Shaky Decision

News item: In what was interpreted as a step forward for the strained relations between Pakistan and India, Islamabad has accepted a planeload of food and supplies from Delhi. However, the Muslim leaders of the quake-devastated region that split violently from India over half a century ago declined an offer of helicopters from their largely Hindu neighbor.

Hey, President Musharraf: Wake up. Your citizens fighting for life right now in the rubble don't care whether the helicopters (or their pilots) are Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist, vegetarian, radical feminist, flat-earthers, or whatever. They just care that someone rescues them ... right now.

You've admitted the earthquake is beyond your abilities to deal with. It's time to swallow your pride and stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. Right now.