First, a press release from the Department of State that came in within the past hour.
More U.S. Helicopters Arrive in Pakistan To Support Flood Relief
Office of the SpokesmanWashington, DCAugust 14, 2010
Two U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters arrived in Pakistan today as part of the continued U.S. humanitarian assistance to Pakistan in support of flood relief from the monsoon floods.
The two aircraft are part of the contingent of 19 helicopters urgently ordered to Pakistan on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The incoming aircraft flew into Pakistan today from aboard the USS Peleliu, which is positioned in international waters in the Arabian Sea. They will join the four U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E helicopters and one other MH-53E helicopters which arrived earlier this week at Ghazi Air Base, bringing to seven the total number of aircraft in Pakistan from the USS Peleliu.
The remaining aircraft will arrive over the next few days and will include 12 U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The U.S. helicopters will operate in partnership with the Pakistan military throughout the country’s flood-affected areas.
Since August 5, the U.S. military helicopters have rescued more than 3,500 people and transported more than 412,000 lbs. of emergency relief supplies in spite of bad weather.
Then a story that came in from a news feed.
Clinton telephones Zardari, expresses sorrow over flood
The people and govt of the US were with the people of Pakistan in these difficult times, said Hillary Clinton. -AP File PhotoISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday night and expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives and huge destruction of infrastructure and property in the floods in Pakistan.She said that the people and government of the United States were with the people of Pakistan in these difficult times.
I love Hillary Clinton, but you knew that already. I love the way she and Robert Gates work so well together to promote the Three Ds. This latest outreach demonstrates how beautifully the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom are cooperating lately. Impressive. Makes me proud.
They make us look so good!
I’m glad we’re doing something to help these people. I haven’t seen much coverage of this on US news and I wonder if that document dump on Wikileaks is influencing people to ignore the plight of the Pakistani people because of what those report contained regarding Pakistan. If that is the case, it is a tragic bout of shortsightedness.
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I am sure our SOS know this and has implemented safeguards. She is not afraid to speak her mind to Pakistani officials, as we have seen.
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NBC News reported it tonight. It’s just horrible with cholera breaking out.
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More than 300 million British pounds of aid for victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake has been diverted by President Asif Ali Zardari’s [ Images ] government, raising fears that this will deter donors coming to the aid of flood devastated people in the country., a report stated.
“As the money was not forthcoming, schools, hospitals, buses and roads planned to come up with money given by foreign governments and international aid groups remain unbuilt almost five years after the earthquake which killed 80,000 and left four million people homeless,” The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday quoting senior Pakistani officials.
The damning report comes as Pakistani leadership is clamouring for millions of dollars in international aid to cope with the country’s worst ever calamity in which 20 million people are affected by floods.
The paper said international donors gave 3.5 billion pounds to rebuild vast swaths of Pakistan occupied Kashmir [ Images ] and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces after the earthquake destroyed the region’s infrastructure.
However, senior Pakistani officials said more than 300 million pounds given in aid has yet to be handed over to the country’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority.
Telegraph cited a senior ERRA official as saying that they were told in March 2009 that 90 million pounds was being diverted from their budget to other government projects.
“When we have the money we will pay you,” officials told ERRA directors. In June again their budget was cut from 43 billion rupees to just 10 billion.
The diversion of money has come in for strong condemnation by the Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif [ Images ], who said, “There’s reluctance, even people in this country even people in this country are not giving generously into this flood fund because they’re not too sure the money will be spent honestly.”
The paper said it had surveyed Balakot town, one of the worst affected in 2005 earthquake where 25,000 people died and the people were told that their township would be rebuilt.
“But despite promises that the new town would be completed by last month, not a single road has been completed nor building construction began on the site of new Balakot,” The Telegraph said.
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