Tsunami Aid...Who's to Say Too Little?
First, before I really get going, let me say that we in the MajorFamily have placed the people impacted by the tsunami's terrible show of force into their thoughts and prayers. Perhaps some of that money that we put in the SA kettle last week (and matched by one of my favorite stores, Wal-mart) will somehow make its way to the region and provide some sort of relief to the suffering there. It is a terrible tragedy, but one that we have no control over.
Now, onto the real purpose of these words I'm about to crank out. It sure didn't take long for folks within the mainstream media to pick up on the stories about the United States not doing their fair share in the relief effort. Actually, it was such a powerful story we were able to separate our former President from his bevy of interns in order to get him in front of a camera. Check this story out...
Clinton Talks Tsunami; Bush Administration Provides Aid: Guess Who is Criticized?
Former president Clinton could have stopped the tsunami!
I suppose that while we might be able to generate a little more foreign aid to assist in the recovery for the region...my question is...how many foreign aircraft or ships did we see pull into port this last fall when Florida was being hammered by hurricane after hurricane? Not that charity should be a tit for tat activity (if it is...then I need to start posting my address so the different charities I've contributed to over the past 20 or so years can cut me a check...), but let's get real here folks.
I'm more than just a little tired of having the US' hand bitten every time we try to do something for others around this country...or in this case around the world. If people don't like the way this country is run...those that are here can renounce their citizenships, apply for immigration visas to the paradise of their choice, and leave. It's pretty obvious to me that the people have spoken and Mr. Bush's administration is at the helm for another four years. No amount of crying and wringing of hands is going to change that fact.
For those of you around the world that want to bite the hand that feeds you, clothes you, or protects you...you might want to consider showing just a modicum of appreciation. I believe our nation is at a crossroads in our ability to support the generous foreign assistance we've shown over the years...and that the gravy train could come to an abrupt stop just short of you folks that can't seem to get your collective stuff together and run a country. I know for a fact that if we put this to a vote across the United States, we as a collective would vote to keep the money here and put it to use to assist our own.
As far as the UN claim about the US being stingy in their relief contributions...they too should probably tread a little more lightly. In the wake of scandals to include "Oil for Food for Payola", sex scandals in Africa, and other indiscretions, they too are probably as close to being asked to leave as they have in a generation. The UN, in my humble opinion, is becoming irrelevent and may in fact go the route that its predecessor organization, The League of Nations did.
Much in the way our founding fathers wrote our guiding documents, it might be time to re-establish a world organization that actually enforces policy to make this planet a better place. It's pretty plain to see that in its current state, the UN is simply a place for foreigners to hang out for a few years and enjoy the hospitality of the country that it seems to want to tweak on a regular basis. If you had someone come to your house and give you as hard a time as the UN seems to enjoy giving us, you'd ask them to leave. I believe that time has come.
See you all on the high ground...
MajorDad1984
posted by MajorDad @ 12/29/2004 06:33:00 AM
3 Comments:
Major,
I think one of the KEY Factors a lot of folks seem to be glossing over is the fact that this event happened on a weekend. A HOLIDAY Weekend to boot. Having spent time in the military, you better than most know that the government goes to minimal manning over the holidays. A lot of the military if not on leave go on Day on day off status or half day schedules. The civilians are the same. A bunch of those folks have use or lose leave built up that they take to coincide with the holidays.
There is also the factor that this was a big area a lot of which in the best of times does not have the greatest of commo with the rest of the world. As anyone who has ever worked in an ops center during a big event knows, it takes time to get reports in, process the info to make a clear picture of events and develop a response plan.
These events are a lot different than the hurricanes that hit Florida in that there was at least a little bit of warning so people could prepare. There was no warning to speak off in the Malaysia. Just as there was no time for the folks on the beach to prepare, there was no time for governments to stage a response outside the effected area as they do for hurricanes.
I would like to volunteer to assist. I would like to offer a new pair of size 10 1/2 combat boots to that ASSHAT at the UN that called the US "stingy". Only caveat, I want to deliver them. Lets see what he wants to say about generosity with a pair of personally delivered and planted Combat boots in his 4th point of contact. This clown is atypical of the bureaucratic hemorrhoids that are common in organizations like the UN. What’s that panty wastes idea of hard living? I’ll but his idea of roughing it means another term in New York dealing with those infernal yanks….
Civic improvement for New York. Move the UN to Sweden and turn the building into low-income housing. I mean hey, can’t we find enough home grown ingrates to keep there without having to import.
Centurion 6 brings up a great point about our government probably not bringing the A-game during the holidays, but I'll back up that part of the workforce...as I'm one of those civilians burning up my "use or lose" leave at this time of year. Many years its not done out of design, but rather out of necessity...and that we haven't changed in over 200 years. Military ops not in a combat theater usually do take something of a break from about 20 December through New Years Day each year. I think it's a good time to get your head back on straight for the trials and tribulations of the coming year.
Back to the difference between hurricane and tsunami support. While the devestation was somewhat minimized in Florida due to the fact you can see hurricanes coming hundreds of miles off...compared to the hour or so notice you might have with a tsunami moving at 500 mph, it would seem that the international aid community would be better able to provide us assistance, if they were so inclined. My comment was to compare and contrast the way that the United States reacts to humanitarian support operations to the way the rest of the world does.
I wholeheartedly agree about the application of military force via combat boot. You can throw in my 8 1/2 Timberlands to your 10 1/2. Can't imagine anyone be excited about having a size 20 applied to their 4th point of contact (note...this is an airborne term of endearment for the 4th point of contact during a properly executed "parachute landing fall (PLF)" which is your buttocks. Another note...many times jumpers just have two point of contact...the toes and the nose.)
See you on the high ground!
MajorDad1984
Actually, Jan Egeland (UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs) didn't single out the United States for 'stinginess'. The ACTUAL non-spun quote is as follows:
"(I)t is remarkable that we have no country up to the 1 percent line of foreign assistance in general and we have, I think, three Scandinavians that have exceeded and Holland, the 0.7 line of gross national income for assistance."
"And if actually the foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 or 0.2 percent of their gross national income, I think that is stingy really. I don't think that is very generous."
"Politicians do not understand their own populations because all the populations in the United States, in the European Union, in Norway, which is No. 1 (in foreign aid) in the world, want to give more as voters, as taxpayers. People say we should give what we give now or more. Politicians and pundits believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
Apparently anything can be spun to be anti-American nowadays.
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