After the Flood, A Stream of Radical Islamists

[fatman17]

After the Flood, A Stream of Radical Islamists

By Reza Jan

Originally published in The American

August 10, 2010


Graphic available at American.com

Pakistan’s historic flooding has undone months of intense counterinsurgency efforts and allowed militant Islamist groups to burnish their image.


Pakistanis could be forgiven for thinking they are jinxed while their country endures one tragedy after another. Just days after an air crash killed 152 in Islamabad in the worst accident in Pakistan’s aviation history, severe flooding inundated large swaths of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, formerly the North West Frontier Province. The flooding, beyond human and material damage, has undone months of intense counterinsurgency efforts and allowed militant Islamist groups to burnish their image as the providers of humanitarian aid.

The flooding is the worst in Pakistan’s history and the worst the region has seen in more than 80 years. The UN now says the flooding has eclipsed the scale of devastation seen during the 2004 tsunami and the earthquakes that hit Pakistan in 2005 and Haiti in 2010. Over 1,600 people have died thus far, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 1.5 million people have been displaced and more than 13.8 million people have been affected by the rising waters. Whole villages remain under water, and the torrential downpour continues to hamper ongoing rescue efforts.

Swat, one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding, suffered more than two years of Taliban domination before the Pakistani army launched an offensive there in May 2009. Since then, Swat has been slowly reacquainting itself with peace. The severe flooding has, however, undone much of the reconstruction and economic rehabilitation effort. Crops have been inundated, livestock killed, homes and businesses submerged, and many of the district’s oldest and most famous hotels—a crucial part of the tourism industry that is the district’s lifeblood—have been washed away.

The flooding risks undoing much of the counterinsurgency campaign in Swat. Following last year’s operation, the military began rebuilding much of the district’s transportation infrastructure that had been destroyed during the course of the offensive. The floodwaters have, however, severely damaged roads and washed away virtually every bridge in the district. The breakdown in the road network has meant that much of the rescue effort has been forced to rely on airlift.

The army’s reconstruction projects helped gain the trust of local Swatis. The enduring security, underwritten by a large military presence, allowed a return to normalcy that had escaped the region for years. Yet the poverty and hardship brought by the flooding and disaffection with the government’s slow response to the crisis risks allowing the Taliban to once again gain a foothold.

Anti-government protests have broken out in some areas. Food and supplies have been slow to reach the displaced, and aid trucks have sometimes been ransacked. Prices for key commodities have, in some places, tripled, and crop and farmland destruction has been widespread. Following some of its worst wheat shortages, Pakistan last year saw a bumper wheat crop. The government did little to improve its storage capacity, and enormous quantities of unsold wheat are said to have rotted by the side of the road.

Groups such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) have stepped into the vacuum to provide relief aid and social services to those affected by the flooding. JuD has already established 13 relief camps in surrounding districts, providing food to the displaced and running an ambulance service. JuD now says it has 2,000 members working in the region. The group claims to be involved solely in charitable work but is widely believed to be a front for the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack. JuD gained renown after the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, when it was one of the only groups operating an effective aid and relief service in the affected region, often eclipsing the government’s own efforts and providing help to areas that the authorities sometimes took days or weeks just to reach.

As long as government incompetency and inadequacy continues to hamper the relief effort, it will be impossible to deny groups like JuD the space to operate. By working effectively during times of severe need, groups like JuD, much like Hezbollah, are able to burnish their image as charitable organizations and extend their networks of grassroots support. While doing real good, however, they are also providing a front for the more insidious and violent activities of their militant wings.

Pakistan’s floods have assaulted a nation already in mourning and increased the hardships for people who have seen little peace over the last few years. An inadequate government response to the crisis has caused outrage and allowed groups with terrorist ties to increase their support. The destruction has caused major reversals in the Swat counterinsurgency effort that was beginning to show signs of real success. Recovering and rebuilding after a setback like this will be a real opportunity to display true capacity for governance. One can only hope it is the government that fills those shoes.



Reza Jan was recently in the Swat Valley conducting research on the Taliban insurgency in northwest Pakistan. He is the Pakistan Team Lead at AEI’s Critical Threats Project

 

[muse]

Once again the sleeping state - the state that belongs to the political elite and their bureaucrat underlings has failed to behave as a state should - thereby ONCE AGAIN, allowing space for others to come and do what the state should be doing. The people just want to be helped, they don't care where they get the help from.

While the armed forces do all the heavy lifting, from donating their salaries, to fighting terrorists, to doing relief work, our "democractic" political elite pass their time in Europe on chartered jets or engage in the sport of killing of political opponents. So you say you want "democracy", eh? How do you like it so far?, what has it delivered to you, exactly? What will it deliver other than more of the same when Nawaz is Primier?

 

[GentlemanObserver]

Welcome to Demo-Crazy!

 

[Aamir Hussain]

Flooding's Devastation in Pakistan is Seen as Opportunity for Taliban



The Washington Post

By Griff Witte

August 9, 2010


The slow-motion disaster underway in Pakistan as floodwaters seep into virtually every corner of the nation has devastated basic infrastructure and could open the door to a Taliban resurgence, officials here say.



