Pakistani army gains stature helping flood victimsThe government's response was slow in the beginning and the President was in Europe and did not return immediately leading to anger in Pakistan. But the army has been there from the beginning.
While there is no doubt that this was necessary and if they had not been there, many people would be dead or still stranded, the U.S. wants the civilian government 'to reign in the military' fearful of a return to military rule in Pakistan since the military has been thought to have ties to extremist groups.
I'm afraid that the magnitude of this disaster is going to change all the rules, and I doubt that the Government, even it wanted to, could or should reign in the only means of rescuing people.
The sheer magnitude of the disaster would have tested any government. However, the Pakistani government's failures -- as well as the absence of President Asif Ali Zardari, who was in Britain and France as the catastrophe unfolded -- have contrasted with the military's ability to deliver assistance, with the army rescuing more than 100,000 people.
Washington is banking on Pakistan's civilian leadership to rein in the military, which is alleged to support some Islamic extremist groups, including the Afghan Taliban. British Prime Minister David Cameron recently accused Pakistan of the "export of terror."
Washington of course has its own interests to worry about. All of the supplies for the Afghanistan war come through Pakistan and a Military takeover might put a stop to that. But from the Pakistani Government's perspective, what does Washington expect them to do? To 'reign in' the military and leave people with even less assistance, would surely topple the government even faster.
Sounds like a stupid request quite frankly, if true. Which it may not be.
There are also news stories of the U.S. military cooperating now with the Pakistani military for relief efforts which seems like a far better way to handle it if possible.
Army rescues 3,000 flood victims, delivers tons of supplies in PakistanNagata said he expects the focus of the Marine element will be the same as the Army focus: providing relief to Pakistanis in the Swat River Valley. He said he expects U.S. military presence in the region to continue as long as it is desired by the Pakistani government.
"We will be here so long as the government of Pakistan requests and requires our assistance," he said. "Everything we do, both the locations we operate from, the access we are given to fly, the landing zones that are designated for our support operations -- all these things are requested, provided by, designated by the appropriate authorities here in the military and the government of Pakistan."
Challenges in Pakistan now include continuing bad weather, Nagata said, which have reduced flying days for American pilots by as much as 50 percent. Also, he said waterborne disease remains a challenge for Pakistanis -- though U.S. military personnel have remained unaffected by those same illnesses.
What's not been a problem for the Army during relief operations in Pakistan are security threats from the Taliban, Nagata said.
"The Pakistani military, ever since we stood up this task force, have done simply an incredibly energetic job and totally committed job at providing multiple layers of security around our activities both in the air and on the ground," he said. "Frankly we have seen no evidence of a threat so far -- we are not looking for it."
The biggest challenge, Nagata said, is facing what nature has wrought on Pakistan.
So it looks like the U.S. military are working in cooperation with the Pakistani military and the U.S. General has highly praised the Pakistani military for all it has done so far.
Maybe it's time to deal with the disaster and realize that everyone on every side of this has much to lose if the country becomes completely unstable and for now, simply work together to save lives which the above article seems to suggest is what is happening.
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