Posted on 08/19/2010 6:31:25 AM PDT by James C. Bennett
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has urged Pakistan to accept India's aid offer even as hardline Islamist elements in the flood-ravaged country have begun a vicious campaign to blame India, the United States, and Afghanistan for the calamity, a charge Washington has simply dismissed.
Amid mounting international attention and concern for Pakistan's future in the face of the tragedy, US officials on Wednesday called on Islamabad to abjure politics and accept India's help, including an initial $ 5 million offer it has sat on saying it is under consideration, even as it is begging for international aid.
"I think the priority is to use offers of assistance to help the Pakistani people, so we would encourage Government of Pakistan to accept that (Indian) offer," Frank Ruggiero, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday. Separately, state department spokesman P J Crowley said, "In terms of responding to a disaster, politics should play no role. You have a country (India) that's willing to help (Pakistan), and...we expect that Pakistan will accept."
Their remarks came amid a rash of reports in the Pakistani media blaming India, principally, for the massive floods, purportedly because New Delhi had deliberately diverted waters from dams in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and from the ones it "controlled in Afghanistan”. Some reports also charged that US was manipulating weather patterns over Pakistan. US officials dismissed the idea with incredulity.
"So it was the United States and India that conspired to have the monsoons come to Pakistan? I don't find that credible," Crowley said in response to a question about such reports in sections of the Pakistani media considered close to hard-line elements in its intelligence agencies and jihadists.
The inflammatory reports in a country that's been dubbed "Paranoidistan" surfaced even as Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in an interview to ABC, endorsed a purported ISI report last week that home-grown extremism and not India constituted a primary security threat to the country.
The new line, which if genuine would reverse 63 years of regarding India as the primary threat, is ostensibly aimed at extracting more aid from the US and the international community, which have repeatedly advised Islamabad to give up its India fixation, and have been reluctant to open their purse strings because of, among other things, Pakistan's hardline policies towards India.
Pakistan's recalibration, amid unabated floods and fears of extremists getting ahead of the government in providing relief, is already starting to show results. The US has increased its aid to nearly $100 million, the World Bank has sanctioned a loan of $ 900 million, and various western and Gulf/Arab countries have also bumped up their initial modest contribution to help out Pakistan from being completely washed up.
On Thursday (Friday IST), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead the move to galvanize world attention and ramped up aid by delivering remarks at a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the humanitarian situation resulting from the floods in Pakistan. She is expected to announce a further increase in US commitment.
Has Pakistan officially blamed these floods on yet another “zionist jooish conspiracy.”
LOL!
Nancy Peloony needs to launch an investigation on the funding of these floods!
Flooding causes in Pakistan:
1) jooooos
2) GLOBAL WARMING
3) World wealth not spread evenly enough
4) CIA secretly ‘blew up ‘ levees
5) Karl Rove weather machine
I usually send 50-100$ when these dissasters strike but, I’m not giving one red dime to Pakistan. For starters, they hate the US, hate the idea of human rights, and have a paranoid and harsh political culture. And, somewhere in that country is hiding a man by the name of Osma Bin Laden. Pakistan has an on-going war with India which is silly on the face of it. Kashmir is Indian territory!! Why are Muslims always so offended and angry anyway. Don’t they ever watch soccer and just play with their kids? To me Muslims are like that angry bully on the school ground. at best they freak you out and at worst they are picking a fight.
Basically, Pakistan is another Muslim country that’s just out of control and out of touch with how decent men and women treat each other in the modern world. They can go ask their buddies in Iran for some help!! I know an enemy of freedom and human rights when I see one.
Then the rest of the world whom they blame should step back and let them drown; the world will be a safer, more civilized place.
FUBO
Allah’s will.
I blame NASA!
Same here. There is no way telling how the money would be used. More than even odds the money would eventually end up in the hands of someone you would not want to have it.
You missed the only Islamically acceptable reason..... it is the will of Allah
And we set such a good example accepting aid after our oil spill.
It is fundamental to Islam that ANY territory that has every been under Muslim rule, MUST be restored to Muslim rule. Pakistan can no more make permanent peace with India than the mideast Arabs can make permanent peace with Israel.
ALAS!! We taxpayers are already sending aid whether we wish to or not!!!
Regards
We should say "yeah, we are responsible for the floods and earthquakes and if you keep giving us grief we are going to use our wojo satellite rays to make your peckers disappear and turn you into women."
LOL The premise of your idea is sound. Instead of denying anything to do with they’re problems, take credit for it and claim supernatural powers are quite common in America, so they better watch out!
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