By The Way, 1/5 of Pakistan Is Flooded

Have you ever heard about Bangladesh. It is sinking. Practically the whole county is below sea level and is one big delta. Sooner or later you will have a flood that covers it all. It is hopeless from an environmental point of view and very densely populated.

From wikipedia.org



A Mande woman on Adivasi dayRecent (2005–2007) estimates of Bangladesh's population range from 142 to 159 million, making it the 7th most populous nation in the world. With a land area of 144,000 square kilometres (56,000 sq mi), ranked 94th, the population density is remarkable. A striking comparison is offered by the fact that Russia's population is slightly smaller even though Russia has a land area of 17.5 million square kilometers, at least 120 times bigger than Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world, excluding a handful of city-states and small countries such as Malta.

 

Who cares when you can babble about "terror babies?"

 

Who cares as there are terrorists living there, a few others may have to die, but who gives.

 

Despite what might have been seen as a flippant comment of mine here that was aimed at another topic in another thread, I had to say something about a catastrophe that is happening as we speak. I actually do care a lot about Pakistan, which has been an interest of mine for years, an interest that began after a close relative of mine spent a summer working on an aid project in Karachi and another summer working on an aid project in Dacca, then West Pakistan (now Dhaka, Bangledesh). Both projects were to teach Pakistani university professors the latest technology and teaching techniques under the aegis of USAID. This was during the 1960's, and although the knee-jerk reaction by some regarding USAID is that it's a tool of American foreign policy, they have done some tremendous work over the years in many parts of the world.

One has to wonder when Pakistan's misery will find an end. You could say the same about the former East Pakistan, what is now Bangledesh, but that's another on-going "disaster in the making." It is no surprise to me that yet another Pakistani government is fumbling its response to a crisis, but this is beyond the abilities of just about any government, anywhere in the world, and the world needs to do everything it can to help. Here's some comments by the head of the United Nations, who has been touring Pakistan:




U.N. chief: Pakistan floods are worst he has ever seen

SUKKUR, Pakistan (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said Sunday the flooding in Pakistan was the worst disaster he had ever seen, and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance to the up to 20 million people affected. Ban's comments reflect the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, has a weak and unpopular government, and an anemic economy propped up by international assistance.

"This has been a heart-wrenching day for me," Ban said after flying over the hard hit areas with President Asif Ali Zardari. "I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."

The floods began more than two weeks ago in the mountainous northwest and have now hit about one-quarter of the country, especially its agricultural heartland. While the death toll of 1,500 is relatively small, the scale of the flooding and number of people whose lives have been disrupted is staggering.

The world body has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief, but only 20% has been given.

Once the floods recede, billions more will be needed for reconstruction and getting people back to work in the already-poor nation of 170 million people. The International Monetary Fund has warned the floods could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.

"Waves of flood must be met with waves of support from the world," said Ban. "I'm here to urge the world to step up assistance," he said. President Zardari has been criticized for his response to the disaster, especially for going ahead with a state visit to Europe just as the crisis was unfolding. Zardari has visited victims twice since returning, but images of him at a family owned chateau while in France are likely to hurt him for months to come.

In his first comments to the media since returning, he defended the government.

"The government has responded very responsibly," he said, saying the army, the police, the navy and officials were all working to relieve the suffering. "I would appeal to the press to understand the magnitude of the disaster."

Zardari said it would take up to two years for the country to recover.

Ban said visa restrictions had been eased for humanitarian workers and they now could get visas on arrival at Pakistan airports.

On Saturday, the prime minister said 20 million people had been made homeless in the disaster. Ban said one out of 10 Pakistanis had been directly or indirectly affected or "possibly 20 million people."

The monsoon rains that triggered the disaster are forecast to fall for several weeks yet, meaning the worst may not yet be over. Over the weekend, tens of thousand of people were forced to flee their homes when they were inundated by fresh floods from the swollen River Indus.

While local charities and international agencies have helped hundreds of thousands of people with food, water, shelter and medical treatment, the scale of the disaster has meant that many millions have received little or no assistance. The U.N. has voiced fears that disease in overcrowded and unsanitary relief camps may yet cause more deaths.

Earlier Sunday, survivors fought over food being handed out from a relief vehicle close to the town of Sukkur in hard-hit Sindh province, ripping at each other's clothes and causing such chaos that the distribution had to be abandoned, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

"The impatience of the people has deprived us of the little food that had come," said Shaukat Ali, a flood victim waiting for food.

Waters five feet deep washed through Derra Allah Yar, a city of 300,000 people on the border of Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, said government official Salim Khoso. About 200,000 had fled the city and Khoso said he did not know how they would be fed.

"We are here like beggars," said Mukhtar Ali, a 45-year-old accountant living on the side of a highway along with thousands of other people. "The last food we received was a small packet of rice yesterday and 15 of us shared that."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-14-pakistan-floods_N.htm

 

Wow dude. Lack of compassion is the reason the world sucks. And really? Terrorists? Idk what to even say...

 

Whatever dude. He is right. It's for the greater good.

Do you think these things happen by chance? God is fully aware of what is happening.

 

Knowing that poster's history he is being sarcastic here.

 

True this is a tragedy that isn't getting the attention that it deserves. I think a few things are responsible.
1) The body count is still relatively low.
2) Its on the other side of the World from the US.
3) Its happening to people that many consider the enemies of the US.

Beyond just responding for a humanitarian reasons I think this is a situation were it is in our national security interests to respond. The battle against insurgents like the Taliban and an ideological movement like Al Qaeda needs to be one of winning hearts and minds. I think if the US can step forward and provide a massive amount of aid it will make a huge difference towards under cutting the support to the Taliban and Al Qaeda in that region. The image of US helicopters rescuing tribesmen in the Swat valley may be more valuable than all of the drone strikes.

 

Also lets not forget that parts of the PRC have been hit pretty hard by floods with a death toll of around 1,200 that has gotten even less coverage than what is happening in Pakistan.

 

While that is true, and another tragedy, the PRC has the resources to deal with it. Pakistan does not.

 

The person DM's re-tweeting is an actress friend of his who's from Pakistan. She's been wondering why the US media is mostly ignoring a story of this magnitude. (Even today it's way down on CNN.COM and FOXNEWS.COM found five stories they thought were more important for their "World" news listings.)

 

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/08/world/gallery.large.pakistan.flood/aug.17.html

There's some insane pictures of the flooding in that link.

 

I want this guy to tell me stories about how he created the universe.

 

The battle over clean water sources in that region will increase in intensity over the next decade.

 

I swear, no matter how bad you think it is, it's probably worse.

It's the equivalent of the entire population of New York.

Almost the entire population of Texas.

It's SO much.

 

So I made the mistake of perusing the comments posted below some of the articles about this catastrophe...

 

I agree it would be a great time to win over some in that region. its either going to be us or some radicals that step in.

Would be a alot easier for the west to help out and win people over verse letting some radicals take charge and than having a war with them in the future.