Investing in people’s futures is good business

The urgency in bringing rapid relief to survivors of Pakistan’s devastating earthquake might not pass as a major business decision, but ultimately it is. Call it long-term investment in terror prevention, and file it under “insurance claims.” In the aftermath of the catastrophe – close to 50,000 dead, maybe twice that figure once the numbers are finally in; 15,000 villages affected by the disaster, and, according to reports from international relief agencies and Pakistani government officials in the field; possibly as many as 3 million, possibly 4 million, people homeless. The numbers are astounding by any standard; it would be the equivalent of almost the entire population of Lebanon living in the street. The earthquake has destroyed more than 80 percent of structures in parts of northern Pakistan and strong aftershocks threaten buildings already damaged by the initial quake. Winter in the Himalayas is just weeks away and unless aid