in a split second, but they can't drop a few parachutes when people are starving. We will mail this to his foreign policy staffer who we made contact with direct, and ask for email notification that Lautenberg has received the following and is aware of the situation.

love ralphlopez2008@gmail.com ralph and sue

* Call & Write All These Committee Members *
* http://bit.ly/7r7Pvh Senate Foreign Relations Committee *

John Kerry (MA), Chairman
Christopher Dodd (CT)
Russell Feingold (WI)
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Robert Menendez (NJ)
Benjamin Cardin (MD)
Robert Casey Jr. (PA)
Jim Webb (VA)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Edward Kaufman (DE)
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
Richard Lugar (IN), Ranking Member
Bob Corker (TN)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
James Risch (ID)
Jim DeMint (SC)
John Barrasso (WY)
Roger Wicker (MS)
James Inhofe (OK)

LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS

Dear Congress Member,

We the undersigned must urgently alert you to a likely food crisis looming in parts of Afghanistan this winter, which the UN has warned of in a recent press conference. In addition we received a personal appeal from a member of an important women's organization in Afghanistan that starvation could be a reality in Afghanistan this winter, as it has been in past winters. It is eminently within the capabilities of the international community, and the US military, to avert this.

If the Congress can pass $100 billion package for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, it can pass a $870 million emergency assistance package to head off starvation, the amount at which the UN estimates the present shortfall.

The U.S. has complete control of the airspace over the entire country, and airdrops of food is a proven technique of delivering humanitarian assistance. Tragically and unforgivably, starvation has been allowed to occur by the occupying forces in various regions in previous years, such as Samangan in 2008 and Tulak in 2005. The details of the present financial shortfall are at the following OCHA --http://ochaonline.un.org UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs press conference --

See UNAMA -- http://bit.ly/6oG6au United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

The Kabul contact on this issue is a spokesman for UNAMA,
which works closely with OCHA:

Dominic Medley
Tel: 93 0790 00 6292; 39 0831 24 6292; 1 212 963 2668 ext: 6292
Email: medleyd@un.org

The letter from our brave Afghan sister, Fahima Vorgetts, whom many of us have heard speak on her tour across the United States, is copied below. Please be so kind as to give it your utmost attention.

Starvation anywhere is unacceptable in a country which NATO has occupied now going on 9 years. We ask that Congress immediately turn its attention to this matter, and to schedule an immediate committee hearing, so that planning airlifts of food and supplies can begin.

International law requires an occupying power to insure the basic food needs of a population "to the fullest extent of the means available to it." Article 55 of the Geneva Convention states: "To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate."

We want Afghans to see America going the last mile in giving help when it is needed most. The Berlin Airlift in 1948 saved hundreds of thousands of Germans from freezing and starvation. To this day this is what many Europeans remember about America. Let the help in the winter of 2010 be what many young Afghans, years from now, remember about America, not a surge in troops. We do not want to be remembered only for bombs and bullets.

Thank you.
Ralph Lopez
http://jobsforafghans.org Afghan Exit Strategy Project

Below are a letter from Fahima Vorgetts and an article from http://dailykos.com DailyKos

LETTER FROM FAHIMA VORGETTS, SPEAKER FROM AFGHAN WOMEN FOR WOMEN & RAWA AFGHAN WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION

Dear Concerned Americans,

Every year in Afghanistan people die from cold and hunger. Afghanistan Winters are harsh, roads are impassable and the majority of people do not have adequate clothing, homes, fuel and most importantly food. Internal refugees and returnees to ruined villages live under the tents. Every year I hear horrific stories. At present we believe the needs are greatest in Badakhshan, Bamyan, Nooristan, Ghazni, Herat, Kabul and most of the north and central areas.

We who work in Afghanistan will continue to update the international community, and especially the U.S., on the situation on the ground as the winter progresses. This is an opportunity for the U.S. to show that it does not view Afghanistan only in terms of its troop presence.

As forces beyond their control continue to rage around them, the ordinary Afghan, as always, struggles merely to survive. Thank you for your concern over this situation.

Fahima Vorgetts
http://womenforafghanwomen.org Women for Afghan Women and http://www.rawa.org/index.php RAWA

BACKGROUND ARTICLE FROM http://DAILYKOS.COM DAILYKOS.COM
http://bit.ly/82hGdi Starvation Alert, Our Chance to Show Afghans We Are for Real
by Ralph Lopez, Tuesday Dec 22nd, 2009

This time of year is always bad in Afghanistan. It’s when the passes get snowed in and people starve. Rapidly. This is in contrast to the norm. According to the UN, 35% of Afghans do not meet the daily caloric intake requirement required to avoid malnutrition.

Translation, this many Afghans are pretty much starving slowly. This helps account for the average lifespan, the shortest in the world, of 43. We're talking about a speed-up in the process, which, combined with unimaginable cold at these mountain altitudes, makes people drop like flies. Especially children. It happened in Samangan in 2008, in Tulak in 2005, and many other provinces where the world's fourth-poorest people expire without note by the wider world.

It is disgusting that our government would rather talk about "offensive military operations" than this. But then, people might catch on to why there is an insurgency, fix it, and their nice little war would be over.

At a UN press conference this week it was revealed that it is in danger of happening again, this time in the southern and south-east provinces. Twenty percent of food aid has not reached its target. The financial shortage amounts to about $870 million, what we spend on military operations in 2 weeks. This is the time we can show Afghans we are for real, and will never let another single child starve and freeze if we can help it. Congress must pass emergency legislation as fast as it passed the legislation funding bullets and bombs. Otherwise we are damned, and deserve it.

The UN office with knowledge of the specific valleys and villages at risk will be put into contact with the following congressional offices, selected for appropriations powers, foreign policy seats, or other factors. We can never say the world did not know.

OCHA, the humanitarian relief arm of the UN, estimates that on non-food assistance, i.e. things like blankets, tents, and first aid kits, "We're about 3,800 kits short of what we anticipate we need."

Security is an issue when considering overland travel in some areas, and so are impassable roads. But in the winter, fighting always slows down as snows arrive, and travel grinds down to only the most necessary. In 2005 in Taluk, the problem was, too-little, too-late. The food and supplies should be immediately airdropped. For once the food should arrive before people begin to starve, before a blizzard sets in which prevents flying. The above-linked report on Tulak stated:

"Some private aid workers privately have expressed frustration at the slow response to what they believe would have been an avoidable situation if the airlifted food had been made available earlier."

It's time to start anew with Afghans. The Berlin Airlift in 1948 saved hundreds of thousands of Germans from freezing and starvation. Of course there's a political element, as two superpowers, the US and the USSR, jockeyed to shape the map after WWII. But it worked, and the fact remains that decades later this is still what many Europeans remember about America. Let the help in the winter of 2010 be what many young Afghans years from now remember about America, not a surge in troops.

So let's TAKE ACTION!
Susan Serpa and Ralph Lopez will be in DC Jan. 12th through the 15th lobbying Congressional Representatives and the Appropriations Committees of both the House and Senate. We invite you to help by setting up an appointment with Congressional Representatives and Senators representing your views as a constituent.

More information and opportunities to help are available here: http://jobsforafghans.org Jobs for Afghans or at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/424382/23117358 Facebook.

Contact us at jobsforafghans@gmail.com or 617.599.5195.
THANK YOU!

More Info: http://www.prosecutethemnow.com/?q=node/2514

Tags: Afghanistan/Pakistan