Editorial: Preventing a deluge

Out of adversity comes opportunity. The terrorist organizations rushing relief to Pakistan's flood victims know that. Fortunately, so does the Obama administration, which has raised its pledge to help the devastated South Asian nation.

More than 1,500 people have been killed and at least 12 million displaced by the flooding that began with monsoon rains earlier this month. Some of the first aid for the victims came from Falah-e-Insaniyat, a charity associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorists blamed for the 2008 attacks that left 174 dead in Mumbai.

Iran was among the first countries to send help to Pakistan; 140 tons in tents, blankets, medicine, etc. The United States first pledged $90 million in aid; and then later bumped that to $200 million, saying it would come from an existing five-year, $7.5 billion appropriation for Pakistan.

The U.S. increase made sense not only for humanitarian reasons, but also for strategic ones. Pakistan's role is crucial to rooting out the Taliban from the mountainous territory bordering Afghanistan. It's significant that Haqqania Madrasa, a Taliban-associated boarding school, is making a show of also helping flood victims.

Aid has not been as quick to come from others. Earlier this week, the United Nations said it had received only half the $460 million it had requested from member nations for Pakistan. Oxfam America calculated the aid for Pakistan so far to be about $15 per flood-affected victim, compared with $495 per victim in Haiti a week after its earthquake.