Pakistan, one of the world’s most populous nations, has been struck by almost unprecedented flooding, but its government has proved unable to provide even basic assistance to many of the estimated 20 million people left homeless or destitute by the on-going natural disaster. The situation, by any measure, is a humanitarian catastrophe.
The result is both predictable and dangerous. Pakistanis – those directly affected as well as those watching aghast from places of safety as events unfold – are increasingly critical of the nation’s already shaky political leadership. As a consequence, the United States and other nations with strategic interests in the region rightly are concerned about the short and long-term viability and reliability of a nuclear-armed government that is a major ally in the war in Afghanistan.
The situation is horrific. About one-fifth of Pakistan’s land mass and perhaps an eighth of its population are touched by the flooding. Potable water is scarce; so are food and medicine. Cholera and dysentery are on the rise. Infrastructure has been destroyed. The situation likely will worsen. Meteorologists say additional rainfall, some heavy, is likely in the hardest-hit areas.
Relief efforts, to be sure, have been hampered by the sheer scope of the disaster, but government inefficiency has played a role, too. Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s president, seemingly paid little attention to the crisis as it mounted. He left the country for an international tour. No wonder most Pakistanis are resentful of the government. Indeed, the only Pakistani institution that has proved its mettle in the crisis is the army, which continues to rescue the stranded and to deliver supplies. It can’t meet all needs, though.
U.S. military helicopters have provided aid, too, winning friends in locales where such friendship has been rare. One other group is gaining adherents in the hard-hit areas. The Taliban, according to respected sources, is providing sustenance and shelter to those in need. Its presence is useful from a humanitarian standpoint. It is inimical, however, to the strategic and diplomatic interests of the United States and its allies.
The quickest antidote to additional Taliban or extremist incursion in the area is the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to the region from other sources. The United Nations is mounting a nearly half-billion dollar relief fund campaign for Pakistan. Less than half of the amount has been pledged. The United States has responded generously, but it can not bear the entire cost of an effort that will cost hundreds of millions to provide food, water, medicine, shelter and seed for new crops in the short term and billions more in coming years to rebuild a compromised infrastructure.
The massive flooding exposes major frailties in Pakistan and in the complex ties that make that country an integral part of the U.S. war effort. Response to the natural disaster, in effect, is another test of U.S. influence in the region. The U.S. cannot afford to fail it.