Save The Airbase, Not The Victims

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Save the airbase, not the victims Aug 26, 2010
Washington Orders Shahbaz Airbase Saved, Not Pakistan's Flood Victims
By Stephen Lendman

With 20 million or more people affected, about 12% of the population, the equivalent of 37 million Americans, Pakistan's devastating floods are truly of biblical proportions, described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as worse than anything he'd ever seen, saying:

"Thousands of towns and villages have simply been washed away. Roads, buildings, bridges, crops - millions of livelihoods have been lost. People are marooned on tiny islands with the floodwaters all around them (without food, sanitation, medical help, or shelter). They are drinking dirty water. They are living in the mud and ruins of their lives. Many have lost family and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these condition."

One fifth or more of Pakistan is under water, the US equivalent of Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, and Oregon combined, what's unimaginable in America and would never be tolerated without massive emergency aid.

Yet the Pakistani-based News reports that:

"Hundreds of thousands of people including children, women and aged men have been trapped on the rooftops of their houses as floodwaters with 5-feet depth has blanketed entire districts."

They won't survive without help. Deadly disease outbreaks are feared. Already, reports of cholera are surfacing, suggesting perhaps a much wider scale problem than verified.

Unknown numbers have perished, perhaps thousands, likely tens or hundreds of thousands before it's over. Yet aid so far donated has been pathetic, America providing token relief only, hardly enough to matter, Washington's usual response to great need, even emergencies, the way Haitian earthquake victims were treated, still on their own and out of luck eight months after their disaster.

Pakistan's government and world leaders have been disturbingly indifferent to the problem, doing far too little when massive amounts of emergency aid are urgently needed quickly.

Addressing the UN on August 19, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would increase its donation to $150 million, $92 million to the UN, more for security than humanitarian efforts, Senator John Kerry (Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman) underscoring America's purpose on a visit to Shahbaz Airbase, saying:

"The objective is humanitarian, but obviously there is a national security interest. We do not want additional jihadis, extremists, coming out of a crisis."

Pakistan's Foreign Minister added:

"If we cannot deal with (the flood emergency) there are chances of food riots leading to violence being exploited by people who are known," a thinly veiled reference to "Islamist extremists."

On August 18, US Marine Commandant, General James T. Conway, met Pakistan's army Chief of Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in Rawalpindi to discuss security, not relief, Pakistan press reports saying "during the course of the meeting....they discussed issues pertaining to national security, war and terrorism, defense needs, etc. at length."

The plight of 20 million Pakistanis wasn't addressed, showing America's contempt for the needy, even under dire emergency circumstances, victims getting little or no aid, one man speaking for many, saying:

"We left our homes with nothing and now we're here with no clothes, no food and our children are living beside the road." So are millions of others, perhaps more than reported.

A Disturbing Asian Human Rights Commission Report

Issued on August 20, it's headlined, "PAKISTAN: Minister tasked with saving US airbase at the cost of the displacement of thousands," saying:

Reports say that "the US Air Force has denied the relief agencies use of the Shahbaz Airbase (it controls) for the distribution of aid and assistance. Soldiers of the Pakistan army, a federal minister and the administration of Sindh province are blamed for the incident involving Shahbaz Airbase at Jacobabad district" where flood waters were diverted to save the base.

As a result, 800,000 people were affected, displaced by floods, their homes lost, their condition desperate and worsening like for millions in affected areas.

Mr. Ejaz Jakhrani, Minister of Sports explained that "if the water was not diverted, the Shahbaz Airbase would have been inundated." He was assigned to protect it, former Prime Minister Mir Zafar Ullah Khan Jamali saying that doing it meant demolishing the Jamali bypass and letting the town of Dera Allahyar drown. He added that "if the airbase was so important, then what priority might be given to the citizens." He blamed "minister Jakhrani, DPO and DCO Jacobabad for deliberately diverting the course of the floodwaters toward Balochistan."

Other discussions confirmed that health relief operations aren't possible because America controls the base, and "there are no airstrips close to" affected areas, including Jacobabad.

