Where's the Foreign Aid for Our Disaster?

[DFWdem]

The only country I've heard that's pledged anything is Venezuela? I seem to remember a tremendous outpouring of financial aid from private citizens following other natural disasters worldwide, particularly the recent tsunami. Now that we are in need, where is the rest of the world?

[shraby]

1. Pissed off at the U.S.

due to this administration's fantastic diplomacy.

[intheflow]

7. Don't you mean this administration's fascist diplomacy? n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. We kicked them in the ass...and they are still nursing their wounds.

Remember, we were the ones who sent a pittance after the tsunami. We are ungrateful. I use the term "we" loosely...i.e. this administration.

[bj2110]

6. I don't think at this point in the Tsunami recovery, the US had even

responded at all.... Then, Bush pledged like a million bucks.... wow

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Nope. It took weeks and then only because "we" were shamed into

doing so.

[Booster]

19. Wasn't Bush clearing brush and on vacation at the time? He

doesn't acknowledge anything while he's on vacation. I can't say that I blame other countries for not stepping in right now, since we took weeks to help Indonesia, and then the American people had donated a lot before Bush entered the picture. The same will happen here; the American people will step up to the plate and help more than Bushco.

[stillcool]

3. Didn't you hear?

Bush told everyone to fu*k off.

[villager]

4. well, give them time, for Crissakes, but remember

*we* are the mega-empire, que no, and have burned most of our bridges under the Crawford Caligula....

[Beetwasher]

5. Heh? Thank Chimpy. The World Hates Us, Can You Blame Them?

Look where their outpouring of support after 9/11 got them.

[Hobarticus]

8. Are you for real? What can they give us that WE don't already have?

I seem to recall that the support for tsunami victims was for people who had nothing to begin with. Yeah, there's poor suffering in NO and MS, but why can't we take care of our own? We certainly have the resources.

[sweetheart]

40. humility n/t

[Hobarticus]

41. True dat. n/t

[DFWdem]

10. Not only governments

What about private citizens in other countries? I thought the US was ranked near the bottom in generosity. Well, it's put up or shut up time for those who made this claim.

[Horse with no Name]

18. RW talking point of the day?

:eyes:

[WolverineDG]

22. gmta n/t

[DFWdem]

25. How about "human" talking point of the day?

I may not have agreed with the policies of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc., but that did not stop me from personally giving moeny to the relief effort without waiting for gov't to lead the way. I'm a right-winger because I wonder about aid? How about you go to hell. I've got 2 brothers & a sister in law that live in New Orleans, along with about 80 extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins - plus my parents live about 2 miles off the beach in Long Beach, MS, which is about 30 miles from where the eye of the storm made landfall. I don't give a crap whose talking point you think it is.

[Horse with no Name]

33. Then you should educate yourself

We are a country of great wealth. Perhaps you should ask yourself why Bush didn't approach his rich cronies at their $5,000 or whatever the hell amount plate dinner party for the GOP last night to donate the money to the hurricane victims instead of a political party.
Our government blew the money earmarked for these types of disasters and instead of planning for natural disasters, use it to chase paper tigers halfway across the world and continue to piss away billions in an illegal war.
You don't give a crack addict money and expect them not to spend it on crack and you don't this government money to spend on it's people when it has already shown it doesn't care about it's citizens. Any money sent would just chase the rest of the money that SHOULD have gone to prevent some of this suffering straight down the rabbit hole at Halliburton.

[DFWdem]

52. No, you should educate YOURSELF

What the hell does halliburton et al have to do with people giving to their fellow humans in a time of need? Is your world view so myopic that everything is viewed throught the schema of halliburton? Did you withhold financial donations after the tsunami because you feared the corrupt governments in southeast asia would steal some of it? Kudos to Chavez for his offer of aid. To hell with all those who couldn't care less. I for one will not write any more checks to relief agencies for other countries in their times on need. F*** 'em.

[Horse with no Name]

54. Because if you haven't figured it out yet

When the time comes to rebuild New Orleans..WHO THE FUCK do you think will get the no-bid contracts to do it?
Therefore every penny sent for city reconstruction will go to fund cases of coke that cost $400 and gas at $8 a gallon.
Don't write any more checks--if you only give to receive then it really isn't worth anything at all anyway.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

61. Yeah...fuck those featherweight Sudanese bastards!

:sarcasm:


Your thread is beyond offensive and disgusting.

WE HAVE THE FUCKING RESOURCES HERE...our own media was playing DOWN the depths of this tragedy for the first part of yesterday

[Violet_Crumble]

67. Well, that's convinced this citizen of another country!

I'm going to plead with all my friends to cease their private donations that go to things like helping to rebuild Aceh and trying to stop kids in Africa starving, and insist that they send it to the US, because as we all know, the US is one of the least wealthy countries in the world and its govt just doesn't have the funds or the ability to assist its own citizens :sarcasm:

[kiki]

62. Yes indeed...

I would give to a relief fund, but you never know what these corrupt Third World governments are going to do with the money...

[CatWoman]

21. Jerry Springer was discussing this today

and he found the whole conversation silly and divisive.

I agree with him.

