U.S. boosts Pakistan flood aid to $150M - 4 million left homeless, United Nations says

[Turborama]

Source: CBC

The United States will provide an additional $60 million US to flood-ravaged Pakistan, bringing its total contribution to flood relief efforts to $150 million, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.

Speaking at a special meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Clinton called the floods a "humanitarian disaster of monumental proportions," and called on other nations to help Pakistan in its time of need.

"As we meet, we fear a new wave of water may be about to sweep through areas that have already been devastated," Clinton said.

"Experts predict that the flooding will not recede until mid-September, and if the monsoon rains continue, the devastation will spread to new areas."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/08/19/pakistan-flooding-homeless.html#ixzz0x5ZN6sje

---

Drag the slider up in the interactive photograph at the link to see Pakistan's Indus River as it appeared on Aug. 9, 2009. Pull the slider down to see the flooded region on Aug. 12, 2010, a year later. (NASA).

Related OPs...

Check out these BEFORE and AFTER satellite photos of Pakistan (Dialup Warning)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8970355

Remember This, "The Pentagon Tells Bush: Climate Change Will Destroy Us"? --- Here's An Update
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8974944

HuffPo: It's Time for Truce in the "War on Terror" so the Real War on Terror Can Begin Before It's Too Late
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8968567

[defendandprotect]

1. From Katrina, to Haiti, to Pakistan... this stuff is going down so quickly that

I'd imagine even tracking the true human toll is near impossible -- ???

[sabrina 1]

2. Yes, don't forget China and the wild fires in Russia

and Indonesia's Tsunami. It seems every few months there is more disasters and the human toll is probably incalculable at this point.

I wish we could hear a little more about the victims a year or so later, but it's rare that there is any information on them.

I am glad the U.S. is stepping up and helping out. This disaster is so immense it will take the world cooperating to tackle it.

[defendandprotect]

26. Shock and Awe on a truly international scale . . .

I'm especially concerned re the earthquakes because the original warning from the

Pentagon to the W White House mentioned that they will also increase -- it was

later scrubbed.

But, melting glaciers, sliding plates -- all point to that --

someone put up more scientific evidence that it's likely but I don't have it to repost.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OhioChick]

6. Frosty Wooldridge????

You're shitting me, right? A Republican??

If you vote as a democrat, you try to aid the poor in order to uplift them to a better life. If you vote as a republican, you call on citizens to take personal responsibility and accountability.

It’s been said that when you’re young, you vote democratic from your idealistic zeal because you possess a heart, but no brain. You want to help everybody with taxpayers’ money. When you’re older, if you vote republican, it means you lack a heart but you utilize your brain. You think citizens need to take personal responsibility for their lives.

Since 1965, our U.S. Government, led by forever Senator Teddy Kennedy, passed the Immigration Reform Act, which bumped annual immigration from 100,000 to 1.2 to 1.5 million annually from third world countries. As the U.S. filled up with poverty-prone citizens, President Lyndon Baines Johnson passed the Great Society Act that handed out welfare checks, housing, free lunches and food stamps like candy on Halloween to millions of new-comers. Our national debt exceeded $1.1 trillion by the end of his term.

Those Great Society welfare queens churned out babies faster than a Ford assembly line. Each new baby gave the ‘poor’ mother a car payment, new TV, fashionable clothing, dish washer and unlimited credit. One minority woman in Detroit, Michigan, where I worked in the 70s, 80s and 90s, pumped out 24 children with more than a dozen fathers. Her first three girls birthed their own babies by age 15. The woman and her children became the first wave of ‘cyclical welfare’ poverty in America. Score one for the idealistic zeal of democrats!

http://www.borderfirereport.net/frosty-wooldridge/mass-immigration-destabilizing-america-s-political-system.php

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[Turborama]

9. Thank you mods for getting rid of that vile site. n/t

[OhioChick]

4. Glad to hear the US is helping out....

The devastation will likely last for years to come.

Thanks for keeping up on this catastrophe.

[ihavenobias]

5. Kick n/t

[Turborama]

8. Amount of coverage of this on AC360?

About 5 seconds at the very end of the show just now.

[sabrina 1]

27. That's a shame.

But it will take the same kind of coverage the Tsunami and Haiti got before people become really aware. That will only happen if it is 'approved' imo.

[Turborama]

10. Pakistan floods are a 'slow-motion tsunami' - Ban Ki-moon

Source: The Guardian

The United Nations general secretary, Ban Ki-moon, has appealed for swifter aid to provide immediate relief in food, shelter and clean water for the millions affected by the worst monsoon rains on record.

"Make no mistake, this is a global disaster," Ban told a hurriedly convened session of the UN general assembly. "Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami. Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time," he warned.

Weather forecasts have said there could be four more weeks of rain, which will add to the flood problems.

The UN has appealed for $460m (£295m) in aid and donors have so far given about half that figure. But the secretary-general said all of the money was needed immediately to help victims over the next three months.

The US has pledged an extra $60m in help, bringing America's total aid to $150m.

In a video message, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton appealed to the American public to donate generously to a newly established "Pakistan relief fund".

"The enormity of this crisis is hard to fathom, the rain continues to fall and the extent of the devastation is still difficult to gauge," said Clinton. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones, those who have been displaced from their homes and those left without food and water."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/19/pakistan-flood-ban-ki-moon

---

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Delivers Remarks on the Pakistan Relief Fund in Washington, D.C., August 19, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZb1BQ3Ee6c (Go to http://www.state.gov for text transcript and more video.)



