SUPPORT PAKISTAN'S FLOOD VICTIMS! PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Listed below are organizations helping with with the flood relief effort in Pakistan. We urge you to be generous - the flood has left the country in shambles and the people of Pakistan desperately need your help! SUNGI: http://www.sungi.org/ Is providing excellent disaster relief management services to Pakistan. Sungi has helped thousands of families by providing cash grants on the spot. CODEPINKers have donated through this organization. Direct donation details are here. MADRE: https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5095/donate_page/pakistan MADRE has partnered with local Pakistani organization, Shirkat Gah to provide women and families in Pakistan with emergency medical supplies and relief services through our friends in the region. CODEPINKers are donating through this organization. Secure donation page is here. SHIRKAT GAH: http://www.shirkatgah.org/ Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre (SG), Pakistan, is actively engaged in providing relief to those affected and coordinating efforts across Pakistan through its partner community based organizations in synchronization with all three Shirkat Gah offices in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Your contribution will be highly appreciated and will be used to set up medical camps and purchase goods necessary for immediate relief such as food items and non-food items including medicines, cooking utensils,clothing and shoes. Direct donation details are here. IDRF: http://idrf.com/index.php A registered Canadian non-profit organization, dedicated to empowering the disadvantaged people of the world through emergency relief and participatory development programs based on the Islamic principles of human dignity, self-reliance and social justice. They are actively holding donation drives in Toronto and their appeals for help have been aired on local radio. Secure donation page is here. See list of more Canadian charities below. HANDS: http://beta.hands.org.pk/ HANDS is one of the largest not for profit organization of country and having strong roots and work in all districts of Sindh & Baluchistan. They have extensive experience of working for emergency response in many times in history like Badin Cyclone, Kashmeer earthquake, floods in many districts of Sindh etc. HANDS is member of District Disaster Management Committees in 15 districts. Direct donation details are here. MORE CANADIAN CHARITIES ARE ALSO LISTED HERE: How you can help flood victims in Pakistan:Information on organizations that are accepting donations towards relief efforts in Pakistan, Globe and Mail Where to donate to Pakistan flood relief, Montreal Gazette Related links: Debt Forgiveness: Pakistan needs debt cancellation, not new IMF loan, By Nuria Molina, 26 August 2010 New Debt for Disaster for Pakistan? Jubilee USA Network Calls for Immediate Debt Service Moratorium in Response to Disaster, Assistance in Grant Form Pakistan Flood: Read Climate change, capitalism and war produce disaster in Pakistan by Jesse McLaren, Rabble.ca, August 24, 2010 Youtube: No land to stand: Aerial video of flood, Pakistan under water Let's not forget the animals! Treating the Flood’s Animal Victims in Thatta and Makli, Pakistan See photos of animals being treated here.

"Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."  —President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009 "The US-led war on terrorism has left in its wake a far more unstable world than existed on that momentous day in 2001."—Ahmed Rashid, Author, Descent into Chaos The situation in Pakistan continues to deteriorate, while the US continues its myopic foreign policies in the region. Obama continues to authorize unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan, in direct contravention of international law, and despite the rise in civilian deaths and increasing hatred for US presence in the region. The Wikileaks controversy over Pakistan's diversion of war funding to strengthen its hand against India continues to create a buzz in the media. This also reveals a basic lack of understanding vis-à-vis regional tensions between India and Pakistan. When will US policy-makers and the US media understand that peace cannot be achieved in the region if these long-standing issues are not resolved? In view of recent events in Pakistan, we can't help but ask the following questions: What is Obama's plan for Pakistan and how will unwelcome drone attacks help the situation? Is the US sabotaging the country's fledgling democracy? If not, why don't we see US support for the lawyers' movement which will strengthen the people's resistance against military dictatorship? How come there is no commitment to resolving the Kashmir dispute and on-going tensions with India? We urge Obama to invest in restoring lasting peace in the region. In order to achieve long-term stability in the region, Obama must focus on settling the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The constant threat of imminent war with India has bolstered the Pakistan army's ties with the Taliban and Jihadi extremists. Once this threat is removed, instead of investing in military spending and supporting Jihadists, Pakistan should be encouraged to invest in its people by providing them with REAL education. We urge Obama to invest in building Pakistan's educational institutions and healthcare facilities. This will help erode support for those madrasas that produce ill-educated children who are groomed to become fighters in violent causes instead of becoming civlized citizens who use peaceful means to redress the country's socio-political and economic problems. Education will also counter the power of uneducated mullahs who bully people through fear-based rhetoric and violence. We must help Pakistan become a more progressive state where women have equal rights and access to education and jobs. We urge Obama to support Pakistan's lawyers and civil society activists— the country's only hope for bringing about true democracy to counter extremism and corruption. Pakistan should be encouraged to revamp its military and intelligence structure, by acknowledging that reliance on a Jihadi movement to strengthen the country is in fact weakening its very core. Building the pro-democracy movement by supporting the lawyers and civil society activists is the best way of countering the Jihadi extremism, chaos, lawlessness, and rising corruption within the country.