It has all the makings of a farce and a tragedy. Monsoon rains in Pakistan have caused at least 1,500 deaths and have adversely effected between 12 and 14 million people. As approximately ten percent of the population struggled to survive without housing (ruined or destroyed) or adequate food and medical supplies from the disaster, their president, Asif Ali Zardari, left the country for his pre-scheduled diplomatic visit to London..
The image of Zardari, a Western-backed leader, sitting down with the new British head of state as his nation drowned underwater, may indeed be the greatest public relations gift to Al-Qaeda since the invasion of Iraq by American president George W. Bush. As Pakistan is the worldwide headquarters of Al-Qaeda, the fascist-Islamic group stands poised to gather new recruits in its backyard from a suffering and discontented population now in dire straits.
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Before this natural disaster, more than 1 million Pakistanis had already been displaced by the ongoing war against the Taliban. Much of the country is mired in poverty. In the absence of food, security and hope, the potential for a wholesale radicalization of the populace and a subsequent revolution only increases.
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After the tremendous outpouring of financial and technological support promised to Haiti by governments, non-profits and people around the world a few months ago since their horrific earthquake, the crisis in Pakistan cannot afford to be met with anything less in aid or attention. Political leaders, especially Middle Eastern and South Asian heads of state (i.e. Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE etc.) must immediately rally their governments and citizens to lead in the rebuilding of Pakistan.
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As Pakistan has nuclear capability, nothing less than the future of the region and the world are at stake, and it is time for the world to respond to the events in Pakistan in kind.
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(Photo: Pakistani women after the flood)
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J Roquen