Kerry urges Pakistan relief to be modeled on post-2005 quake effort

Friday, June 05, 2009 WASHINGTON: The humanitarian crisis involving millions of displaced people of Swat and adjacent valleys is getting worse every day and it is critical that the government of Pakistan and the Obama Administration undertake immediate joint relief operations modeled on the successful efforts following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, U.S. Senator John Kerry said.The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggested that the U.S. commit military assets, such as Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, combat engineers and uniformed medical personnel that the Pakistani government needs to facilitate these efforts without further delay. Kerry underscored the emergency for aid and said the two and three million displaced civilians need to have access to adequate shelter, food or medical care. “In a few weeks, the summer monsoons will turn ramshackle camps into fetid swamps, incubators for a host of preventable epidemics. History has already taught us that poorly-resourced refugee communities are prime breeding grounds for extremist movements.” He recalled that the Taliban itself had its genesis in the Afghan refugee community during the 1980s and 1990s. “We don’t need to repeat that disaster when instead we can show America’s true commitment to the Pakistani people.”