Political part : Biggest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
US and UK have turned down a request from the Swedish Government to assist in providing air transport capacity. According to PM Göran Persson, US will not even evacuating it's own citizens (which might be because they have no clue where they are, to be fair).

Germany has given a positive response to the request. Germany and Sweden will also co-operate in the forensic identification work. This is natural, as most of the missing citizens from both countries were staying in the Khao Lak region, and are now lined up side by side in make-shift morgues. But Germany that is missing 1000 people will send 28 experts, while Sweden (missing 2-4 times more), is only sending 8.

I heard on the radio that US embassies in the area are giving free passports, money, and tickets home to any US citizens. There are a lot of americans that have already made it back here to the United States and are even on the news telling their stories of survilval.

[The Mad Monk]

Bush, Clinton to Lead Tsunami Fund Raising


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Jan 3, 6:03 PM (ET)

By JENNIFER LOVEN

President Bush, right, arrives in the Roosevelt Room at the White House to announce, Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, that he is appointing former Presidents George H.W. Bush, left, and Bill Clinton, center, to head up efforts to raise money for the massive American relief operation in the tsunami-battered regions. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)


WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush enlisted two former presidents for an ambitious private fund-raising drive for victims of the deadly tsunami on Monday, asking Americans to open their wallets to help the millions left homeless, hungry and injured.

"The devastation in the region defies comprehension," Bush said as he announced the campaign to be led by his father and Bill Clinton. "I ask every American to contribute as they are able to do so."

Bush, his wife, Laura, and his two predecessors paid brief sympathy visits to the embassies of the four nations hit hardest - Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The first lady brought bouquets of white roses, and the president wrote messages in embassy condolence books, offering prayers as well as promises of U.S. aid.

At the Indian Embassy, Bush said he planned a visit to the world's largest democracy sometime this year. "In the meantime, though, our country stands with the people who have suffered," he said.

The president ordered that all American flags fly at half-staff this week in sympathy for "the victims of a great tragedy," particularly the many thousands of dead and orphaned children.

Meanwhile, the president was getting daily reports from a delegation he dispatched to the region to assess whether the United States government can do more. Speaking en route to Bangkok, Thailand, Secretary of State Colin Powell, leading the team with the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, did not rule out more U.S. government money. But he said there was no immediate need to increase the $350 million commitment because the most urgent task was coordinating all the aid that was pouring in - the vast majority still unspent.

"There is no shortage of money at the moment," Powell said.

Gov. Bush, no stranger to massive relief efforts following hurricanes in Florida, said dealing with needs beyond the immediate emergency would be difficult.

"Irrespective of how much tragedy is taking place, there will be a way to get food and water and medicine to people," he said. "The long-term recovery issues are the ones that are a greater challenge, and the ones where I think the expertise of our country can be brought to bear to really help people."

The president asserted that the United States had jumped into action quickly and had taken a leading role, despite criticism that America's response was neither swift nor leading, especially at first. Bush promised a long-term investment in the recovery by the United States. Other countries were quicker to commit large amounts of aid money, and Japan has outpaced the U.S. pledge, which was increased tenfold on Friday to the $350 million.

"As men and women across the devastated region begin to rebuild, we offer our sustained compassion and our generosity, and our assurance that America will be there to help," Bush said. Later, he told new lawmakers that Congress' first order of business should be to provide disaster aid.

Administration and congressional aides said the $350 million would come mostly from a U.S. Agency for International Development account for international disaster assistance, and perhaps from the Defense Department as well.

The officials said that by next month, Bush was likely to request money to replenish the USAID and Pentagon coffers. There were widespread expectations on Capitol Hill that the administration will eventually request more money, perhaps exceeding $1 billion.

"We need to look at the issue before we throw a lot of aid in there," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said in a brief interview. "I'm not opposed to putting more money into aid, but I think we need to find what the problems are."

Even before the White House campaign, private donations had been running at virtually unprecedented levels since immediately after the earthquake that led to the tsunami.

Under the new fund-raising drive, to be coordinated by the White House's USA Freedom Corps, an office that encourages volunteering, Clinton and the first President Bush will solicit donations by doing media interviews and traveling the country. They also will tap into their own networks of contacts to try to pry donations from corporations, foundations and the wealthy, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

To help in what he called "this urgent cause," Bush urged Americans to send money instead of other items and restrict their giving to "reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims." The Freedom Corps Web site - www.usafreedomcorps.gov - was providing a "donate now" link to about five dozen such organizations.

"Cash donations are most useful," the president said. "I've asked the former presidents to solicit contributions both large and small."

Bush himself plans to make a personal donation but has not done so yet, McClellan said.

