U.S. builds goodwill with quick assistance in Pakistani flooding

The rescue effort represents the most visible element of a broader, $55 million U.S. assistance package following Pakistan's worst-ever natural disaster. While the ultimate impact on Pakistani public opinion is unknown, the United States has earned rare and almost universal praise here for acting quickly to speed aid to those hit hardest.

The Pakistanis rescued Wednesday were among more than 2,700 picked up over the past week by six U.S. choppers that have also delivered bags of flour and biscuits to stranded residents of the flood-ravaged Swat Valley, in the country's northwest.

"The American assistance has been considerable, it has been prompt and it has been effective," said Tanvir Ahmad Khan, a former Pakistani foreign secretary and now chairman of the Islamabad-based Institute of Strategic Studies. "The sheer visibility of American personnel and helicopters working in the field gives a feeling of very welcome assistance from the United States."

Most analysts say that feeling is unlikely to translate into any immediate improvement in underlying Pakistani attitudes toward the United States. The two nations have been allies in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but the relationship is marked by deep mistrust and a widespread belief among Pakistanis that the United States has ulterior motives for its war in neighboring Afghanistan. The word "America" is often pronounced here as an epithet, and accompanied by a litany of decades-old grievances. In a survey released by the Pew Research Center last month, nearly six in 10 Pakistanis described the United States as an enemy.

Still, the floods have presented U.S. policymakers with an unusual chance to generate goodwill while providing a much-needed humanitarian service. The floods have affected 14 million people across Pakistan, and the United Nations said Wednesday that nearly half a billion dollars is urgently needed to keep the death toll from soaring past the current 1,600. International aid has so far been inadequate, it said, at less than $100 million.

The United States is not the only player here seeing an opportunity to enhance its image. Islamic charities -- some with links to banned militant groups -- have also moved quickly to plug the gap left by the Pakistani government's inability to meet flood victims' basic needs. In traffic circles across northwestern Pakistan, a charity widely believed to be a front for the outlawed group Lashkar-i-Taiba has set up tents advertising the availability of food and shelter to anyone who needs it.

The Pakistani Taliban, too, has said that it will help victims -- on the condition that the Pakistani government stop accepting assistance from the United States.

Rather than shun the aid, Pakistan has asked for more, requesting dozens of additional helicopters from the United States. So far, U.S. officials have been reluctant to substantially increase the number, saying the choppers are badly needed for combat missions in Afghanistan.

The helicopters and the accompanying 90 U.S. troops who have been supplying aid in Swat are on loan from the war across the border. The United States is likely to soon replace them with choppers and crews from the USS Peleliu, though it is unclear whether the total number of helicopters will significantly rise.

The U.S. military deployed dozens of helicopters after the 2005 earthquake in the Pakistani region of Kashmir, and their presence earned the United States a temporary jump in popularity. This time, the damage reaches into every corner of the country and is expanding by the hour.

The helicopter missions are focused in one small area -- the Swat Valley -- but it is a strategically important region that also happens to be one of the hardest hit. Just over a year ago, Swat was controlled by Taliban militants, and it took a major offensive by the Pakistani army to drive them the group out. The government had begun to rebuild Swat after the heavy fighting, but the floods have set back those efforts by years, officials say.

Swat's hillsides are a dazzling emerald green, with terraced fields of wheat and fruit orchards adorning the peaks that have earned the area a reputation as the Switzerland of Asia. But on the valley floor, the muddy waters of the Swat River run wild, coursing through roads, towns and anything else in their path.


Thousands of Swat residents have been cut off for two weeks, and with food stocks running low, they are eager to get out.

When two Chinooks landed in an open field Wednesday, they were greeted by dozens of young men from Swat who ran to the choppers to help unload the sacks of flour and boxes of nutritional biscuits. Next stop was the village of Kalam, where the Swat River surges through the central bazaar and where residents were lined up to board the helicopters.

The troops on the Chinooks wore combat fatigues, but they kept their sidearms holstered and did not carry assault rifles. Pakistani troops provided security, patting down people before they boarded.

Men dragged clothes and everything else they could carry in bundles of bedsheets; women guided anxious-looking young children by the hand as they climbed the metal plank and entered one of the Chinooks. Once the helicopter was airborne, U.S. troops tossed bags of Famous Amos peanut butter cookies, and the kids rose to claim them.

Haji Zarestan, 61, said his house was destroyed by the floods in late July and his family narrowly avoided being washed away as they climbed a hill to escape. Nearly two weeks later, they were airlifted out by the United States. "We would have been waiting much longer if the U.S. helicopters had not reached here," he said.

Even after they are rescued, the flood victims must rely on the kindness of relatives, friends or strangers to keep them sheltered and fed. Few official relief camps have been established, and after arriving in a less damaged area of Swat on Wednesday, some of those who had been evacuated said they did not know where they would go. With their belongings slung over their shoulders, they boarded colorful Pakistani trucks and said they would hope for the best.

Still, at least they have options; in Kalam, they were stuck. "We couldn't go anywhere, and no one could come to us," said Noor Ali Shah, who flew out of Kalam with the United States on Wednesday. "The bridges are all destroyed, and the roads are too dangerous."
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Officials in Kalam praised the Americans for saving so many residents. "The Americans are doing a great job for our people at our time of need," said Mohammed Roshan, a local official.

But, he shouted as the roar of the Chinook's dual rotor blades nearly drowned out his voice, there was a community farther up the valley where people were stranded, and no chopper had been seen.

Special correspondent Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.