THE ECONOMIST
FOR anyone grown weary of Pakistani suffering, a moment’s reflection is due. The destruction caused, by two months of flash-flooding in the country’s north and estuary-sized overspills along the Indus river, is on a vast scale (see article). At its height the inundation, still receding in Sindh and southern Punjab, covered a fifth of the country. Over 20m people have been affected, more than by the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake put together (though more were killed in both of those). Nearly 2m houses have been damaged or destroyed. The task is to turn this disaster to some good, however slight. Which means that the world should match kindness to Pakistan with toughness.
The Economist for more
(Thanks to reader)