No Excuses--Help Pakistan’s Flood Victims

When the earthquake rocked Haiti, America rocked back with their checkbooks, medical supplies, food, clean water, etc. Celebrities performed and even rolled up their sleeves to help the people of Haiti.

[See photos of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.]

When the sky opened up and the monsoon rains flooded over one fifth of Pakistan, America remained silent, kept their checkbooks closed, and the celebs were picking out their outfits for the Emmy’s.

When I ask my radio listeners, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and those that blog with me here why, why no support for the people of Pakistan? I get one of these responses:

1. Not as many people died in Pakistan (over 1,600 currently) as did in Haiti. Well that’s true, but here is the problem: Over 20 million people are displaced. (That is more than the population of New York State.) Over 20 million people who will possibly die of starvation, typhoid, or airborne diseases. This has affected more people than the tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti, and those displaced by Katrina.

2. Donor Fatigue. Donor Fatigue!?! Where I live in Southern California, there are lines of people outside of Best Buy whenever there’s a new iPhone, iPad, or iPod. Americans cry that they’re broke, but how many 60-inch flat screen televisions do you own?

3. There are terrorists in Pakistan. Let’s be honest, ok? There are terrorists here too. Of the millions of people in Pakistan, a handful are terrorists. And over a million children? They’re just hungry.

If America wants the people of Pakistan to perceive the United States of America as a friend and not an enemy, we need to give. We need to get past our bad economy, our donor fatigue, and our feelings about a country and remember that these are people, human beings. If you are hungry, starving, you don’t care whose hand that food is coming from. Terrorist groups like the Taliban and al Qaeda are taking advantage of the prejudice of the world toward the people of Pakistan.

[Read more about terrorism and national security.]

This is the worst natural disaster in the history of the nation of Pakistan. Over one fifth of the country is literally under water. And this goes beyond the devastation to people. This will affect the world, from an agricultural point of view and even from a natural resource one (can you say higher fuel prices?) point. For those of you that view these people or these innocent children as terrorists, I say you’re wrong. I lived in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2007. I adopted my son from there. These are some of the kindest people I know; they would give the shirt off their back for you. But now they need us to do that for them.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of our being human beings helping other human beings.

If the terrorists aid these people, we know their ulterior motive is evil. If we give, our motive will be saving people’s lives because that is what we do, America. That is who we are, America. It’s the right thing to do, the humane thing to do. Do it now.

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• See photos of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.