Earl Blumenauer: “Mr. Chairman, 2 years ago the United States went back to Afghanistan, a troubled nation we had largely abandoned after…”

“Mr. Chairman, 2 years ago the United States went back to Afghanistan, a troubled nation we had largely abandoned after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The conflict in Afghanistan including the war with the Soviet Union has left about 2 million people dead, created 700,000 widows and orphans. While we must help both Iraq and Afghanistan, Afghanistan, in fact, is larger, it has more people, it is poorer, and has been more devastated under decades of unrest and war. For example, the United Nations estimates that 5 to 7 million unexploded land mines are scattered throughout the country. An estimated 400,000 Afghans have been killed or wounded by land mines producing the highest per capita number of amputees in the world. One in 12 Afghan women die during childbirth, the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Over a quarter of these children die before reaching age five. And Afghanistan has the lowest per person caloric intake in the world. I could go on and on. The fact is that we have a serious problem that remains in Afghanistan. The NATO troops have little control outside the areas of Kabul. Suicide bombings and assassination attempts by the Taliban and al Qaeda remnants have persisted. Even President Karzai's life is in danger every day. The drug and crime rate are on the rise. After the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan, once again, has become the world's top opium producer.”