Jeffrey Sachs, an economist at Columbia University and ”I think the disaster in Asia is a stark example of this for a lot Good point, Jeff. As numerous other commentators<\/a> point With images of In the end, we lost the Vietnam War because we could Now it is happening all over again. There are So here is an opportunity to do good, to save lives, Please, Mr. Bush, don’t let this one get away. It Charges and countercharges continue to fly concerning the world leadership, or lack thereof, of the United States in the disaster recovery effort following the Asian Tsunami. The US government, annoyed and insulted by foreign reports of "stinginess" and lack of … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/handds.jpg\")
Charges
\n and countercharges continue to fly concerning the world leadership, or
\n lack thereof, of the United
\n States in the disaster recovery effort following the Asian Tsunami. The
\n US government, annoyed and insulted by foreign reports of "stinginess"
\n and lack of compassion, have taken pains to repeat and reiterate that
\n total US foreign aid dwarfs that of any other country. Unmentioned is
\n the fact that these figures include the multi-billion dollar bonus bribes
\n we have been paying every
\n year to the Israelis and Egyptians to make nice. Today’s news brings
\n word that President Bush is sending lame duck Secretary of State Colin
\n Powell and Heir Apparent Florida Governor and Presidential Brother Jeb
\n Bush to the area of devastation to wave the flag and "raise the American
\n profile in the international relief effort".(NYTimes<\/a>)<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/giftchart.jpg\")
On
\n the other side of the equation, those ungrateful foreigners keep pointing
\n out uncomfortable data points, like the facts
\n that of the half-Billion in aid contributed so far by the "developed
\n world", only $35 million has come from the US. We are near the bottom
\n of the list in per-capita pledges and amount of offered aid as a percentage
\n of GNP. Just goes to show you can say anything with statistics:<\/p>\n\n
\n a specialist on aid to developing countries who has worked with the United
\n Nations, said, ”There is a very big difference between American attitudes,
\n which are generous; beliefs, which is that we do a lot; and the reality.
\n . . . The reality is we actually do very little by comparative measures.<\/p>\n
\n of Americans. It challenges their perceptions of their own country," Sachs
\n said. ”There is going to be even more shock when the US government asks
\n for an additional $80 billion in Iraq and the American public juxtaposes
\n that with what was given in one of the worst natural disasters the world
\n has ever seen. This discrepancy between what we think our country
\n does and what it actually does is hurting America’s image in the world,
\n especially in the poorest corners of the world," added Sachs. (from
\n today’s Boston
\n Globe<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n our there is something just a bit unseemly and less than compassionate
\n in a country which enthusiastically spends over $140
\n BILLION dollars<\/a> to kill people and blow things up in Iraq, and
\n yet has a problem coming up with $35 million to save lives and rebuild
\n things after the worst
\n natural disaster in modern history. Can anyone think of a bigger missed
\n opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of the quarter of the world’s
\n population of the Muslim faith? <\/p>\n
\n the savagery and inhumanity of Abu Ghraib prison still fresh in the
\n memories and pamphlets of the great masses
\n of non-fanatical Muslims, we could be replacing them with new images
\n of crates and pallets and cargo holds full of food and water, US military
\n doctors treating and inoculating Muslim children, uniformed personnel
\n distributing food packets, dry clothes and tents to prostate and defenseless
\n peasants. The 4th largest country in the world, with over
\n 200 million non-violent, non-radical Muslims living in a West-friendly
\n secular democracy, is in dire straits. How can we not help?<\/p>\n
\n not convince the rank and file of Vietnamese, North and South, that we
\n were there to help them and liberate them from Communism rather than
\n to destroy them and subject them to American "imperialism". Turns out
\n it WAS a war for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, and we
\n lost.<\/p>\n
\n good reasons we are having trouble convincing the Iraqis that we are
\n there to help them. It is hard to distribute humanitarian aid when all
\n of the NGO’s and international relief organizations from the Red Cross
\n on down have pulled out of the country due to the danger of kidnapping
\n and death. It is hard to get basic services up and running if every time
\n engineers or technicians try to repair the sewage system or the electrical
\n grid they get shot at and blown up by the very people they are trying
\n to benefit.<\/p>\n
\n to show ourselves in the best, truest light of the American spirit, far
\n away from the war zone, in a safe and sunny vacationland temporarily
\n placed in dire straights by the humbling power of nature. These horrific
\n images of destruction and survival, and America’s response, is being
\n beamed into every TV set and computer
\n screen on the planet. Just as the hurricane season offered a God-given
\n chance to the Bush brothers to hand out unlimited government largess
\n and nail down a few hundred thousand decisive votes in Florida, now the Tsunami has
\n produced a God-given opportunity to shorten the war and save American
\n lives by
\n presenting America’s nobel and generous side, our resolve and can-do
\n attitude, and showing up the demonizing slander of our enemies for the
\n transparent propaganda
\n it is. <\/p>\n
\n may be our last chance to win the war on terrorism.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"