KALAM, Pakistan — The view from an open cargo door aboard a U.S. Marine helicopter showed what the relentless floodwaters have done to this small mountain village. Near toppled electricity towers, hotel rooftops severed from their walls lay in the rushing waters of the Swat River. Segments of bridges have been swept away. At one span, only concrete buttresses were left standing.
As the helicopter touched down, Pakistanis with blank, tired faces, some with whatever clothes they could salvage stuffed into small plastic bags, desperately waited their turn to be taken to safety.
As the U.S. carries out rescue missions and pours millions of dollars of relief into flood-ravaged Pakistan, Washington hopes the aid will chip away at the deep layers of hatred and mistrust that many Pakistanis have for America. Though the two countries’ governments remain allies in the war on terror, Pakistanis have long viewed the United States as an exploitative power interested more in controlling their nation than nurturing its prosperity.
The floods give the United States a unique opportunity to shore up a crucial alliance even as it pursues a “hearts and minds” campaign, which calls for moving the focus of U.S. aid from Pakistan’s military toward its deep-seated economic and infrastructure woes.
So far, the U.S. has delivered $87 million in relief, and Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., visiting the flood-affected regions, said Thursday that Washington would ratchet up the amount to $150 million.
The U.S. has pledged more in flood assistance to Pakistan than any other country. Fellow Muslim states have been slow to come through, exhibiting a reluctance that one Pakistani newspaper called “shocking.” Meanwhile, in a move that reflected this nation’s desperate need, Islamabad on Friday agreed to accept $5 million in flood relief from its nuclear archrival India.
Much of the aid coming from the U.S. so far has targeted northwest Pakistan, particularly the Swat Valley, a region that wrested itself from the control of Taliban insurgents a year ago only to become decimated by this summer’s catastrophic monsoon floods.
In Kalam, U.S. CH-53 transport helicopters land as many as eight times a day in a mountain glade to pick up scores of stranded Pakistanis. On a recent sun-scorched morning, as many as 70 Pakistanis — men, women, toddlers and infants — jammed into the CH-53’s grimy cargo bay, sitting shoulder to shoulder on stacked bags of flour. They carried whatever they could salvage from mud huts obliterated by walls of water: rugs, luggage, pots and pans and clothes stuffed into small plastic bags.
U.S. military helicopters have been rescuing as many as 940 residents daily.
“The U.S. has been doing a good job here,” said Muhammad Din, 27, an infant son cradled in his arm. “This should change people’s minds here about America.”
On one flight this week, an old man leaving the helicopter turned to Marine Capt. Paul Duncan and tried to give him one of the only possessions he still had: the shawl off his back.
In broken English, the old man’s son told Duncan, “Thank you very much. America good.”
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