12/14/2001

The Honorable John Negroponte
Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Mission
New York, NY

Dear Ambassador Negroponte:

The Security Council is considering an extremely important resolution that will set the mandate for the security force in Afghanistan, as called for under the Bonn Agreement that established an interim government in Kabul. It is extremely important that the mandate be broad enough to allow the force to address security problems that are interfering with the distribution of humanitarian aid outside of Kabul.

The absence of safe and secure conditions in Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and elsewhere has made it difficult for UN agencies and relief organizations to re-establish operations in those areas. Catherine Bertini of the World Food Program said recently that the WFP is getting enough food into Afghanistan to feed six million people, but that security problems are preventing distribution to as many as one million hungry people.

On Nov. 14, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that encouraged “Member States to support efforts to ensure the safety and security of areas of Afghanistan no longer under Taliban control, and in particular to ensure respect for Kabul as the capital for all the Afghan people, and especially to protect civilians, transitional authorities, United Nations and associated personnel, as well as personnel of humanitarian organizations.”

The new resolution must give the force the authority and rules of engagement necessary to allow it to help the UN and the US achieve their goals of preventing horrific famine in Afghanistan.

Sincerely,
Kenneth H. Bacon
President