03 September 2005
Dissonance from within
The chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is astounding as it is shameful for the Bush regime. With accounts of looting, rape, shootings, general lawlessness and a seeming absence of meaningful relief efforts, Americans are discovering perhaps their emperor has clay feet after all.
Even more interesting are the reactions of some Americans to the relatively muted response from the world. The common theme of these posts is that the world hasn't reflected the same apparent compassion, concern, support and assistance the US has shown to the rest of the world. The writers are genuinely shocked, hurt and bewildered.
Here are some posts from the BBC News website.
"The world seems silent in our time of great need. You ask for our compassion, but show us none.
Kendall, San Jose, California"
For Kendall from San Jose, perhaps he or she should ask if there has been any compassion or interest shown by the US public for the estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed during the US invasion. Remember that this war was prosecuted on a pack of lies - something that was totally man-made rather than a natural disaster. Now if Kendall thinks there was compassion and interest expressed, it was a really well-kept secret. Surviving relatives of the Iraqi casualties could be forgiven for wondering how is it Dubya was re-elected with a larger majority than the first time around.
"I find it so disheartening that the global community has been silent on the tragedy occurring in the USA. It speaks volumes as to what these countries really feel about us. The USA is the first hand held out to other countries in their time of need, it seems that we could have at least an expression of sympathy from them.
B Stern, NY, USA"
For B Stern from NY, perhaps he or she has been watching too many US news broadcasts in the last few years. If the majority of Americans still believe Bush went to war because Iraq was the centre of world terrorism, then I guess it makes sense for B Stern believe "the USA is the first hand held out to other countries in their time of need..." In the last handful of major disasters, the fact is that countries other than the US were the first to offer assistance - especially during the Bush presidency. And by the way, Dubya has proven his standard operating procedure (tardiness) again. But this time it's in America's backyard.
"Where's the UN? When the Tsunami hit, America was sharply criticized by Kofi Anan for not donating enough. And at $350,000,000, we were the fourth largest donator. Someone said earlier in this post that the silence of the international community is deafening. Well, I say the silence of the UN speaks volumes.
Jackie, Kansas, USA"
Jackie from Kansas really doesn't know much about what her own president has been doing in the UN, does she? Either that, or she wants to have things every which way. Since taking office, Dubya has made it part of his messianic mission to trash multilateral institutions, and in particular, sideline the UN because in his view, it is useless and ineffective. That's why he sent John Bolton to bully member nations into toeing the neo-con line for UN reform! So why ask for help from a currently useless and ineffective organisation, Jackie?
Let the facts speak for themselves.
At $350m, she says the US was the fourth largest donor to the tsunami relief fund. America spends $5.6 billion a week on the war in Iraq. That's $800m a day! From the CIA's very own World Fact Book, based on a GDP of $11.75 trillion and a population of 295.7m, the $350m donation works out to 0.003% of annual GDP, $1.18 per citizen or most interestingly, just 10.5 hours worth of war expenditure in Iraq.
Let me re-emphasise the last point. The $350m donation is just 44% of what the US spends on waging war in Iraq in ONE day.
In contrast, Germany donated $647m and based on a GDP of $2.36 trillion and a population of 82.4m, their donation works out to 0.03% of annual GDP or $7.85 per citizen. So please excuse the international community for being a tad underwhelmed by such self-serving claims.
Let's look at some comments from the international community on the BBC News website.
"This finally shows the US up for the morally corrupt country it is. If you don't have the money, you really are at the bottom of a scrapheap and shouldn't deserve any help or handouts. George W Bush shows how utterly inept he is.
Martin Noon, London UK"
I doubt Dubya is inept in the eyes of the beneficiaries of his tax cuts for the rich!
"It's a big shame. It's all because those people are black, not so rich and don't matter to the US. They are not part of the society. If this had happened in NY or Washington, Penn. the response would have definitely been different. It's incomprehensible for a superpower to waste resources in wars and boast of robust action around the world when it cannot remove the little spec in its home. I am very disappointed and angry. The US has the largest army, trucks, space shuttles and yet they can't help.
Gordon, Nottingham"
It's a fact that poor black Americans tend to vote for the Democrats so the neo-cons won't be losing sleep over lost votes they never had in the first place.
"While there would always have been casualties after such a major hurricane, it does seem that the "small government" policies of the American administration have left them less able to prepare for and respond to major events. Poor people are left to "sink or swim"- literally in this case.
George, Edinburgh, Scotland"
Actually, the US government is the largest it has ever been since WW2. Larger than during the Clinton years, and larger than during the Korean and Vietnam wars. As a percentage of GDP, government expenditure today is exceeded only by that during WW2!
So where is all the money going? To new hospitals, housing assistance, education or public infrastructure? The answer is none of the above. The money is going to the sharp end of the Empire's edifice - the military and to companies like Halliburton; of which Dick Cheney was its former CEO.
Did I also mention that this company has been fined for overcharging the US taxpayers and is under further investigations for other financial irregularities?
But I digress again.
