A fifth of Pakistan is underwater.

backslashbaby said:

Yes, it's astounding how the media isn't really covering this with much detail. Where are the calls for aid, the singers gathering for a show? Sean Penn is still quite busy in Haiti, so don't count on him!

Hopefully France is way on the ball after their comments about the US and the earthquake in Haiti. Anyone? Bueller?

Rumor has it that the only organized forces giving aid at this moment are those with ties to radical Islam. Way to go, the West. That's using your (our) noodle.

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backslashbaby said:

Rumor has it that the only organized forces giving aid at this moment are those with ties to radical Islam. Way to go, the West. That's using your (our) noodle.

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15/08/2010
France increases aid to flood-hit Pakistan, offers transport


France announced Sunday it would send a plane loaded with 60 tonnes of aid to flood-hit Pakistan, and signaled it is ready to use its military equipment to help transport relief.

...

The aircraft carrying the 60 tonnes of aid will leave France on Wednesday to reach Islamabad Thursday, and will include emergency equipment, makeshift shelters and drinking water.

This adds to the one million euros (1.3 million dollars) that France has already allocated to Pakistan since the start of the disaster, which the UN says has ravaged one fifth of the country and 20 million people.

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. . . if sufficient aid is not forthcoming from the international community, the Pakistanis will remember.
"Already people are asking why they helped the Haitians and aren't helping us," he said. "When someone helps someone who is in need of food and water, those who helped are certainly remembered. It doesn't matter who calls who the bad guys or the good guys after the floods have receded. Whoever helps the Pakistanis in their need will be remembered as a friend."
Khan noted that the U.S. has pledged the most in aid to Pakistan and has begun delivering with money, food packages, medical assistance and transportation.
"The U.S. has done far more than any other nation, but it is simply not enough," Khan said. "The U.S. has given much needed helicopters to bring the aid to the victims, because all the roads have been washed out and the bridges washed away.
"The helicopters are greatly needed. But now there are only 18 of them. Eighteen helicopters for 20 million people - do you see what we're up against?" Khan said.
U.S. leaders are concerned that groups associated with the Taliban and al Qaeda may jump into the breach and provide assistance to flood victims and, thus, grow in their esteem.

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Groups such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) have stepped into the vacuum to provide relief aid and social services to those affected by the flooding. JuD has already established 13 relief camps in surrounding districts, providing food to the displaced and running an ambulance service. JuD now says it has 2,000 members working in the region. The group claims to be involved solely in charitable work but is widely believed to be a front for the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack. JuD gained renown after the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, when it was one of the only groups operating an effective aid and relief service in the affected region, often eclipsing the government’s own efforts and providing help to areas that the authorities sometimes took days or weeks just to reach.
As long as government incompetency and inadequacy continues to hamper the relief effort, it will be impossible to deny groups like JuD the space to operate. By working effectively during times of severe need, groups like JuD, much like Hezbollah, are able to burnish their image as charitable organizations and extend their networks of grassroots support. While doing real good, however, they are also providing a front for the more insidious and violent activities of their militant wings.

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William Haskins said:

rumor?

unaware?

not covered in media?

please, kids, use your computer for more than social networking.

there's plenty of coverage on this story and plenty of aid coming from the US and the UN.

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backslashbaby said:

It is true that I think the media reacts differently to this here because it's Pakistan. Both because it's not as close as Haiti and because of religion/politics.

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blacbird said:

I seem to recall that the media coverage of the earthquake catastrophe in Haiti was similarly criticized.

The earthquake in Haiti killed something in excess of 250,000 people. The flood death toll in Pakistan, last I saw, was about 1% of that.

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Yes, it's astounding how the media isn't really covering this with much detail.

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Bartholomew said:

I see Bush's weather-control devices are still functional.

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