WASHINGTON, Nov 27: US relief flights in the earthquake-hit areas should continue even if militants attempt to disrupt it, says Congressman Joseph Crowley.

“Nothing should stop us from helping the victims, not even an attack by Al Qaeda,” the Democratic Congressman told Dawn. Mr Crowley represents Queens-Bronx constituency of New York, which is home to almost 120,000 Pakistani Americans.

Jackson Heights, which is also part of Mr Crowley’s constituency, has the second-highest concentration of South Asians in the US and Mr Crowley has participated in several fundraisers in this area, raising thousands of dollars for the quake victims.

Commenting on reports in the US media that militants were not happy with the US military presence in the quake-hit areas, Mr Crowley said: “If true, it speaks volumes about the people targeting relief flights. It shows really where their concern is and it is not for the earthquake victims.”

Mr Crowley, however, said he was more concerned about inclement weather hindering the flights than the militants. “The flights may stop if the pilots are physically incapable of doing it because of bad weather,” he said while appealing to the international community to devote more resources, including helicopters, for sending relief to the victims.

“Helping these people is as much a part of the war on terror as capturing Osama bin Laden is, although it goes far beyond the war as a humanitarian issue,” said Mr Crowley.

“It is important for the US to show the people in Pakistan and Afghanistan that we are not there to occupy or dictate but to help the people in this time of crisis.”

Explaining why the US should play a major role in humanitarian crises like the earthquake, he said: “Our stature in the world requires us to do whatever we can for helping those who need our support.”

He said that being the wealthiest country and the most technically advanced, comes with responsibility, “when there is a crisis, we need to be engaging with the world by providing those resources”.

The New York congressman said that it was particularly important for the US to engage in humanitarian works in Muslim countries like Pakistan. “It is an opportunity to show the soft power of the US. They are very much aware of the hard power but it is the soft power that wins admiration.”

Mr Crowley described the world’s slow response in the early stages of relief and rescue operations in the earthquake-affected areas as “a disgrace”, but noted that since then the international community had responded generously, pledging over $5 billion to help the victims.

He said that in situations like this, there was no place for donor-fatigue. The international community must do whatever they could when a major calamity hits a part of the world, he said.

Mr Crowley said the Pakistani community in the US understood how important it was to participate in relief and rehabilitation works and was effectively playing its role in collecting and sending relief goods and cash to Pakistan.

The congressman said that although helping people in places like Indonesia and Pakistan did improve US image in the countries that were allied with the US in the war against terror, humanitarian assistance ‘goes far beyond the war on terror.’ “If we can do it with dignity and respect and the integrity that are needed it can have a profound impact.”