Pakistan under water

The U.N. warned this week that a massive catastrophe was developing in Pakistan as monsoon flooding spread across one-fifth of the country. Roughly one in nine Pakistanis—20 million people—are homeless and millions lack access to clean drinking water. Tens of thousands of villages are underwater, with floods swamping millions of acres of cropland, drowning livestock, and washing away warehouses of stored food. Some 1,600 people have been killed, and officials warn that hundreds of thousands are at risk of cholera and other diseases. “The magnitude of the disaster is beyond anyone’s imagination,” said Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Relief convoys arriving in Punjab, the worst-hit province, were mobbed, prompting aid workers to beat back desperate villagers with ropes. The U.N. has appealed for $460 million from international donors, saying the crisis eclipses the 2004 tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Haitian earthquake combined. With the government overwhelmed, Islamic extremist groups have filled the breach, dispensing aid and rescuing the stranded.

Where are the donors? asked The Washington Post in an editorial. It will take billions of dollars to restore Pakistan’s devastated infrastructure—including roads, bridges, hospitals, and power stations. Yet “the one thing that has not come flooding into Pakistan is international aid.”

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It’s in our interest to give generously, said The New York Times. The flood is not only a human tragedy, but also “a strategic threat” to the U.S. Islamic extremist groups are using the crisis “to sow more resentment toward Islamabad and Washington and win new adherents for their nihilistic cause.” While the U.S. has so far given more than other international donors—supplying helicopters, prefab bridges, and more than $70 million—it’s still not enough.

There is opportunity within this tragedy, said Trudi Rubin in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Usually the U.S. lets Pakistan take credit for U.S. aid, in an effort to “bolster the legitimacy” of the civilian government. Now, though, we have a chance to turn “widespread anti-Americanism” in Pakistan into goodwill. “Pakistanis must be made fully aware of U.S. aid, and U.S. officials should not hesitate to publicize their role.”