December 28, 2004
NO MATTER HOW YOU GROVEL THEY STILL BEAT YOU:
America, the Great Santa: America`s support for Sunday`s tsunami victims should remind us how twisted the Hate America Left`s view of this country really is. (Ben Johnson, 12/27/04, FrontPage)
Upon hearing the news, America characteristically rushed to help. Yesterday, outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell promised a $15 million aid package and stated this is only a downpayment on America’s goodwill. “We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing,” he said. “Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years.” He then affirmed America is in the reconstruction effort “for the long haul.”In addition to this aid package, President Bush has dispatched military planes to the area, sent a 21-person USAID contingent of disaster relief specialists, and offered to send troops stations in Okinawa, Japan, to help Thai victims.
By way of contrast, the 25-member European Union, the world largest trader whose combined economy is larger than that of the United States, will deliver $4 million.
Nonetheless, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland labeled these efforts “stingy.”
Aside from betraying abhorrent manners, the UN bureaucrat’s comments sounded a common theme of the Left: No matter how much time, money, or resources America commits to a humanitarian effort – and no matter how demonstrably unselfish our motives – greedy capitalist America never lifts a finger to help the downtrodden. Indeed, by our disproportionate consumption of the world’s resources and contributions to environmental degradation, we are the cause of the world’s suffering.
General Powell sounded quite furious when he spoke this morning. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 28, 2004 8:46 PM
Reuters is reporting today that the UN idiot has backed down from his comments referring to contributions from the US as being 'quite generous.'
Somebody please explain to me why we have friendly relations with Norway.
Posted by: Bart at December 28, 2004 8:51 PMBack in 1984, when Bob Geldof championed the celebrity fundraising efforts for the East African famine relief, it later came out that one of the main prolems was the ineptitude of targeting the aid -- food was shipped to Ethiopia, but there was no way to get the supplies off the docks, and much of the food was either stolen or rotted.
The same thing holds true with the current efforts two days after the tsunami. Throwing relief aid at the problem may make a lot of people feel good about themselves, but throwing it all at one time with no plans on how to distribute it means a lot is going to be wasted. Better to spend some money now and save more for later, as workers and agencies figure out exactly what is needed where and how best to get those items to the disaster sites.
Posted by: John at December 28, 2004 9:56 PMHeck, random Americans are donating more via amazon.com than France is. Over $500,000 as I post this. Granted, not all of those are Americans, but I'd bet the vast majority are. And that's just one private conduit.
Posted by: Bret at December 28, 2004 10:05 PMOops. The link in my comment above was supposed to be http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-pay-page/PX3BEL97U9A4I/103-5826721-4626209 .
Posted by: Bret at December 28, 2004 10:07 PMThe biggest objection to the standard aid comparison game is that it only compares public aid donations. The US specializes in private charity, giving to an incredible extent, far beyond many European countries where public aid is the only source of foreign. It's a different way of doing things, and any fair comparison should include the charitable donations of private citizens.
Posted by: John Thacker at December 28, 2004 11:33 PMThe Marine and Navy units deploying to the area, with their hospital capacity, engineering equipment, water purification capability, etc. are worth far more than our cash outlay and will be the most competent foreigners to render aid.
Posted by: JAB at December 29, 2004 12:55 AMAnyone want to bet that the American contribution via Amazon alone will end up exceeding the contribution of the EU?
Posted by: Steve White at December 29, 2004 1:24 AMIt's highly unlikely that many non-Americans would donate through amazon.com. Amazon was different websites for different nations: Amazon.ca for Canadians, Amazon.co.uk for the UK, etc. And it doesn't look like they're doing fundraising. I think it's safe to say the donations from the American Amazon site are probably entirely from Americans.
Posted by: dorkafork at December 29, 2004 9:46 AMMy wife and I will be donating to the relief effort Sunday, when we pay our tithing. We'll pencil in an extra amount for the church's humanitarian relief fund above our usual contribution. I wonder how many other Americans will wait to give until Sunday? Not an insignificant number, I would guess.
My guess is that the relief efforts will be mentioned from more than a few pulpits.
Posted by: Jason Johnson at December 30, 2004 9:58 PM