"He came from school asked me, "mother what can I eat, I am hungry". I had nothing for him. I told him "son I have no food for you. I can only boil some grass for you to eat." My son shook his head and said "I am no longer hungry." He went to his room. Some minutes passed he didn't come out. I went to the room to see what he was doing. I will never forget what I saw. I saw my sweet little boy hanged himself from the sealing. He hanged himself because he could no longer remain hungry." (A Mother from Faryab province, 2008) This mother is one of many enjoying the fruits of "democracy" in Afghanistan. There are thousands starving of hunger while others commit suicide. The people that commit suicide fall in two categories. The first category includes parents that commit suicide not to see the death of their own children, while the second category includes children who could not endure hunger and commit suicide. Another example of this type of a tragedy: "We (the children) didn't eat for a number of days. Our parents tried to get us whatever they could find but all of their efforts did not produce enough for us to eat. In the morning, when we woke up very hungry, we looked for our parents. We called their names but they did not respond. We walked to the kitchen where both of our parents had taken poison and committed suicide. They committed suicide because they didn't want to see us starve to death." (Children in Badakhshan, 2008) Afghanistan has become a disaster beyond imagination. The invasion by the US has not only condemned the population to daily death and destruction, but it has created conditions that perpetuated death and misery on daily basis. The US-NATO bombing in the south, southwestern, and eastern Afghanistan murder civilians in villages and towns while those that remain alive are forced to abandon their villages due to fear of death and loss of dignity. The internally displaced come to large cities with the hope to find something to eat. However, they come to large cities only to be homeless and face starvation. To fully understand the magnitude of this disaster, it is instructive to compare salary of a government employee to the price of flour in cities. A government employee in Afghanistan earns about $60 a month while a sack of flour supporting a family of five costs $70; hence, a government employee can not even afford dry bread. Now, a family of five that has no earning could not possibly afford basic sustenance instead face starvation. Consequently, families that have no earning have to starve to death or sell their children in order for the remaining of their children to survive. Especially, widows of those families that are displaced internally due to the US-NATO bombing campaigns sit near major streets begging to raise some money for bread but only to return empty handed to their hungry children in makeshift tents littered major cities all over Afghanistan. For example, I came across an older lady sitting by the side of the road in Kabul in May 2008 and I asked her what she was doing by the side of the road and whether she had any male member of the family to earn her living, she replied: "My husband and son were killed by the American bombs in Helmand province and I brought my daughter in law and grandchildren to Kabul since radio programs were talking about humanitarian programs but we found none and are stranded begging to survive. My granddaughter age 7 starved to death last week. I hate these people." I am going to Afghanistan in two weeks hoping to help few of these poor souls. I am attempting to raise funds for flour, tents and blankets in order to help a few of these victims. The government of the US has brought disaster, pain and death to them under the guise of democracy. If any of you good people wish to help these poor souls, please donate at the following website: www.afghanistanafterdemocracy.com or you may send it to the following address: Dr Miraki 5347 North Ravenswood Avenue Chicago, IL 60640 USA Some of you have helped in the past and I thank you for that, however, the needs of the people of Afghanistan are much more acute and we need substantial funds to purchase flour, tents and blankets. I thank you in advance on behalf of the many victims in Afghanistan. Sincerely, Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD mdmiraki@ameritech.net www.afghanistanafterdemocracy.com