Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Hurricane Katrina, another thought

I'm safely cocooned a thousand miles north of New Orleans, watching with the rest of the nation as the horror and despair there unfold in the phosphor glow of my television set.

In all the coverage, there is one important thing I have yet to hear reported:

WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HELP? I'm not talking about FEMA or the Red Cross, or the local authorities. They're scrambling to act against a near overwhelming national disaster. Where the fuck is the rest of the world? With as much criticism as the USA received for our slow response and paltry initial dollar-figure offer of aid in the hours after the devastation of the December 26, 2004, tsunami in south Asia was revealed, where are the offers from the rest of the world to help the United States disaster relief organizations help the people of the Gulf coast? The USA upped its tsunami-aid offer from a few million to nearly a half-billion dollars in a matter of days. I have yet to hear of ANY offer from ANY country for ANY type of aid.

You'd think that some nation with a bone to pick would have come up with some offer significant in comparison to its size or economic health, if only to show us up for our "stinginess."

In years past, we've sent money and provisions to our ENEMIES when members of their citizenry were befallen with disaster. Where are our friends?


dassall

1 comment:

ProducerClaire said...

Damn good point! I've spent the day mired in watching the stories unfold on the local coverage, and you're so right. This is OUR tsunami. Where is the helping hand we so readily offer the rest of the world?

Claire
octoberskies.blogspot.com