« A million missing black people? | Main | Well, Hey, We Never Promised You a Rose Garden »
December 30, 2004
Disasters, Natural and Not
I'm back, with heartfelt thanks to Justin for a suberb 10 days of blogging.
I'm following the Tsunami coverage with outrage and sadness. The onset of the disaster may be "natural" but how we prepare and react to such events is deeply political. The most obvious point is the lack of a Tsunami warning system in the Indian ocean like the one that exists in the Pacific. Now that more than a hundred thousand have perished, such a system will probably be installed quickly -- highlighting the horrific nature of what has happened. This need not have been this way.
On the other hand, I don't know what to say about our government's pathetic response to this disaster. It's quite possible that the tsunami has killed more Americans than the 9/11 attacks. Imagine if Bush had continued clearing brush in his ranch through mid-September in 2001? That's seems to have happened now:
Wednesday's appearance by the president was his first since the tsunami struck Sunday. Bush spoke out a day after a White House spokesman deflected repeated questions about why the vacationing president, devoting much of his time to bicycling and clearing brush, had not been more assertive in the wake of such a massive tragedy
Also, we have such a large military presence in the region that, of all nations, we are uniquely positioned to do a lot. A disaster of this nature is one of the few things a military the size of ours is actually good for. Some of the carriers in the region have been diverted to the area, which is a good beginning. Much more is needed.
P.S. I've been away from television, so have very little idea of the coverage. Then I read this. Can they really be this shameless?
Posted by zeynep at December 30, 2004 10:15 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.underthesamesun.org/mt-tb.cgi/355
Comments
The last paragraph of this excerpt from a column by Arnaud De Borchgrave, an analysis of Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, reveals why the US isn't providing very much help to the Tsunami victims:
[In his current hideout, Bin Laden has access to local and international media, CNN, FOX, BBC, al-Jazeera and other Arab satellite channels. He heard Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tell FOX News he had not anticipated the strength of the Iraqi insurgency "because no one has a perfect view of the future." Bin Laden also watched CNN as Gen. Lance Smith, deputy chief of the U.S. Central Command, concede that a bold, innovative insurgency in Iraq is becoming more effective against U.S. supply lines, and explosive attacks have slowed military operations.
He can hear newscasts say the U.S. has begun using large military cargo aircraft to ferry food and equipment high above dangerous roadways, bringing the total cost of Afghanistan and Iraq to $6 billion a month.]
Just as the purported geopolitical importance of the Balkans lead Clinton into an adventure there, while ignoring the true genocide in Rwanda, the occupation of Iraq, and its insatiable needs, will lead to many unnecessary deaths in South Asia.
Posted by: Richard Estes at December 30, 2004 01:46 PM
It's not just American television and media (internet), but the BBC as well. White kids everywhere!
Posted by: Micaiah at December 30, 2004 03:07 PM
White kids in the Netherlands too...
Posted by: Motoko at December 31, 2004 09:27 AM
Disasters Natural and Man Made
Originally posted at
http://disaffecteddems.proboards3.com/index.cgi?action=usersrecentposts&user=Lani
on: Dec 30th, 2004, 7:32pm
As the reports and films from the countries devastated by the horrific tsumanis keep coming in and the body count keeps climbing, the scope of this disaster is almost too much to comprehend -- the shock becomes almost numbing at times and then I seem to flash over to the ongoing, deliberately man made, goverment sanctioned destruction, injuries and death still raining down on the people of Iraq and I find myself wondering why the horror of what is being done in Iraq isn't pushing the other countries on this planet and the UN to force this bullying rogue country to STOP committing these horrors and REALLY direct serious funds to rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries destroyed by this deliberate man made disaster AND the countries devastated by the tsunamis.
The horrors of the quake and tsunami could not be prevented and the suffering of those who have survived is almost unimaginable AND so is that of the Iraqi people and knowing THAT we as a species could have prevented it.
The suffering of those who know that the horrors they are trying to survive are the deliberate acts of other human beings must also be almost unimaginable.
The difference in the sheer magnitude of these two distasters is huge but I find myself reeling at the senselessness of one country deliberately inflicting such horror on other human beings when there are more than enough natural disasters to challenge us.
And then to see the paltry amount of money committed to relief by the USA I don't know whether to laugh or cry so I do a bit of both.
Good grief Charle Brown, even Canada with only 10% of the US's population has pledged an initial $40 Million CDN in relief (which as of January 5, 2005 had been raised to $80 Million CDN) and then to see that the money the USA is doling out is going to be taken FROM other countries that have been receiving aid. Of course the obscene expenditure of the 'war' in Iraq remains fully 'funded'.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It's All Relative
Cost of one F-22 Raptor tactical fighter jet -- $225 million
Cost of the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq -- $228 million/day
Amount spent by Kerry and Bush campaigns -- $400 million
U.S. aid to Yushenko camp in recent Ukrainian conflict -- $30+ million
Estimated cost of Bush's Second Inauguration and Ball -- $ 40+ million
Amount of U.S. tax cuts under Bush -- $1 trillion
Cost of the U.S. Iraq War in 2004 -- $147 billion
U.S. reconstruction aid budgeted for Iraq (though never spent!) -- 18 billion
Amount the U.S. initially in aid to Indian Ocean tsunami victims --$ 10 million
Amount U.S. offered in tsunami aid after being chastised by UN official -- $35 million
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Update: In order to stay 'fair and balanced':
As of December 31, 2004 US donations announced as having been increased to -- $350 Million.
(None of this is new money. It was just moved
out of the US AID's pot of emergency aid
funds, which were being used to aid the
victims of genocide in Darfur, draught
in the Sahel and typhoon flooding in the Philippines, etc.
so those people will receive less aid!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The photos of the waves at this site are incredible:
http://www.coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If your cable TV or dish carries the CBC's 24 hour global news service, NWI (News World International) you can see the tsunami disaster as it relates to the inhabitants of those countries, the victims and survivors of the disaster no matter what colour their skin, and not see this disaster being used simply as a background for stories about American efforts and how, however tenuously, the disaster relates to some local American.
Posted by: Lani at January 5, 2005 01:27 AM