Pakistan

[Pondlife]

The British Red Cross?

Based on the statements above they won't be able scrape the airfare together.

[TimberWolf]

Based on the statements above they won't be able scrape the airfare together.

Sounds like a suicide mission. I wouldn't fancy going out there wearing clothes with a big red cross on them.

[Pondlife]

Sounds like a suicide mission. I wouldn't fancy going out there wearing clothes with a big red cross on them.

Good point. It'll just look like another crusade.

[Spacecadet]

Surely the Red Crescent would be out there not the Red Cross

[TimberWolf]

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement is now planning a fivefold increase in its response to Pakistan’s monsoon "superflood", and is appealing to international donors to support a recovery programme likely to extend to 2012.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

[Clippy]

They've never quite been as good since Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir stopped playing.

But yes, it's all bloody unfair on a lot of innocent people. I've done my pathetic little bit by handing over a couple of notes to an appeal, but I rather fear that some people see the word 'muslim' and semi-deliberately miss the concept of 'human being'.

Thumbs up for saying it as it is Mitch.

Pakistan has been abused by its leaders for decades and until they move away from a military government, they will never realise their full potential.

They are in a similar situation to countries such as Israel and America in that they are governed by fear of threats (perceived and/or real) from their neighbours and/or terrorists which results in the majority of spending, in Pakistans case most of it from aid, going towards the military.

And who suffers in all of this - the poor Pakistanis!

BTW, preferred Javed Miandad as he was always up for a bit of argy bargy on the pitch as well as being a great batsman.

[d000hg]

No, it's because it's not instant death.

We respond to instant killings along the lines of earthquakes and tsunamis as they provide nice clear tabloid headlines. Slow lingering deaths don't sell papers and don't get the same level of aid.

Pakistan is in a very volatile part of the world and right now might just be a good time to get them on our side. We should be at the forefront of aid it's in our own interests to do so.

Massive floods and landslides make decent TV though, Katrina got the attention of the world.

[wobbegong]

Considering Western countries are all flat broke at the moment, why don't their (comparatively) richer fellow muslims in Saudi, the Emirates, and North Africa step up to the plate for once?

<Scenes you never see>
"It's all right guys, you US\Europeans\UN chaps got the last one, we know you're a bit strapped for cash at the moment so put your wallets away, this round's ours."
<\Scenes you never see>

[NotAllThere]

We send aid workers over there and they keep killing them.

That was Afghanistan.

Quite a lot was given to Pakistan when there was a big earthquake there a few years ago.

[EternalOptimist]

Why aren't people giving ?
When I saw the title of this thread my first thought wasnt about the flood, I thought 'oh no, what have they done now?'

I wonder what help the Chinese and the Indians are sending ?