Earthquake and My criticism

I criticized the government of Paksitan's initial response to the disaster and lot of folks have either noted, or raised concern or gave feedback in this regard.

My criticism was actually in response to Musharaf's comment which I did not actually post earlier. In one of the news item (I wish I had copied the link at that time) General said he saw it on GEO TV that government officials are taking part in the rescue operation. This is not the way a country's president monitor his government's progress in relief operation. I agree with sepoy that he has the worst PR disaster among his general forefathers.

I totally agree that we are talking about a developing country and they are doing a lot. Yes! people of Pakistan are showing lot of courage and are doing more than they could. I wish I was there and could help more than just sending monies.

In the the wake of Katrina, the US government knew about the hurricane but could not mobilize resources in time while the nature of earthquake was that it came and leveled everything and in a developing country it is hard to mobilize resources more quickly.

I appreciate the bloggers who are doing lot of effort to provide information where to give donations and I will recycle that info on my blog.

By the way, Zak has a very heart wrecking story on his blog courtesy of The NEWS

When this naive reporter asked as to what was the most immediate
need of the Mansehra people, aging Samandar Khan said, "Send some cotton Latha
so that we could bury our dead with respect." Literally, they have run out of
the burial cloth as some of the inhabitants said they buried their loved ones in
blankets, bed sheets and even in the clothes they died in.

And at other places you can read about the enormity of devestation

Lying on makeshift beds on a hospital lawn in this northwestern Pakistani hill town, some screaming in pain, hundreds of men, women and children wait for help. But they have to stay there for now, because doctors say the monster earthquake that rumbled through the region early Saturday could have made the building dangerous.
"We feel it is unsafe to keep patients inside," Amir Shah, a senior doctor at the Ayub hospital in Abbotabad, told AFP.
Already at breaking point because of the flood of victims and a shortage of supplies, violent aftershocks added to the worry. "Our doctors and paramedical staff are scared to go in. The building has already developed cracks," Shah said.
Abbotabad is on the road towards the epicentre of the quake and is just miles (kilometres) from the worst affected area, where thousands of people are feared to have died.

Note:
I have a friend in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir who went home from Canada to get married and so far I have no news from him.

Update: My friend is alive and came back to Canada, Happily married with his wife.