Aid group pulling out of Afghanistan (Medecins Sans Frontieres)

KABUL, Afghanistan — The relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said Wednesday it is pulling out of Afghanistan, discouraged about a fruitless investigation into the slayings of five of its workers and fearful of new attacks.

The Nobel prize-winning group's decision to withdraw was the most dramatic example yet of how deteriorating security has crippled the delivery of badly needed aid and reconstruction in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2002. MSF had already suspended most of its work after the June killings and recalled all foreign staff to Kabul, the capital.

"Today's context is rendering independent humanitarian aid for the Afghan people all but impossible," the international group said in a statement.

Medecins Sans Frontiers, or Doctors Without Borders, said it would explain its decision in detail during a Thursday briefing, but cited three main reasons: the dangers on the ground, disappointment that the investigation into the June killings has gone nowhere and what it called the U.S. military's use of humanitarian aid "for political and military motives."

U.S. and NATO troops run several so-called Provincial Reconstruction Teams across the country, under which soldiers provide health care, dig wells and perform other work normally carried out by civilians. Aid groups have long feared that the practice blurs the lines between relief work and soldiers' efforts to persuade local communities to provide intelligence on militants' movements.

In the June 2 killings of its workers, two men on a motorcycle stopped a clearly marked MSF vehicle on a rural road as they returned to the provincial capital from a clinic they were helping to run. The three Europeans and two Afghans inside were shot dead.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, and accused the victims of working for American interests — a shock to MSF, which like many agencies relies on neutrality to protect staff who venture into war zones. Investigators have not ruled out a link to feuds among local warlords.

Police arrested 13 people over the killings. But Amir Shah Naibzada, the police chief in the area where the killings occurred, said Wednesday that all had been released. "We're still trying our best to find out who did this."

Medecins San Frontiers said the government's failure to conduct a "credible investigation" was a factor in its decision to withdraw.

Taliban-led militants have been blamed for attacks that have killed more than 30 aid workers since March 2003 and made much of the south and east virtually off-limits. The killings of the MSF workers occurred in the northwest and raised fears that the violence was spreading was also becoming too dangerous.

It was unclear when the estimated 80 international volunteers and 1,400 Afghan staff who worked for the medical relief agency in Afghanistan before the attack would stop their work for good. The group was expected to hand over its clinics and other programs to Afghan health authorities and other nongovernment organizations.

MSF has been working in Afghanistan for 14 years. The group, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, provides basic health care and support to hospitals in 13 of the country's 34 provinces.

It's tempting to say something snide about the French. But in this case, I gotta say that MSF has done great work around the world. And if some of their people have been killed in Afghanistan, I can see their reasons for pulling out.

The author of this piece tries to imply the U. S. military has some blame for this -- that's beyond ridiculous. I guess it will fall to the U. S. military (and a few other brave military organizations) to offer whatever help the Afghan people are going to get in the future.

Doctors without borders feel their mission trumps whatever the US military does, so there are bound to be problems. I suspect they either treated Taliban members or knew where they were and when the US army wanted them to rat out the Taliban, they refused. So the next time they wanted a pass to go someplace dicey or wanted US army help in getting medicines, they were told no. Tit for tat.

I'm thinking about that recent Redford film, where he's a retiring CIA agent. There's a clinic in Lebanon or some ME country, where the nurses/doctors get along to get along. That's the sort of thing doctors without borders would run into every day of the week. A moral dilemma.

"It's tempting to say something snide about the French..."

OK, I'll say it for you - the French surrender again!

the whole point is that they are not political at all. they are just doctors and they heal people. if they started 'ratting out' the taliban to us forces, they would no longer be able to achieve their mission worldwide.

i have a hell of a lot of respect for msf and i give them money. they risk thier lives and give up their time, not because they are threatened, not because they have interests in any region, but because they want to help people. while we are on the internet and well fed, they are in remote african villages, healing children. they are better people than i or you.

Actually, treating people does not make them better than us.

If they treat Bin Laden and he then plans a really dramatic terrorist attack on us, they are not better than us.

I am using an extreme example to make a point.

Healing someone in poor working conditions does not, by itself, make someone better than us. Well-meaning, hard-working idealists often do more harm than good.

The crazy sick thing about the article is that there is no sense of disgust at the Taliban murdering neutral doctors there to help Afghans, but you do get soem gisgust at US action/inaction.

I know what you mean, brother! We live in a topsy-turvy moral world, where our newspapers tell us that up is down and black is light. It's hard to keep moral clarity in these crazy times -- that's what FR is for!

I think I have to lean toward the point that sweneop is making. I think that healing people is a noble calling with very few exceptions -- whether it's done by MSF, or U. S. Army reconstruction teams, or anyone else.

If MSF feels Afghanistan is too dangerous, that's their choice and I've got to respect the good work they've done there in the past. I just hope they'll put their resources to good use elsewhere. And I hope U. S. organizations (like the U. S. military) will fill the void as best they can in Afghanistan.

It's tempting to say something snide about the French.

Perhaps we can rename them "Doctors Without Boulders"?

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