Opportunities squandered

Following up on an earlier post -- and on something Dibgy wrote about with far more eloquence -- if we really wanted to win the war of ideas, or hearts and minds, or whatever, how could we have missed the opportunity to help the people of Pakistan?

MIRA TANOLIAN, Pakistan - Shivering with cold and beating the snow off their fragile tents with sticks, earthquake survivors struggled yesterday to keep their children warm as the bitter winter hit Kashmir, grounding helicopter aid flights and blocking roads for the second straight day.
"The children are falling sick. We were told we would get additional blankets but they still haven't come," said a mother of five, Nasima Bibi, 45.

The region was devastated by an Oct. 8 temblor that killed more than 80,000 people and left 3.5 million homeless.

Children huddled around a fire yesterday in one camp's communal kitchen, set up in a destroyed house where food was being prepared in a big tureen. Residents said they need warmer clothes as well as tarpaulins to insulate and waterproof their tents.

"The weather is too cold and the snow is still falling," said Ghazala, a camp resident who uses one name. "These tents are not strong enough. We are in big trouble."

For the second straight day, helicopters from the UN, foreign militaries and the Pakistani Army were not able to deliver provisions in the quake zone because of poor visibility, said army Maj. Farooq Nasir.

Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. Not just criminals, but criminally stupid as well. Our foremost "ally in the war on terror," as Bush reminds us again and again, and we are unable to lift a finger to help. Something tells me the madrasas will fill the void our government's lack of initiative has left.

Similarly, with Darfur, preznit made a great show a couple of years ago about stopping the genocide in Darfur -- an action the would be a political winner with both the liberal left and Christian conservative right -- and yet, in the end, nothing but empty promises. Or rather, something worse than empty promises.

Two years ago, the US accused Khartoum of genocide. These days, the emphasis is on co-operation. It is not known if Sudan was a centre for the rendition of al Qaeda suspects, but the Economist claims that the CIA is building a listening post on the outskirts of Khartoum to monitor events in the Horn of Africa.