Media reports said in 2001, the Musharraf government gave America control of Shahbaz to wage war on terrorism, the presence of army soldiers during the Jamali bypass breach a clear sign "that the Pakistan army (was) ordered to save the airbase." It meant flooding out hundreds of thousands of people, now stranded on their own without help.

"There can be no doubt that the presence of the Pakistan army personnel at (the Jamali bypass) indicates (that) this was an intentional breach," ordered by Americans in charge. "This must be investigated to ascertain who gave the orders. Those giving (them) must be prosecuted," condemning perhaps thousands of victims to death.

"It is a gross contradiction that the United States of America (donates aid, yet) refus(es) permission to use the Shahbaz airbase" to deliver it, the only facility able to do it for a large area affected.

Compare today's Pakistan to Haiti post-quake. America militarized the country, stressed security, took over the Port-au-Prince airport, obstructed relief supplies, sent in the Marines, and left millions of Haitians on their own, most getting little or no aid, nor are they now eight months later.

The same scenario affects Pakistani victims, America taking over, stressing security, and blocking aid, innocent people left stranded, perhaps to perish while imperial wars get limitless resources, powerful interests profiting at the expense of unwanted, deserted millions on their own and out of luck, the real face of US "democracy," in name only, not real.


http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman230810.htm

Berrin
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Re: Save the airbase, not the victims Aug 27, 2010
Perhaps we infidels should listen to the taliban who first asked of Paki's to refuse food from infidels, but now threaten to strike:

One Taliban spokesman told Associated Press that the presence of foreign aid workers was "unacceptable".

But on Thursday afternoon, Tehrik-e Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said it believed the US and other countries were not focused solely on providing aid to flood victims, and had other unspecified "intentions".

"No relief is reaching the affected people, and when the victims are not receiving help this horde of foreigners is not acceptable to us at all," he told AP.

"When we say something is unacceptable to us one can draw his own conclusion," he added, in an apparent threat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11095267
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Flying Dutchman
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Re: Save the airbase, not the victims Aug 27, 2010
I like the way how quicly you call westeners infidel, in the presence of the feeling of guilt..
but may be you are right, such actions can only be the practice of heartless infidels..

And yes if the victims are not receiving help, hoarde of foreigners would not be acceptable by any nation as a standard..
I mean Just imagine the same disaster striking America only in greater numbers, aimless hoards of taliban heading for America can only be their nightmare, don't you think?
Berrin
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Re: Save the airbase, not the victims Aug 29, 2010
Kuffarophobia ... What Kuffarophobia ?

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Suspected Islamic militants have killed three American Christian aid workers who were helping victims of Pakistan's worst floods in recent memory, a well-informed source in the Pakistani military told BosNewsLife Saturday, August 28.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the exact details surrounding the killings in the country's volatile north-western Swat valley. He said Pakistan's military recovered the bodies of the relief workers in Swat valley Wednesday, August 25, shortly after they were kidnapped. The human remains were brought to the United States embassy, he said.

The names of the victims and their organization have not yet been released publicly due to security concerns and "not to create panic" among foreign aid workers, the source added. Additionally, under standard procedures, close relatives were expected to be informed first about the victims' identities. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad refused to confirm or deny the report, saying it had no more information.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killings, but the Taliban threatened to attack international relief workers, calling the presence of foreigners in Pakistan "unacceptable."

A senior Pakistani official confirmed to BosNewsLife that the three foreign aid workers had been kidnapped by the hard-line Islamic group Monday, August 23.

...

CHRISTIANS SUFFER

However many people, including minority Christians, receive little or no aid from Pakistani authorities or other groups, complained Rizwan Paul, who leads the Christian aid and advocacy organization Life for All. "In Punjab province the Christians are ignored in the severely damaged areas. Christians even face problems in United Nations-administered camps."

He said there are reports that Christians are not given tents, clean water and food. "In most of the camps the Christians have totally been ignored. In some regions, including Muzzaffargarh and Layyah, Christians are forced to live on damaged roads in temporary tents as they were not allowed in the government camps."...


http://www.bosnewslife.com/13671-breaki ... tan-source

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