The emerging landscape in areas where the water has receded is one in which bridges, roads, schools, health clinics, power facilities and sewage systems have been ruined or seriously damaged. With swollen rivers still churning south, the destruction is spreading by the hour.



On a visit to a newly flooded area in Pakistan's south on Sunday, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said the overall impact of the flooding now tops that from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake -- a view echoed by international aid officials.



Although the quake killed far more people -- at least 73,000, compared with the 1,600 who have died in the floods -- Gillani called the scale of physical damage "beyond imagination. . . . Our country has gone back several years."



Pakistan can ill afford that kind of regression as it battles a vicious insurgency that capitalizes on the government's failure to provide basic services.



Over the past year, Pakistan's army has succeeded in driving Taliban fighters out of key sanctuaries in South Waziristan and the Swat Valley. But the damage from the floods could jeopardize those gains, officials acknowledged, unless infrastructure is quickly rebuilt -- an undertaking that will cost billions of dollars and will probably take years.



Swat, one of the worst-affected areas, is a prime example.



Although the valley was once known for its moderate public attitudes and picture-perfect mountain views, militants were able to take over in recent years by capitalizing on residents' hostility toward a government that often seemed distant and indifferent.



Last summer, the army took the valley back with a major offensive, and it launched a series of public works projects intended to repair the damage. The efforts were starting to pay off: Just last month, residents celebrated traditional agricultural festivals without fear of violence, and tourists packed newly reopened hotels.



But on July 28, the floods hit. Army officials say that every major bridge in the valley was destroyed, and aerial photographs of the region show that rivers have been diverted -- perhaps permanently -- down the center of once-thriving bazaars.



"It will take us months just to get the electricity back in Swat. For now, people are living in darkness," said Rahim Dad Khan, the planning minister for northwestern Pakistan.



Khan said all plans for development in the northwest have been canceled and the money diverted to reconstruction. "We thought we would build roads, hospitals and schools. But now, everything we were planning is ruined," he said.



Army officials said that they are aware the Taliban could try to seize the opportunity but that they will not let that happen.



"We have not let down our guard. The safeguards are still in place," said Brig. Gen. Tippu Karim, who is overseeing relief efforts for Swat and other northwestern areas.



Karim said reconstruction will be the top priority as soon as Pakistan can get past the immediate challenge of rescuing stranded residents and providing them with food and shelter.



But even that has proved a monumental challenge, and by the account of flood victims, the government has failed. At the provincial disaster management office, beleaguered staff members admitted that they lack the necessary resources. More than 15 million people nationwide have been affected by the floods, according to government estimates, and a majority are in the northwest.



"We never imagined this scale of disaster, so we were not prepared," said Asif Ali, the province's relief director. Even when the scope of the crisis became clear, he said, "each district was cut off from the others. The communications networks were jammed. So the government machinery was paralyzed."



Relief is stymied



The continuing rains have not helped, thwarting efforts to reach some of the most isolated victims.



The U.S. military has sent six helicopters, 91 troops and hundreds of thousands of meals from neighboring Afghanistan to help with relief efforts in Swat. But since Thursday, when the crews flew in supplies and evacuated hundreds of stranded residents, storms and overcast skies have kept the choppers grounded.



Frustrated pilots -- both Pakistani and American -- sipped tea and waited for the go-ahead to fly on Sunday at an air base in northern Pakistan. The presence of U.S. troops on the ground in Pakistan has the potential to kick up controversy, given the deep mistrust here of American motivations. But U.S. Maj. Daniel Rice, who is overseeing U.S. efforts, said the reaction so far to his troops' presence has been "smiles, waves and thumbs up."



That view is reflected by residents in the informal refugee camps that have sprung up in schools and public parks and along roadsides across the northwest. Those left homeless -- at least 1.5 million in the northwest alone -- said they will take help from anywhere they can get it.



Islamic charities, including ones that are known fronts for banned militant groups, have begun distributing assistance in some areas, as have Western nongovernmental organizations. But for the most part, residents said they are receiving no aid at all.



Stuck in the middle



In the median strip of the recently completed highway that links the northwest with the rest of Pakistan, thousands of displaced villagers have set up tents in the mud and tethered livestock to the guardrails.



From the strip, they can see what's left of their humble brick homes, which were inhabited only weeks ago but now resemble long-abandoned ruins. Above a sea of gray waters that have yet to drain away, the tips of their corn and sugar cane plants are also visible. Once a vibrant green, they are fast ******* to brown.



"All the local roads are destroyed. All the schools are destroyed. We never had any medical facilities," said Obaid ur-Rehman, 26, who was forced to relocate to the median strip.



The national highway authority has tried to shoo the residents away, wanting to maintain appearances along a roadway that is one of the most visible signs of modern Pakistani infrastructure. But residents said they say have nowhere to go because everywhere else is vulnerable to flooding.



"This is the basic reason for militancy: anger at the government," Rehman said. "If we had a place to live, if we had food, if we had schools, there would be no militancy in Pakistan."