A Pakistani family stand on their farm compound surrounded
by flood waters Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP






Related OPs...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8970355">Check out these BEFORE and AFTER satellite photos of Pakistan (Dialup Warning)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8968567">Huffington Post: It's Time for Truce in the "War on Terror" so the Real War on Terror Can Begin Before It's Too Late

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8974944">Remember This, "The Pentagon Tells Bush: Climate Change Will Destroy Us"? --- Here's An Update

Also, go here to use the interactive NASA graphic. It really is shocking: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/08/19/pakistan-flooding-homeless.html#ixzz0x5ZN6sje

My journal has videos and lots of previous articles (some with photos) and is regularly updated (the OPs with photos have made it so big you even have to go into the archives to see recent ones): http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Turborama

[OhioChick]

11. 4 More weeks of rain???

Good God.

[happyslug]

12. It is the Monsoon, comes every year, starts in June ends in September

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon

[OhioChick]

13. I do realize that....

By my comment, I meant that's the last thing they need there now.

Thanks for the graphic, though.

[cosmicone]

14. It doesn't matter ... this story is posted over and over and over

as though no one on DU knows about floods in Pakistan.

[happyslug]

16. My first question is how is this affecting the supply line to Afghanistan??

There are three ways into Afghanistan, via Iran (Not an option at present), Via the Former Central Asian States (All under Russian Influence) and Pakistan (Where most of the supplies are coming through). Are the Fuel the US Forces in Afghanistan getting to them through Pakistan (Or has Russia started to supply the fuel)? The Troops are actually flow in and out, but the equipment they drive, the food they eat, the Ammo they use, all come via truck via Pakistan. I have not heard of any problems, but it is concern.

No one is addressing that concern, it is a question no one is actually asking, but it goes to how much we can do in the next six months against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

[cosmicone]

17. It is not ...

the devastation is in the rural areas .. the punjabi farmlands in the East. The routes to Afghanistan go West from Karachi to the mountains where there is no damage.

[happyslug]

19. The main road goes right along the Indus

http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/pakistan.pdf

Now they is two way to get to Afghanistan, the first is to Karachi to Jacobadad (Right along the Indus River, which is in flood) then over the mountain via the Boland Pass to Kandahar Afghanistan. Kandahar is held by the US, but in a strong Taliban area.

The other highway is further up the Indus to Peshawar and then over the mountain to Kabul via the Khyber pass. This, I believe, is how most supplies are going, and it would be affected by the Flood for it follows the Indus River for the entire length of the highway.

Now, it appears the Highway is higher then the Flood waters (From reports I have read) BUT people whose land is flooded have pitched tent on the only dry high ground, the local Highway. Thus the road may be "flood free", it may also be packed with people waiting for the water to go down.

More on the Khyber Pass:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass

The British built a Railroad through the Bolan Pass in the late 1800s and seems to still exists, but not as far as Kandahar on the above map. Nor is there is rail service from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Afghanistan has no railroads at the present time. Pakistan Railroads use 5'6" (1676mm)gauge, not Standard Western Europe or American 4'8 1/2" (1435mm) Gauge, NOR Russian Gauge of 5'(1520, Sometimes called 4'11 1/2" instead of 5').

Railroad Gauges:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gauge#Overview

I mention Rail, for it is clear the only way to get supplies to Afghanistan is air or truck. Rail and ship are out of the picture.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ihavenobias]

22. That's insane.

I can only imagine.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberty Belle]

20. It's not just Pakistan. Afghanistan is flooding too - and the situation there is desperate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4511099

Farmers have lost not just crops, but top soil that's washed away down to bedrock. Relief supplies can't get through due to the Taliban. It is a horrific, desperate situation for women and children at literacy schools, and many others -- up to 200,000 may be at risk.

Privately, one aid worker told me that the future these people face is so horrific that they might have been better off if they'd died outright in the floods.

[Turborama]

21. I reported on a flood there 3 weeks ago

Nobody took any notice: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4483754

[Liberty Belle]

23. Sad. I just posted a reply to your earlier thread.

Horrible that the western media isn't paying attention, or doesn't care.

[sabrina 1]

25. I know, it is horrible. I think it's a crime.

Al Jazeera has done some good coverage, and I know CNN has sent reporters there, but not their top reporters.

[Liberty Belle]

28. This will make your day -- it just made mine.

After my article on the Afghan flooding ran, I got this heartwarming message from the head of a relief organization here who has been so desperately trying to raise money to help the women and children there:

“You win the Motivating Journalism prize for the day... Probably for the next couple years! Sent your article to our board members and a number of supporters last night. Have just received a commitment to match up to $10,000 in donations …I was / am so impressed at reading your article…Thank you - you have touched many lives... and hearts.”

To think that I almost didn't run this story, because we're a local community news publication, and I wasn't sure we could make any difference about such a huge problem a world away.

I wonder how many lives will be saved with that $10,000 and whatever other funds he can raise? Privately he told me the donor will pledge that much even if no matches come in.

If we call just try to do a little bit when these terrible tragedies strike, we really can make a difference in this world.

[Turborama]

24. Pakistan Floods Test ‘Global Solidarity,’ Ban Says

By Bill Varner

(Updates with Qureshi in sixth paragraph, Clinton in ninth, Kerry in 10th, EU in 12th.)

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The flooding in Pakistan is “one of the greatest tests of global solidarity in our times,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a special meeting today of the world body’s 192 member governments.

“This is a global disaster, a global challenge,” Ban said at the opening of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, held to focus attention on the disaster and obtain more aid for Pakistan. “This disaster is far from over. Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami.”

The floods have devastated Pakistan’s economy, submerging 17 million acres of farm land, and may undermine the government’s battle against Taliban and other Islamic terrorists, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

“The possible threats of food riots and related violence cannot be ruled out,” Qureshi told the General Assembly.

Full article: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-19/pakistan-floods-test-global-solidarity-ban-says.html