PrintJanuary 5, 2005
It's good to be US
In the immediate aftermath of the Asian tsunami, the early words of the New York Times and Washington Post were not a plea to Americans to open up their pocket books and be generous to the afflicted. No, the tragedy was viewed as an immediate opportunity to criticize President Bush as being "slow to respond" by waiting several days to have a press conference to offer words of condolence. As if words could actually do something. Others carped that it was a lost opportunity to win back the affections of Muslims around the world. Further whining was done by Jan Egeland of the U.N. about how stingy Western countries were and how American tax rates were to low. Even now, with every media communiqué we read regarding American's leading the effort in disaster relief, the remarks are prefaced by our slow initial response.
The reality should be clearly in focus now nine days after the disaster. The three most critical elements of a relief effort in a disaster of this magnitude are...(Read Full Article)
