Having been a journalist by profession, I cannot honestly say that I blame the mass media for its coverage, or lack there of, of news from Afghanistan. Neither can anyone refute the fact that in that war-torn country with a great many problems on a day-to-day basis, newsworthy events always occur. There are a considerable number of people in this part of the country that are earnestly seeking news from Afghanistan such as:

What is the temporary Kerzai government doing with regard to feeding the impoverished population all over the land?

What are the American and coalition forces doing with, or about, their pronounced and acclaimed duty of clearing the remnants of Al Qaida forces which are foreign elements forced on the Afghan nation as a result of the Russian illegal occupation of Afghanistan and which gradually seemed to have taken the authority out of the hands of Taliban until October 7, 2001 when America declared war on Taliban for refusing to hand over Osama ben Ladin?

What happened to all the bombastic promises made by the advanced countries towards rebuilding and reconstruction in that country destroyed by the Afghan communists and the forces of occupation of the former Soviet Union, elements of the Mujahedeen, the Taliban regime, and since October last? No longer does one hear of the figure of 20+ billions of dollars that would be spent in the recreation of the infrastructure of the land, chief among which are the highways, the airports and the electric power. There was a day when I traveled from Kabul to Jalalabad in less than two hours; it takes virtually two+ days to cover that distance (about 100 miles).

How far along is the plan to re-institute an Afghan army and an Afghan police force? Just the other day I read a news report -- following a report a week or so before, that the Americans had started training some 230 soldiers and officers toward this end-- that in a land confrontation between the Al Qaida and Taleban forces some Afghan army persons were also killed. That was in the headline of the news, but there was no elucidation anywhere in the text that followed. Could it be that the men killed were among the 200+ soldiers and officers that were being trained by the US in Afghanistan?

Finally, what is the former King doing these days? Why is nothing mentioned about him in the media nowadays? Is it that the Palestine issue and the actions of Israeli government against its powerless antagonists-- the Arab people of Palestine-- has dealt a death blow to all Afghan news?

There are, no doubt, dozens, even scores, of reporters and TV personnel in Kabul, Bagram, Kandahar and elsewhere in the country that ought to be covering these and other news developments in Afghanistan? Are they spending idle time in Chai-khanas or loitering about and getting paid by their employers?

This is not criticism, leveled against journalists of all the media. This is also not a criticism of the US Government at large. These questioned are directed at the authorities in the US that are censoring the news on a daily basis before the media is allowed to disseminate them. We have heard, in more than one instance, that either the news is suppressed or is given out for broadcasting long after it is no longer considered news by the media. Now that the hot days of the war against Afghanistan are over, isn't it high time that the Pentagon give the freedom of the press a chance to, once again, serve its public with the news when and where it occurs? For that seems to be the only chance that seekers of news about Afghanistan have left to them other than resorting to world short-wave receivers which are rare in the United States, and where found, are preciously costly. This is a country justly proud of the fact that its nationals enjoy Freedom of Expression more than anywhere else in the world. So, please let the Afghan refugees, as well as other US citizens (former Afghans) readily see proof of the above fact for themselves. 05/19/2002