[Horse with no Name]

23. Exactly.

This is the second time in one day that I have heard this, thus wondering if it is the new talking point of the day.

[DFWdem]

26. See post 25

[Kellanved]

36. ridiculous

Are you claiming that the Bush economy caused America to be ranked a 3rd world country, requiring help?

Has Katrina suddenly regained strength and is about to devastate the whole east coast, without warning?

[donheld]

58. Poor old USA nobody will give us rich folk anything

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[all.of.me]

11. they hate us.

we are SO not popular these days.

[BlueEyedSon]

12. Chavez offered oil & stuff

"We never lose hope that we'll regain a good tone with Mr. Bush's government," said Chavez, who offered Venezuelan aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0830VenezuelaOffer30-ON.html

[villager]

13. in fact, where is our "President?"

oh right-- playing the guitar!

[Horse with no Name]

14. The other countries are probably afraid that any aid they give

will be funnelled into HalliburtonBushCheneyCo.
They get it even if the rest of America doesn't.
Just in case you aren't aware...the US has pledged millions to Africa and takes credit for it at every chance they get...however, they STILL haven't paid it, even though Africa has asked for it. Maybe the other countries could pledge bunches to us and do us like we do them.

[Lindacooks]

15. You're kidding, right?

After chimpy managed to make almost every person in the world mad at the US, you expect help from them? Besides, we are the richest country in the world, even if probably the most lopsidedly distributed.

[dave29]

16. The rest of the world is melting too

:(

[Tyranny_R_US]

17. The question should be will "WE" accept the answer is...

NO!

[MissMarple]

20. We are a cheap, mean spirited and belligerent country.... or is that just

the Republican parts? The neocons never saw a country they didn't want to dominate or dictate to. Now, we reap what they sowed.

:shrug:

[maddezmom]

24. probably about the same time they send troops to Iraq n/t

[Kellanved]

27. Does the US need help?

If so, I am pretty sure all G8 countries would be honored to oblige. It is not customary among first-world countries to send help without invitation after regional disasters - even after disasters like Katrina.

Alas, comparisons to the tsunami are a tad out of proportion :eyes:

[Spazito]

28. What a ridiculous question, imo

What aid are you talking about? The cities are still trying to figure out what they need, the states are trying to figure out what they need and the president is out fund-raising for the repub party, playing golf and learning to play the guitar.

Other countries will be providing aid as it is shown the U.S. government can say what is needed, etc.

Faux is pathetic and it is interesting this post came SO quickly after Faux 'spoke'.

[Spider Jerusalem]

29. Four words: "Richest nation on earth".

Now, who needs the aid more? The US, or Malaysia?

The fact that you can even ask such a question makes my brain hurt.

[OhioBlue]

30. I'm pretty sure that if any other country tried to fly in aid

such as clean water and food, they would not get clearance. The difference there is that we have the resources. I'm sure if private citizens with the means in other countries thought they could help, they would.

[Solly Mack]

31. Germany, Austria, Switzerland,Bulgaria & Romania ALL flooded

last week. Complete with land slides

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4180098.stm

I don't recall them asking where their US aid is...

In fact, I'll bet few people in America even know about the flooding and the deaths.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. No but hte level of coordinantion was impressive

while firefighting planes were in Portugal from Gernamy, swift rescue teams from Portugal were in Romania.. it all went through the EU

[Solly Mack]

38. True that! The Germans were ON IT! They really were

but even still, an outpuring of care and concern from Americans would have been welcomed.

[knitter4democracy]

I just read about that!

I read all sorts of news here and a couple of other sites, and I never heard of their floods at all until today. That shouldn't be, and we should've helped.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. How about the richest 1% give back their tax cuts? How about

they open up their pocketbooks and donate the tax cuts chimpy gave them? That would be a good start. Time for them to step up.

[I Have A Dream]

72. Amen! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. Where is foreign aide?

I used to work for a National Red Cross Society, so let me take you through the stages.

Disaster strikes... disaster is assessed. A nation at that point has two options, its embassies and foreign office (state dept in this case) put out a call for foreign aide. I doubt State will do that, but if the Canucks offer rescue teams (as they did after 9.11) they will be the point of contact to get the gear and personnel across.

Option two, once the government decides the country needs aide (Disaster level IV, that means national resources cannot handle it) the National Red Cross Society, in this case the ARC, places a call to The ICRC in Geneva, where Geneva puts a general call to all National Societies, who pledge equipment, personnel and goods... which in turn are coordinated by the State Department, in this case.

In my humble view this meets a Cat IV Disaster, but like amny disasters I have been involved in, sometimes the call does not go out, (offers from other nations may have already occured anyway but with the heroic media you will never know it).. and this has to do, all to do with national pride.

In fact I took a class in Disaster Management from the ARC and I asked from the instructor, who SHOULD have known, what was the procedure? It is standard, and I knew it, so it was a trick question. His answer, and this is over twenty years back, we don't have any.

[MissMarple]

39. If George asks, he looks bad, if he doesn't, he looks bad.

Asking for help admits vulnerability and unpreparedness, not asking hurts Americans directly hit by Katrina and those who will feel the financial blows that come later.

