Conditions in Afghanistan

Re “Another Afghan Freedom Gone,” editorial, July 10:

The Taliban are not Afghans. They are an extension of the Pakistani army attempting to invade Afghanistan. Unlike the former Soviets, this army is equipped with misconceived religious ideology designed to subdue and control the Afghan people.

The saddest part of this story is the fact that the international community is doing nothing about it, just like when “neutral” countries like France and Switzerland were turning their heads when millions of Jews were being burned alive. But like the British and the Soviets, Pakistan will soon discover the Afghan people will never tolerate oppression from outsiders.

ANSAR RAHEL

El Cajon

* Your characterization of the Taliban is false. After the country had been devastated by the former Soviet Union and unruly warlords, the Taliban emerged by the will of the people and is earnestly moving forward to reconstitute Afghanistan. We adhere to strong family life, protecting the rights, welfare and security of women and children. We are in the process of contracting the transmission of information with various universities in the U.S., using the Internet and TV programs in collaboration with the University of Kabul.

Your depiction of Afghan women applies to Kabul, where women were unsafe in the streets. Women in Afghanistan do work inside and outside home as they have for 5,000 years. The Taliban collected guns from private hands, is in the process of drawing ordinances regarding the use of TV programs excluding obscenity, specifying education for women and conditions of personal safety for women’s employment outside their homes in Kabul.

Under an agreement with the U.N., the Taliban outlawed the production and transportation of illicit drugs. The Taliban outlawed international terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

NOORULLAH ZADRAN

First Secretary, Afghanistan’s

Permanent Mission (Designate)

at the U.N., New York