The deafening silence from the international community is because they have either been already cowed into silence by Dubya's "you're for us or against us" diplomacy or are perhaps busy experiencing a degree of Schadenfreud right now.
Even more interesting are the reactions of some Americans to the relatively muted response from the world. The common theme of these posts is that the world hasn't reflected the same apparent compassion, concern, support and assistance the US has shown to the rest of the world. The writers are genuinely shocked, hurt and bewildered.
Here are some posts from the BBC News website.
"The world seems silent in our time of great need. You ask for our compassion, but show us none.
Kendall, San Jose, California"
For Kendall from San Jose, perhaps he or she should ask if there has been any compassion or interest shown by the US public for the estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed during the US invasion. Remember that this war was prosecuted on a pack of lies - something that was totally man-made rather than a natural disaster. Now if Kendall thinks there was compassion and interest expressed, it was a really well-kept secret. Surviving relatives of the Iraqi casualties could be forgiven for wondering how is it Dubya was re-elected with a larger majority than the first time around.
"I find it so disheartening that the global community has been silent on the tragedy occurring in the USA. It speaks volumes as to what these countries really feel about us. The USA is the first hand held out to other countries in their time of need, it seems that we could have at least an expression of sympathy from them.
B Stern, NY, USA"
For B Stern from NY, perhaps he or she has been watching too many US news broadcasts in the last few years. If the majority of Americans still believe Bush went to war because Iraq was the centre of world terrorism, then I guess it makes sense for B Stern believe "the USA is the first hand held out to other countries in their time of need..." In the last handful of major disasters, the fact is that countries other than the US were the first to offer assistance - especially during the Bush presidency. And by the way, Dubya has proven his standard operating procedure (tardiness) again. But this time it's in America's backyard.
"Where's the UN? When the Tsunami hit, America was sharply criticized by Kofi Anan for not donating enough. And at $350,000,000, we were the fourth largest donator. Someone said earlier in this post that the silence of the international community is deafening. Well, I say the silence of the UN speaks volumes.
Jackie, Kansas, USA"
Jackie from Kansas really doesn't know much about what her own president has been doing in the UN, does she? Either that, or she wants to have things every which way. Since taking office, Dubya has made it part of his messianic mission to trash multilateral institutions, and in particular, sideline the UN because in his view, it is useless and ineffective. That's why he sent John Bolton to bully member nations into toeing the neo-con line for UN reform! So why ask for help from a currently useless and ineffective organisation, Jackie?
Let the facts speak for themselves.
At $350m, she says the US was the fourth largest donor to the tsunami relief fund. America spends $5.6 billion a week on the war in Iraq. That's $800m a day! From the CIA's very own World Fact Book, based on a GDP of $11.75 trillion and a population of 295.7m, the $350m donation works out to 0.003% of annual GDP, $1.18 per citizen or most interestingly, just 10.5 hours worth of war expenditure in Iraq.
Let me re-emphasise the last point. The $350m donation is just 44% of what the US spends on waging war in Iraq in ONE day.
In contrast, Germany donated $647m and based on a GDP of $2.36 trillion and a population of 82.4m, their donation works out to 0.03% of annual GDP or $7.85 per citizen. So please excuse the international community for being a tad underwhelmed by such self-serving claims.
Let's look at some comments from the international community on the BBC News website.
"This finally shows the US up for the morally corrupt country it is. If you don't have the money, you really are at the bottom of a scrapheap and shouldn't deserve any help or handouts. George W Bush shows how utterly inept he is.
Martin Noon, London UK"
I doubt Dubya is inept in the eyes of the beneficiaries of his tax cuts for the rich!
"It's a big shame. It's all because those people are black, not so rich and don't matter to the US. They are not part of the society. If this had happened in NY or Washington, Penn. the response would have definitely been different. It's incomprehensible for a superpower to waste resources in wars and boast of robust action around the world when it cannot remove the little spec in its home. I am very disappointed and angry. The US has the largest army, trucks, space shuttles and yet they can't help.
Gordon, Nottingham"
It's a fact that poor black Americans tend to vote for the Democrats so the neo-cons won't be losing sleep over lost votes they never had in the first place.
"While there would always have been casualties after such a major hurricane, it does seem that the "small government" policies of the American administration have left them less able to prepare for and respond to major events. Poor people are left to "sink or swim"- literally in this case.
George, Edinburgh, Scotland"
Actually, the US government is the largest it has ever been since WW2. Larger than during the Clinton years, and larger than during the Korean and Vietnam wars. As a percentage of GDP, government expenditure today is exceeded only by that during WW2!
So where is all the money going? To new hospitals, housing assistance, education or public infrastructure? The answer is none of the above. The money is going to the sharp end of the Empire's edifice - the military and to companies like Halliburton; of which Dick Cheney was its former CEO.
Did I also mention that this company has been fined for overcharging the US taxpayers and is under further investigations for other financial irregularities?
But I digress again.
The deafening silence from the international community is because they have either been already cowed into silence by Dubya's "you're for us or against us" diplomacy or are perhaps busy experiencing a degree of Schadenfreud right now.
