November 6, 2007, New York, NY – "Stability in Central Asia and the Middle East will be won one farmer at a time, one person at a time," said General John Abizaid in his remarks at GPFA's annual benefit in New York on November 5th. "And GPFA has given us a way ahead." U.N. ambassadors Zalmay Khalilzad (U.S.) and Zahir Tanin (Afghanistan), as well as six Afghan Fulbright scholars, were among 145 attendees at the event, which was hosted by Skadden, Arps at its midtown law offices. As guests dined on a traditional Afghan buffet dinner amid colorful photos of Afghan farm families working in their fruit orchards and horticultural nurseries, GPFA co-founders Dana and Bruce Freyer recounted the personal stories and successes of farmers who are rebuilding their livelihoods with the help of GPFA.
John Abizaid, a retired four-star Army general who oversaw U.S. military operations from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia, talked about the need to promote peace and security in Afghanistan by helping people to help themselves. "The Taliban begins where the road ends," he said, emphasizing the importance of establishing trade routes between Afghanistan and markets in East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. "If the roads can be built, if the trees can be grown, it will do much to connect Afghanistan to the rest of the world."