Guerrillas Shun It : Peanut Butter Goes to War--and Loses

Peanut butter is not winning the struggle for hearts and stomachs in Afghanistan.

The all-American food, in olive-green plastic combat ration packs, is reaching Muslim guerrillas fighting the Soviet-backed communist regime. But many of the guerrillas are less than enthusiastic about the foreign delicacy.

“I don’t like it. It is not good to my stomach,” said a guerrilla named Amarullah.

Dozens of unopened packets of peanut butter from Visalia, Calif., dotted the hillside of the insurgent base here.

It took a while to find a guerrilla who admitted to liking the stuff.

“I like it because it has Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C and other good things,” said a guerrilla named Narullah.

Bread Might Help

“It does not taste so bad,” said the fighter, apparently impressed with the food’s nutritive qualities listed on the pack.

Part of the problem seems to be that no one has explained to the guerrillas that peanut butter may be better spread on bread than eaten by itself.

The oversight is not unusual. Neither have the rebels been told to add water to dehydrated peaches and fruit salad also supplied in combat packs.

But the guerrillas said that even dry, the peaches from Edinburg, Tex., and the fruit salad from Albany, Ore., taste a lot better than peanut butter.

Intended for Refugees

The peanut butter and dehydrated fruit, sent by the U.S. government to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, have found their way to the guerrillas, who are fighting Afghan government forces and an estimated 115,000 Soviet troops.

U.S. Embassy officials in Pakistan said the supplies are given to the refugees as humanitarian assistance and are not intended for the guerrillas.

The rebels, most of whom cannot read the English on the packs, seemed a little confused about where the peanut butter came from.

“It comes from China,” said a guerrilla called Sharah Khan.

“No, Saudi Arabia,” said a friend.