* "The Unknown Author" is becoming tired of the continuing attacks on this country, both direct and by innuendo from our own press and our "allies". Most of us are venting frustrations by listing a few facts related to the recent Tsunami catastrophe and related "attitudes". - And do-gooder United Nations!
* The Tsunami occurred on Sunday, (US time) On Tuesday, less than 72 hours later, some moron from the Red Cross complained that relief supplies were slow in coming, directly implicating the US. The idiot gave no credence to the fact that it takes 20 hours for a C130 to fly from the US to Bangkok.
* Meanwhile, the do-gooders were shipping down-filled jackets to the tropics where temperatures are 30C and rice to people who had neither the water or fuel with which to cook it. Rather than sending MREs, (meals-ready-to-eat) they also used valuable logistics resources to ship personal kits that contain soap, tampons, toothpaste etc., while people needed water, calories and protein.
* In the interim, the US dispatched military personnel from Okinawa and Guam, an aircraft carrier from Hong Kong and three warships that can produce 90,000 gallons of "fresh" water/day. They also sent disaster assessment teams from the US. While the do-gooders assumed that all areas were affected equally, the US determined that less than TWO percent of the deaths were in Thailand, and that the greatest needs were in Aceh and Sri Lanka.
* While Schroeder was running around from photo-op to photo-op, our President kept his head down for three days while establishing a coalition of four action-oriented partners, Australia, Japan, India and the US, circumventing the inadequate bureaucracies of the UN and the EU. It should be noted that: a) the former colonial powers in the region, Great Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands, are noticeable by their specific absence, and, b) the oil-rich Arab countries seem not to have volunteered anything to help their Muslim brothers and sisters who are suffering disproportionately from the disaster - over 50% of the deaths and some 3 million homeless.
* At the same time the US was planning and moving key resources,
(water generating plants, hospital ships, damage assessment teams etc), to the area based on real need, another moron, this one from the EU, called the industrialized countries "stingy" with an implication that the US does not carry its full weight in the area of foreign aid & disaster relief. Please recognize these facts:
Forty four percent of ALL Foreign Aid/Disaster Relief over the past decade has come from one country, with less than five percent of the world's population.
Forty four percent of ALL Foreign Aid/Disaster Relief over the past decade has come from one country that generates only a third of the world's GDP.
On these measures, one cannot say that the US is "stingy" Furthermore, these statistics do NOT recognize the huge amount of cash that is generated by the US private sector in contributions to organizations such as the ungrateful Red Cross. Individual Americans give far more to charities than the citizens of any other country, including the great economies of the EU, Japan and now China.
* On the matter of the "paltry" initial allocation of "only" $35 million, the European press has, as usual where the US is concerned,- taken this item TOTALLY out of context. The $35 million is to fund the initial administrative costs of the disaster assessment activities, although the foreign press makes it appear that this is the TOTAL allocation of aid. I should point out the EU, with a larger population than the US, allocated only $4 million while Australia, with a population of only 20 million allocated $12 million, - but this adds up to a big "so what".
* We will ignore the "slings & arrows of outrageous fortune" directed at us by the press, jealous foreign politicians and incompetent bureaucracies and do what we always try to do, our very best. Although the world may not like it, the global bureaucracy known as the UN has done a disastrously poor job in The Sudan, (3 million lives and still counting), The Congo, (4.7 million lives and still counting), Rwanda, (800,000 lives), to say nothing of Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, etc., etc. The great EU, - which does not even have a Foreign Minister and is merely an attempt to provide the leadership necessary to "sort-out" a European problem- should keep its collective mouths shut and join the US by rolling up its shirts sleeves rather than ringing their hands saying, "Why doesn't the US fix it?"
The United States will never be recognized for its contributions, we will only be criticized for our actions, our policies and our ideals.
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity. ~ Arthur J. Balfour
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