[Peace-discuss] Fw: Obama: Prioritize Pakistan Flood Relief Over Afghan War

[Jenifer Cartwright]

E-z to follow thru... and why wouldn't you?? --Jenifer

--- On Wed, 8/11/10, Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:



    
        
    
    
        
        
        Dear Jenifer,

Tell President Obama to redirect some resources from the war in Afghanistan to flood relief in Pakistan.




Pakistan is suffering from catastrophic floods that the UN says have affected 14 million people. Pakistan is urgently requesting help from the United States, particularly in the form of helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters, including on rooftops as we saw in the pictures from Hurricane Katrina. But the US military says our helicopters are tied up fighting the war in Afghanistan, and that only a "political decision" made in Washington - that is, a decision by President Obama - can redirect helicopters and other resources from the Afghan war to emergency flood relief in Pakistan. 



Will you join us in urging President Obama to urgently redirect helicopters and other resources from the war in Afghanistan to emergency flood relief in Pakistan? You can do so by following this link:  



http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/pakistanfloods 



Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Pakistan wants the U.S. to immediately supply dozens more helicopters and significantly more money and supplies to help deal with the widespread flooding that has affected at least 14 million people there. A senior U.S. military official said transfer of additional helicopters would require a political decision in Washington. "Do they exist in the region? Yes," he said. "Are they available? No." [1] 



On humanitarian grounds alone, that would be bad enough. But it is widely recognized that the failure of the Pakistani government and the international community to deliver aid to flood victims in Pakistan is creating an opening for Islamist militant groups in Pakistan that are "winning hearts and minds" by being on the ground, delivering aid. The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the failure "has created an opening for hard-line Islamist groups to provide a steady stream of relief." [2] By being the first to deliver aid, these groups are winning more recruits to their cause.  On Friday, the New York Times reported that, "As public anger rises over the government's slow and chaotic response to Pakistan's worst flooding in 80 years, hard-line Islamic charities have stepped into the breach with a grass-roots efficiency that is earning them new support among Pakistan's beleaguered masses." [3]  



Defenders of the war in Afghanistan sometimes say that really it is all about Pakistan. But the flood disaster really is all about Pakistan. If the US is truly engaged in a struggle for "hearts and minds" in the region, it could do far more by responding effectively to the Pakistani flood disaster than by killing a few more Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.  



Won't you join us in urging President Obama to put the flood victims first? You can take action here:  



http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/pakistanfloods 



Thank you for all you do to help bring about a just foreign policy, 



Chelsea Mozen, Megan Iorio, Sarah Burns and Robert Naiman

Just Foreign Policy 



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References: 



1. "Fearing unrest, Pakistan seeks more U.S. flood aid," Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, August 10, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080905769.html

2. "Pakistani flood disaster gives opening to militants," Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-militants-aid-20100810,0,1442950.story

3. "Hard-Line Islam Fills Void In Pakistan's Flood Response," Adam B. Ellick and Pir Zubair Shah, New York Times, August 6, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/world/asia/07pstan.html


        
        

        
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