This is disgusting and shameful.
The U.N. thinks we are "stingy." That statement irritated me, so I did a little checking.
The U.S. has allocated $15 million for "initial" relief for a huge disaster affecting much of southeast asia, India, and Africa. Evidently, none of it has been sent. There are a few navy ships cruising the area, but not offering any kind of help so far. There are jets conducting "survey operations." I hope they get a good clear survey of death and suffering of a magnitude most Americans will never come close to knowing. But I can't for the life of me figure out why they might think this is more important than actually digging in and helping.
Wow. 15 whole million dollars.
That is equivalent to the amount of money spent roughly every 5 or 6 hours or so on the war in Iraq. I wonder how many CEOs in charge of American companies make that amount or more every month. I wonder how many professional athletes, musicians, and actors would consider that chump change.
There is something seriously, seriously wrong. I for one am ashamed that the richest, most powerful nation this planet has ever known only seems interested enough to throw peanuts in the face of unimaginable suffering that is expected to exact a cost of $100 billion or more. Well, I guess they can count on our $15 million to cover 0.01% of that cost. Impressive. Now all they have to worry about is how to pay for the other 99.99%.
cnn.com
costofwar.com
And what is the message to the world? Let them eat cake?
That didn't go over very well when Marie Antoinette said it, and it won't fly in this day and age either, for very good reasons.
I have always been very proud to say that I am an American, even in the dark days of the war in Viet Nam (which I was not in favor of).
Today I don't feel very proud at all.
T |
