Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani chaired an unscheduled and "special" corps commanders meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation resulting from the massive floods that the United Nations referred to as the worst humanitarian disaster in recent history. That the army leadership decided to cancel its annual independence (Aug. 14) and army day (Sept. 6) celebrations is an implicit admission on the part of the country's most powerful institution of the magnitude of the destruction from the floods, which inundated large parts of three of the country's four provinces. The floods over the past couple of weeks have affected as many as 20 million people, requiring nearly $500 million now and likely billions in the long run to rehabilitate the affected public. Natural disasters have geopolitical consequences no matter where they occur.