335. Letter From the Chairman of the Afghan National Liberation Front (al-Mojaddedi) to President Carter1
I wish to thank you for all your past help to the Afghan people and Afghan refugees. The people of Afghanistan shall, with due respect, remember all the contributions which the friendly nations have made during this trying period in our history.
It is the graveness of the existing situation facing the Afghan people however, which prompts me to make an urgent appeal for further humanitarian assistance to merely enable us to provide the basic means of survival for a people subjected to the most unprecedented genocide of our time.
While the heroic struggle of Afghan people is not only for their own survival but also for the sake of humanity and in defence of basic human principles and human rights, one can not help but to note that this defenceless Nation is patiently and perseveringly facing the cruel and indiscriminate shellings and bombardments of their towns, villages and even large cities and population centers paralleled with lootings, burnings, executions, tortures and various other unhuman atrocities. The Russian military units, these byproducts of atheism and communism, completely devoid of human dignity and even self respect commit all these crimes in cold blood.
All this, in the course of the Russian aggression in Afghanistan, has left hundreds of thousands who are wounded, millions who are facing starvation, an equal number lacking shelter in the face of the cold season and almost the entire population devoid of medical care, even to a modest standard. Next to these are near a million and half people who have been forced to cross over the borders, mostly to Pakistan, among whom are many weak, ill and wounded people.
Therefore, the extent of existing need for food, medicine and shelter requires a facility which is completely beyond the material and financial possibilities of our organization, and thus we find it necessary to call for help.
Any further assistance you can offer at this time will be deeply appreciated by me and the freedom fighters as well as by all Afghan people.
[Page 886]At last I wish to express my pleasure that the bearer of this letter has kindly taken it upon himself to provide you with necessary additional informations on the current situation in Afghanistan as well as the position of the A.N.L.F.
Wishing your success and the prosperity of the American people I remain,
Very Sincerely Yours,
Chairman of the A.N.L.F.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office File, Unfiled Files, Box 124, Afghanistan: 1/80–1/81. No classification marking.↩