Rawal Pindi, Pakistan

[xoxoxoBruce]

From the Wed, Oct 13th Stars & Stripes, Mid East Edition;

American military aircraft based in Afghanistan have provided more than 100,000 pounds of relief supplies in two days of missions to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.
Eight Army helicopter crews deployed from Germany and at least two Air Force C-17 transport planes have been ferrying food, water, medicine and blankets from Bagram Air Base to a Pakistani military airfield since Monday.
Five CH-47 Chinooks from the Giebelstadt-based 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment and three UH-60 Black Hawks from Illesheim’s 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment are flying the missions, officials have said.
In total, the United States expects to send at least 25 to 30 helicopters to Pakistan to assist with earthquake relief efforts, said Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita.

Other C-17s with more support and equipment were scheduled to arrive Tuesday. DiRita said some of the additional helicopters would come from Afghanistan and Bahrain, but military officials said the earthquake recovery efforts would have no impact on current combat operations.

Well, thank heavens for that.

[busterb]

Wonder which war lords or what ever they call them, are taking over the supplies? For resale. Hey send Big Box Mart.

[slang]

Originally Posted by busterb

Wonder which war lords or what ever they call them, are taking over the supplies? For resale.

This is something of great concern to me and I could easily see that being the reality there.

There are fifteen or so people from Pak that I am in regular e-mail or instant messenger contact with. Many of these people are with the Elite Police Force, a few are business owners in Pindi, a few are students, and one medical doctor, Kashif Ahmed ( the creator of the pindiplus website ). Many of these people I have met face to face as well and are very credible.

Some of these people are in a position to know for fact what's going on inside the relief effort from actual on the ground at the scene experience. Others are close to those that are directly involved with those in the relief effort, having either friends or relatives working there.

These people have also consistently communicated both good and bad reports on events that have happend there long before the quake. They do not always have pleasant things to report (from an American perspecive) but are always factual and polite in wording those things that are not exactly what I would like to hear from them.

In the first 48 hours after the quake, there were many people there disappointed with the aid being sent, since the US only offered $100k immediately following the disaster and it was not known what the extent of the damage was. Since then the amount of aid has increased and that criticism has disappeard. Many of my friends have also seen the supplies coming in from all over the world, much of that from the US, as well as the US military helos.

I've not recieved one single report of anyone there stealing supplies for sale or personal gain. Instead there has been looting of supply trucks in transit that have been forced to stop due to blocked or unpassable roads. This is not anything that I personally am concerned with though as the supplies are not LCD wide screen TVs and PCs. Any items that I have seen on clips (from those on the ground, not news crews) that have been looted were from those in desparate need and the looted items were only the most basic items needed for their survival, basic foods, simple clothing, and blankets.

The portion of the picture that is being shown back to me here is surely just a micro view of what's going on there but I want to be clear to those that do not know Pak nationals personally nor have regular contact, that this relief effort is not "arming or supplying" enemies of the US and that those items sent are truly appreciated and used for relief.

Rest assured that eventually there will be reports in the news otherwise, but for now I am completely confident that those items sent for the victims are being received and put to immediate use by the victims of the quake.

The helos have been used for transpot of critical supplies and medical personel to the scene. The roads have been impassable and regular flights have been scheduled to and from Isb, Pindi, and Lahore to swap out doctors.

When I get more info I'll post it. Until then you can check www.pindiplus.com for updates.