Cruel winter picks off Pakistani quake survivors

[Thom Little]

Two months after the quake, the long, narrow Neelum valley, five hours' drive from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, is redolent of death. For eight weeks it remained isolated from the rest of Pakistan, the roads still blocked by landslides. Aid workers were unable to reach any of its 125,000 inhabitants.

"The road has just been opened but it may be closed again very soon because of the snow," said Khalid Javed, of Islamic Relief, a British charity. "If we are able to reach them, they will survive. If we do not, there will be devastation."

Bad weather has grounded cargo helicopters. "The window for the weather is closing very fast," said Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry, the director-general of Pakistan's meteorological department. "If we want to avoid another catastrophe, then these people should be forced to come down from the mountains."

Doctors at the field hospitals set up within walking distance of remote villages, which can mean anything from two to 20 miles, said the deteriorating weather meant the sick were no longer being brought to them. At the Mera Tanolian camp set up by Médecins Sans Frontières, the number of patients has dropped from 120 a day to just 40.

"They cannot walk through the snow carrying the ill on their shoulders," said Dr Hasan Majeed, who works at Mera Tanolian. Adil Awan, a resident of Barrian village in Neelum valley, said six children aged under five had died there in the past two days.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/11/wquake11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/11/ixworld.html

[knitter4democracy]

1. How terrible.

And winter there had to be bad this year . . .

[Toucano]

2. "Picks off"???

What a dignified and respectful phrasing.

[0007]

7. Please be my guest and word it the way you think it should

be worded, 'eh?

I know how I'd word it!

[Toucano]

12. Cruel Winter Kills Many Pakistani Quake Survivors

Cruel Winter Worsens Survivors' Suffering

Cruel Winter Claims Quake Survivors

Fatalities Climb as Winter Kills Quake Survivors



Sort of the same type of wording you would see if we were describing the suffering of white people.

You never read, for instance,


"Lone Gunman Picks Off Suburban Shoppers"

"Tornadoes Pick Off Trailer Park Residents"

"Angry Outcasts Pick Off Fellow Students"

"Deadly Virus Picks Off Nursing Home Residents"

"Massive Fire Picks Off Sorority Girls"



The phrase "picks off" is not appropriate when describing the loss of human life regardless of the nationality or color of the victims. It is lessening the value of their lives by using words that would only otherwise be used to describe wildlife or domesticated cattle under attack from a pack of wolves.

[0007]

13. YOU are right on! Thank you for making my day.

Another thought. "Support our Troops" But do ya see the folks that are making a profit from war, sharing with the troops? Fuck NO!

[sleipnir]

11. I think it is appropriate.

It describes the unrelenting ability of extreme cold to claim the lives of those who are vulnerable. It may not be respectful or dignified, but it's the truth. I find that sometimes the true horror of life and death supplants our happy ideas of what death and life should be.

[XemaSab]

3. Kick for an important thread

Remember during the holidays that there are still hundreds of thousands of people homeless there.

[lovuian]

4. This is so sad!!!

Whatis mankind doing ??? just watching???

[mia]

5. here's a group supporting relief efforts

http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/news/20051010.cfm

[justasoldier]

8. What about the tsunami victims?

The highly touted int'l aid hasn't done jack. Of the billions promised, almost nothing has been sent(money). As always, instead of holding your breath waiting for others, its often best to just pull up your bootstraps and do it yourself.

[Clara T]

6. Winter is not the culprit

"Militarism devours nations resources and lack of caring kills thousands" would be the proper headline.

R

[justasoldier]

9. Just to clarify

Don't misinterpret my last post - the earthquake was truly a horrific tragedy and effects were devestating and far reaching. I liked all the "Paki's" that I talked to in Kuwait. (cheap foreign labor for the Kuwaitis)

[Jamison]

10. I never really knew it got so cold there.

Until someone who lived there told me that the winters in that affected region are so cold that they'd make Fargo, North Dakota look like a tropical paradise during the winter months.