Also Monday, the Pentagon decided to send a 1,000-bed hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, steaming toward the affected area, adding to the large network of ships, planes, helicopters and other U.S. military resources helping to deliver hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies ranging from medical equipment to drinking water. The Mercy will take about a month to get to south Asia.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050103/D87CSUH80.html

Has a President ever sent two former presidents into action like this? I would call that taking it seriously.

Interesting how Carter wasn't invited.

[The Mad Monk]

Sandra Bullock has donated one million dollars to the relief efforts.

Normally I find announcments of such generosity distasteful, but perhaps in this case, it will serve as a challenge to all the other Hollywood fatcats.

Let's see how many ante up.

[The Mad Monk]

BTW, why would it take the hospital ship a month to arrive? Barges move faster than that!

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
US and UK have turned down a request from the Swedish Government to assist in providing air transport capacity. According to PM Göran Persson, US will not even evacuating it's own citizens (which might be because they have no clue where they are, to be fair).

Germany has given a positive response to the request. Germany and Sweden will also co-operate in the forensic identification work. This is natural, as most of the missing citizens from both countries were staying in the Khao Lak region, and are now lined up side by side in make-shift morgues. But Germany that is missing 1000 people will send 28 experts, while Sweden (missing 2-4 times more), is only sending 8.

Why are you so fixatied on numbers as if they were some sort of international dick size?

[Sprayber]

I wonder if Bin Ladin and Al Qaeda might spare a few million to donate to their muslim brothers in Indonesia.

[Chemical Ollie]

Perhaps I'm a number nerd? Aren't we all?

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
BTW, why would it take the hospital ship a month to arrive? Barges move faster than that!

http://www.mercy.navy.mil/welcome.htm

It takes her 5 days to get ready and she isn't that fast - 17,5 knots. In the remaining 25 days she can travel approx 18.000 km wich is close to the distance between San Diego and the catastrophe area.

[Dis]

what do you think of this?

Mr. Egeland was referring to the measure of international aid compiled by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provides a new ranking of nations not according to how many dollars they actually pitch in, but according to what percentage of their Gross National Products they donate.

Typifying the outlook of the redistributionist left, such a measure would contend a poor man with a net worth of $10 does more good when he donates a dime, than does a millionaire who donates $9,000.

The poor man's generosity should be honored, certainly. But let's not pretend his dime will buy more food and blankets.

those aren't my words. they are from an editoria.

[Berzerker]

Well the religious nuts are out enforce... They tell us this was God sending a message about our sins and then deny they're saying the victims brought this on themselves. Some Muslim cleric said it was because of bikini clad women strutting around on resort beaches...

Why is there such a strong tendency among religious "conservatives" to blame people for the natural disasters that befall them? Why do they worship a God that kills the innocent along with the "guilty"?

[Berzerker]

Kudos to Pat Robertson, he doesn't buy into the notion that God did this or allowed it. Maybe one too many hurricanes smacking Virginia Beach taught Pat that mother nature has a voice in what happens.

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Berzerker
Well the religious nuts are out enforce... They tell us this was God sending a message about our sins and then deny they're saying the victims brought this on themselves. Some Muslim cleric said it was because of bikini clad women strutting around on resort beaches...

Why is there such a strong tendency among religious "conservatives" to blame people for the natural disasters that befall them? Why do they worship a God that kills the innocent along with the "guilty"?

I never heard anyone say this, but there are always people that say crazy things like that. But most people in the US want to help the victoms. And in a recent survey by Galap, they found that 3 in 10 Americans already made a donation to the relief effort.

The one thing I would like to know though, I see that the media, as well as posters on Apolyton tend to focus on the victoms that come from their home countries and often seem to ignore the fact that over 150000 people died in Asia.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Jack_www
The one thing I would like to know though, I see that the media, as well as posters on Apolyton tend to focus on the victoms that come from their home countries and often seem to ignore the fact that over 150000 people died in Asia.

Because it's people you know. Your neighbor, your cousin, someone at your job. There will be many empty chairs when the schools start tomorrow.

But the local victims are not ignored. The people in those countries are the ones recieving the aid.

[Alexander's Horse]

what I find a little odd is all the effort that is going into preserving remains for identification. We're talking about putrid corpses and rotting blobs of flesh. Why people want them I don't know.

[DanS]

Why is there such a strong tendency among religious "conservatives" to blame people for the natural disasters that befall them? Why do they worship a God that kills the innocent along with the "guilty"?

This thought is unfortunately a rather uniform aspect of the human view of things and extends beyond natural disasters. I don't think it has anything to do with being religious or not, or even modern or ancient. Victims are blamed the world over. Rather, nowadays it's just masked a little bit better.