Gee, lose lose. :eyes:

[MissMarple]

49. Also, with what you know about disaster response,

what are the most effective ways to address this massive flooding and the homelessness and lawlessness that it brought? I wonder how large the responding effort needs to be and how that is effected, both in the near term and the long term.

And about how many displaced people are there?

:shrug: Maybe I should start watching the coverage, but I don't have any confidence those questions will be accurately answered.

Maybe you could start a thread on this. :)

[maxsolomon]

37. its coming

this happened TODAY.

[daleo]

42. I am sure the world will respond, if Bush lets them.

Bush's bizarre pride could get in the way. I have no doubt Canada will help out anyway.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

43. The last time we experienced an outpouring of support, we bombed the fuck

out of Iraq...furthermore...we're one of the wealthier nations...what d you want? Aid from Sudan?

[Horse with no Name]

45. ....

:rofl:

[txaslftist]

44. What a silly idea. n/t

[hatrack]

46. It comes in the form of treasury bond purchases

Though business seems to be falling off of late . . .

[Politicub]

47. We help out countries who are poor and need the help

Just because we have a disaster doesn't mean we also have an open palm. Your question is tasteless.

If we needed more manpower because our idiot in chief has sent our national gaurd to Iraq to die, then I'd wager that there would be many countries who would send folks to help out in NO.

[alcuno]

48. We're in need? We're the wealthiest country in the world!

We could sure use our national guard troops home to help with things, but why should other nations help the richest country on Earth?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

50. When did DU become a conservative debate site?

[Violet_Crumble]

69. I was wondering the same thing...

Almost thought for a second when I clicked on the OP that some weird redirection had happened and taken me somewhere the complete opposite of DU...

[MsTryska]

51. did you know that Europe is dealing

with wildfires on one half of the continent and floods on the other, and have been since last week?


No?


Well guess what - we're not the only country in the world - everyones got problems.

be thankful Venezuela stepped up.


but this brings up a curious point - why do we need help from other countries?


We've got National Guardsmen and we've got Money. let's put the Iraq war on hold so we can attend to the needs of our citizens, yeah?

[SunDrop23]

53. The fact we have PISSED AWAY so much money in Iraq

is not the rest of the world's fault.

We are the United States of American dammit and WE can take care of US. We don't need someone else to bail us out - we shouldn't be having this conversation and wouldn't be if we didn't have an INCOMPETENT PRICK in the White House.

[bee]

68. bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!

:applause:

[[e-mail]]

55. in Bush's pocket

no doubt

[HadItUpToHere]

56. texas democrats-

sure look at things funny.

[Horse with no Name]

57. Not the "real" Texas Dems

;)

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Horse with no Name]

66. Too cute. But ummm...no thanks.

I have higher standards.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

59. We're supposed to be the richest country in the world

and therefore able to take care of ourselves.

We received a tremendous outpouring of sympathy after 9/11, but I'm sure that today other countries are taking a look at such dire situations as the continuing recovery from the tsunami and starvation in Niger and saying, "We've got our priorities."

The U.S. has the wherewithal to help itself, and would have even more if its troops weren't bogged down in Iraq. Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Niger, and Thailand do not.

[nini]

60. Your head must still be up your ass if you have to ask that question

Jesus fucking CHRIST.

First of all, the help is being offered but who can answer them when they're all fucking playing a guitar singing songs.

WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ASK FOR AID! The fact you ask this shows how fucked up we have become. That's the question I want to ask.. WHY IS THIS EVEN AN ISSUE?

We have pissed off the entire planet with our bullying and lack of respect and now the chickens have come home to roost.

this is what you get when you don't respect your neighbors.

[Mutley]

65. We're not very popular at the moment.

As horrible as it is, this disaster is nothing compared to the tsunami, and those were third world countries to begin with. This is the richest country in the world, and our "wonderful" :sarcasm: leader basically told everyone else who didn't support the war to fuck off. I wouldn't be dying to help us either.

[AgadorSparticus]

70. you are kidding, right? it's like DU collecting money to help out

Bill Gates. Condolences, yes. Money, no.

[PA Democrat]

71. Maybe the rest of the world

figures that if we have the cash to wage an illegal war in Iraq, that we have the money to help our own citizens. I don't think there are many people who are impressed with how we have "helped" the Iraqi people.

[mr blur]

73. Possibly people in other countries are wondering...

why, when this disaster was expected in advance, your president didn't seem to give a fuck out about anything other than hiding in his ranch from a grieving mother who seems to care more about America than he does. Who do you want money from - Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys? Faggy Socialist Europeans? A nation of Swedes whose sins, according to one of your right wing fundamentalist loonies, brought about the Tsunami disaster? Africans who are desperately trying to stay alive, partly because your glorious leader doesn't give a fuck, if he even knows where Africa is? Or any of the other nations who have been told that "You're either with us or against us" when it comes to illegally invading other countries?

Hey, I thought you lived in "The Greatest Country in The World"? Aren't you one of God's Chosen? Grow up.

[Moderator]

74. Locking.

As stated, the original post seems leading and inflammatory.
Thanks for your consideration.