Fighting on an empty stomach

<!--StartFragment -->Anyone remember those bright yellow packages of food dropped by the planeload over Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001? Well, don't be surprised if pictures of puzzled Afghans eyeing pop tarts appear in the newspaper again. Drought and insecurity in the troubled country seem to be conspiring to bring back emergency food measures. And just as last time, concern for hungry villagers is matched by a broader concern for stability.

Afghan and U.N. officials fear that a persistent drought could soon add 2.4 million more people to the 6.5 million Afghans already suffering from hunger. And that development, in turn, could add to the ranks of the Taliban, magnifying the problems faced by the shaky government and the Western troops helping to hold it together.

There are many villages where, because development agencies can't operate normally in conditions of insurgency, people don't have enough to eat," a diplomat said.  "If the Taliban arrive with a little cash, that can be enough to induce people to join."

The Afghan government and the U.N.'s World Food Programme will launch an appeal for food aid this week.