Pakistan flood crisis raises fears of country's collapse

[babylonsister]

:scared:

Pakistan flood crisis raises fears of country's collapse

By Saeed Shah and Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers



ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The humanitarian and economic disaster caused by the worst floods in Pakistan's history could spark political unrest that could destabilize the government, dealing a major blow to the Obama administration's efforts to fight violent Islamic extremism.

The government's shambling response to floods that have affected a third of the country has some analysts saying that President Asif Ali Zardari could be forced from office, possibly by the military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half its 63-year history.

Other experts caution that the state itself could collapse, as hunger and destitution trigger explosions of popular anger that was already seething over massive unemployment, high fuel prices, widespread power outages, corruption, and a bloody insurgency by extremists allied with al Qaida.

"The powers that be, that is the military and bureaucratic establishment, are mulling the formation of a national government, with or without the PPP (Zardari's ruling Pakistan Peoples Party)," said Najam Sethi, the editor of the weekly Friday Times. "I know this is definitely being discussed.

"There is a perception in the army that you need good governance to get out of the economic crisis and there is no good governance," he said.

The Obama administration stepped up emergency aid this week to $76 million, anxious to counter the influence of Islamic extremist groups that are feeding and housing victims through charitable front organizations in areas the government hasn't reached.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/13/99180/pakistan-flood-crisis-raises-fears.html

[Turborama]

1. K&R But someone had unrec'd it so it's still at 0

:wtf:

BTW I posted this in LBN, too.

[babylonsister]

2. I give up. Why would someone unrec this? Does that mean

they want Pakistan to fail or are for their success, or did I forget my deodorant?

I find this story pretty scary for it's possible ramifications.

[Turborama]

3. I honestly can't comprehend why someone would unrec it

The possible ramifications are very disturbing. As I've said before to Sabrina in http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4498952">this thread, this is the worst humanitarian disaster I think I've ever witnessed and the repercussions are going to be worse than we can imagine if the required assistance isn't given.

I truly believe we are now witnessing the beginnings of the monumental "Climate Refugee" crisis Al Gore warned about in his "Inconvenient Truth" presentation.

Also, There is a monumental humanitarian crisis going on there, Pakistan's government cannot respond adequately and the Taliban et al are currently trying to fill the void.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Why I concluded a while ago that there must be

a group of folks who either have nothing better to do... or are running scripts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. In the geo-strategic place that is foreign policy

this could be really bad news.

Yes, the absolute worst case is a few loose nukes in the wrong hands. And no that is not fear... that is the absolute worst case. Best case the military takes over AGAIN and drops the gauntlet. What do they say about living in interesting times?

Oh and in a world with global change this will happen more and more often. No, not Pakistan, massive floods... and disasters can have ahem...unexpected results.

[babylonsister]

6. Exactly! Those nukes could absolutely wind up in the wrong

hands. This is worrisome.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Now I am not saying this is the the best option

but call this a sneaky, a few Seal Teams are going on alert.

[Odin2005]

9. That possibility has frightened me for a while now.

Imagine some lunatics getting control of the nukes and launching them at India.

[OhioChick]

8. K&R n/t

[Odin2005]

10. This is so awful.

:(