Rawal Pindi, Pakistan

[BigV]

Touche'!

I LOVE a good pun. That is, if a good pun actually exists, I would love it. Until such a discovery is made, the worse the better!

[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.

[Dr Kashif ahmed butt]

Hi there...

I am Dr. Kashif ahmed... its bit interesting to see how this thread developed into quake information .. i am at Pindi right now and its RAINING here.. Rain at pindi means unbearable weather at Kashmir the Quake area.. The snow must be setting in soon in few weeks and Land slides will increase as well.

i went to the worst striken areas of BAGH and Muzaffarabd myself through road. It was horrible to be there. Deadbodies on the grounds ..no tools to dig and bury them and smell was very bad. We took the first truck to BAGH as food n clothes relief with medicines thanks to Slang..but the people were desparate for such supplies and their patience broke up and they jumped all over the truck and looted it. Useless to stop them as a hungry man thinks with stomach not with brain.

Lights were out.. water system was broken but there are streams there alot i nhills..cold weather it rained while we were there...and we were shivering with cold blazes...so think of kids on the gournd and hills without food n home.. we were looted to nothing and we had to return later nite to pindi to get the new relief truck... next truck we sent it to BAGH was looted on the road.. it happend as One man jumped infront of the truck on road and we had to stop truck ..many ppl came down from sides of roads and put big stones infront and back of truck wheels so it couldnt move and them jumped onto truck to loot it..IT has TENTS in it,the most precious thing for people at this moment in kashmir..

as we returned for another trip we got 6 truck with food supplies and blanket n clothes ..thats 27 hours back..we reached Kohala the area from where roads start for BAGH but land slides had blocked the roads again..so we had to move on to ARMY camp Muzaffarabad there. As we were on the way we saw many people PICKING their choice off the clothes given to them ...these are the people who are not the one who deserve relief now..BADLY striken people still need to be accessed..after reachign Muzaffarabad we talked to the army in chief there ...

HE told us that FOOD Is ENUFF now.. what is needed is Camps,,tents..blanket n clothes.. as we heard the shocking news of a village 3 storey school nearby was approached and deadbodies of 600 girls was found in the rubble... its one example of the many schools which has been damaged.. its clearly evident that One WHOLE single GENERATION of the KASHMIRI people has Died in this natural disaster..

AS to how other aid is coming and helping when asked, army personnnel told that helos are the only air help at this moment .. and over 30 helos are there to help ..mostly Pak and US helos.. I saw myself many US helos flying in n out of base camp there..

one thing I would like to clearify is that Please DO NOT SEND GOODS rather kindly send cash as GOODS have to be stored and security has to put onto them for that matter as well. That eats up resources ..It is now SEARCH and RELIEF time.. rescue time is over almost. it is time to rehabilitation.. we need money to organize things..by sending good one cannot hav felxibility to organize things. buying instrucment or wheelchairs for broken n ijred homes or education expense or clothes..decisions can be made with money not with Good in the back yard. So any1 who is willing to help out It is requested to kindly donate money instead of Goods...i have delivered what ever donation i recieved as needed by people according to time..So either i or slang can be contacted for further donations which i can convey to people inlife n death situation there..

The worst is the psychological terror for the alive ppl there.. those who are dead are dead but those who are alive got painful memories..Your help n donation can heal part of these memories though not all. we need medical supplies urgently at hospitals which cost alot here..So help doctors out on this.

LET ME HELP YOU,..LET ME HELP THEM and LET THEM HELP THEMSELVES

PLEASE DONATE.

Dr. Kashif ahmed
Mobile: 0333 5212206
Rawalpindi
www.pindiplus.com