Mohammed Riaz, a fellow median resident and a father of seven, said the only sign of government assistance he has seen in the 10 days since floodwaters destroyed his home came when a helicopter swooped low. From the side of the chopper, soldiers dropped packages of food. A mad scramble ensued. But the contents turned out to be rancid, and the government's gesture only added to the hostility.



"Some old biscuits were thrown from the helicopter," Riaz said. "But the people threw them back."

 

[GUNNER]

Once again the sleeping state - the state that belongs to the political elite and their bureaucrat underlings has failed to behave as a state should - thereby ONCE AGAIN, allowing space for others to come and do what the state should be doing. The people just want to be helped, they don't care where they get the help from.

While the armed forces do all the heavy lifting, from donating their salaries, to fighting terrorists, to doing relief work, our "democractic" political elite pass their time in Europe on chartered jets or engage in the sport of killing of political opponents. So you say you want "democracy", eh? How do you like it so far?, what has it delivered to you, exactly? What will it deliver other than more of the same when Nawaz is Primier?

Army is part of the state and is an instrument of the government.
I am not defending the performance of the current government but the same charities were also working in 2005 earthquake when Musharraf was in power.

It was the Army which did all the work then as well along with international agencies and NGOs. No one criticized the government. The politicians didn't do anything even then.

As far as democracy is concerned... Why the impatience friend.. The current dispensation proves it's inability or rather incompetence and so will others in time as you say... People will learn and mature .. !

 

[kursed]

Gunner - you're fighting a lost cause on a military forum. The fact that everyone from JeD to TNSM to TTP (Swat) to LeT were operating freely under Gen. (r) Pervaiz Musharraf's regime in quake hit areas of NWFP and Kashmir - is not remembered here.

 

[GUNNER]

Gunner - you're fighting a lost cause on a military forum.

Not a fight really..

Just expressing my views.

 

[Musafar]

This is a sad indictment on the Pakistan Government.

 

[KS]

Once again the sleeping state - the state that belongs to the political elite and their bureaucrat underlings has failed to behave as a state should - thereby ONCE AGAIN, allowing space for others to come and do what the state should be doing. The people just want to be helped, they don't care where they get the help from.

While the armed forces do all the heavy lifting, from donating their salaries, to fighting terrorists, to doing relief work, our "democractic" political elite pass their time in Europe on chartered jets or engage in the sport of killing of political opponents. So you say you want "democracy", eh? How do you like it so far?, what has it delivered to you, exactly? What will it deliver other than more of the same when Nawaz is Primier?

With all due respect,Democracy or Demo-Crazy as u ppl call it is not an one-night stand where u pay some money and get instant satifaction..rather it is an arranged marriage...the longer it gets,the sweeter it becomes.

Be patient..give it some time to ripen and the fruits of democracy will be too sweet to throw away at that time.

 

[thinkingcap81]

Support to radicalized groups in times of crisis is symptomatic of a larger malaise that affects the current state of affairs in Pakistan.

It is even more depressing when someone writes "Pakistanis could be forgiven for thinking they are jinxed while their country endures one tragedy after another. Just days after an air crash killed 152 in Islamabad in the worst accident in Pakistan’s aviation history, severe flooding inundated large swaths of...". As an Indian it is also rather uncomforting to hear support of the military.

An alternative form of governance masquerading and being supported as succour for a decent life is indeed not a desirable thing. I suppose that in certain Maoist infested areas of India such emotions may hold sway, but even Maoists may be totally helpless and state administration will have to intervene given such a scale of devastation.

There are also areas in India where the administration is apathetic - eg Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. But it is the state apparatus which holds sway in these regions; no other form of governance is given countenance.

Pakistan has a lot of work ahead. When one is at the nadir, then even a perturbation (in the overall scheme of things) causes a lot of worries and headaches. Good luck Pakistan !

 

[fatman17]

DAWN POLL

Has the government's response towards the flood situation been adequate?

Yes
(11&#37

No
(83%)

Don't know
(6%)

says it all

 

[PAFAce]

Humain gham hay hazaron doobtay masoom bechon ka
Humain ghum hay sisakty baaap say mehroom bechon ka
Humain sub dikh raha or hum kamoosh hain abb bhi
Humaray hukmaran Ehsaan faramoosh hain abb bhi
Yahan per gher nahi ruk paaya hay sailaab kay... aagay
wahan mehlon main mehfil sej rehi hay aap kay agay
ghareeb apni jama ponji luta betha yahan saari
kamaai jo bhi dolat thee baha betha yahan saari
kisi ki maan nahi milti koi betay ko dhoonday hay
wo ik sehmi hoi bechi jo der say ankhain mondhay hay
yahan ik baaap apni zindgi kandhon pay laaday hay
kay uski piyari bitiya ko kaheen pani na choo paay
yahan per yeh Qayamat hay wahan is Qoom kay Hakim
jub apnoon ko zaroorat hay wo bhaga chaar soo jaay
usay kia gham kay us ki saari duniya sath hay uskay
usay kia gham kay us ki apni bitiya saath hay uskay
- Farukh Ali Khan

That said, I'm getting tired of the attacks on the democratic system of government, particularly when that particular system was never really been installed correctly. We went from military dictatorship to monarchy, democracy never came into it.