Sir, - Roger Cole's lamenting of the situation of the Afghan people (Opinion, September 26th) does not change three facts:
1. The Taliban has allowed the deprivation of the Afghan people to continue since coming to power in 1996.
2. The Taliban has sheltered Osama bin Laden knowingly as an "honoured guest".
3. All the evidence gathered thus far by American and European intelligence agencies indicates beyond a reasonable doubt that Osama bin Laden was behind the atrocities committed in the US on September 11th.
What I find most pathetic about Mr Cole's interpretation of events is that he leads the reader to assume the US and EU have done precious little to alleviate the many years of suffering by the Afghan people. Not true, of course, but it doesn't suit Mr Cole's agenda to explain how much money and aid has flowed from the American and EU people and American and EU charities to Afghanistan in the past 20-odd years.
Nor does Mr Cole explore the difficulties aid agencies have had in dealing with the Taliban. A telling remark by Ms Caroline McAskie, a deputy emergency coordinator of the UN Relief Agency, on dealing with the Taliban for the past seven years, reads: "Every day is a negotiation, trying to find a way around the obstacles that are put up. And new obstacles are constantly being put up" (Reuters, September 26th).
And naturally he did not mention the eight foreign aid workers who are still in jail in Afghanistan accused of "promoting Christianity", and who, if found guilty, could be put to death. - Yours, etc.,
Allison Phayre, Chandler, Arizona, USA.