There were warnings, lots of them.

[Skippy]

Now that some time has paased since the devestating earthquake in South East Asia, some tidbits of information keep coming out. First was the two Indian scientists who scientifically predicted the eq to within a ½ hour, although did not predict its magnitude. Now we are seeing more information come out.

Governments knew but failed to act (http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/01-03d-05.asp)

But worse than that is this guy did everything in his power to prepare these people but was ingored. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C18690-1422669%2C00.html)

So while I don't necessarily believe in the UFO stuff, I am bothered by the fact that nothing was done by the local governments to prepare people for this. Not that it would have helped people who lived on islands that were completely washed over, but it sure as hell might have prevented such a large loss of life.

So now I am really wondering about all this aid money. If you notice, all appeals are for just cash. Don't send blankets, tents, food or anything else....just cash. With over a billion dollars pledged so far, I wonder how much of that money will actually go to the people who really are affected. There was a story on the local news last night about a local company that makes water purification machines. They are donating 100 machines that can provide clean water to 100 persons each. They also make machines that can provide clean drinking water to entire towns of up to 100,000 people. Yet, they cannot get these machines over to the affected area because nobody will tell them where to send them. The machines work can provide clean water within 15 minutes of being set up. Zenon Water Purification (http://www.zenon.com/)

Let's not fool ourselves. These victims are the same people that show up on your TV screen every Sunday morning with appeals that your donation of 1 dollar per day will feed the entire family for a month. So I really wonder how much of the aid money is going to be going to the poor people that had to rely on sponsorships before the EQ, and how much will be going to the Ramadas and the Hyatts to rebuild the resorts.

The comparisons to 911 were at first a bit annoying, but now we see that perhaps those comparisons aren't so far off since warnings were issued, but completely ignored.

[MacRasta]

So now I am really wondering about all this aid money. If you notice, all appeals are for just cash. Don't send blankets, tents, food or anything else....just cash. With over a billion dollars pledged so far, I wonder how much of that money will actually go to the people who really are affected.

I've worked for 5 years at an int'l airport, and it is a logistical nightmare to send all that stuff over there. Things like blankets, tents and so on are a big help, but the cost to send them (find an aircraft, crew who are on tight schedules and can't work more than x-hours, etc, etc...) exceeds by far the cost of buying these things over there, so I am for giving money.

Now for the money part.....
a lot of smaller organisations are in fact cover-ups for money laundry (did I write this correct?), a close friend of mine was gone for about a year, helping as a volunteer in one of such organisations, when suddenly he showed up again, with proof that it was in fact a façade. So it makes we wonder aswell where this money goes to. We are safer to donate to BIG organisations, like the red cross, because they are obliged to have an "open countability" and are followed more closely than others.

There is only 1 thing to do to help those people, and that is going over there yourself, and help where it's needed. But that is a big cost in itself.

So the choice is up to us, and I donated 100€. I can't go over there to help them.

Good post man!

Le Mac

[Skippy]

I've worked for 5 years at an int'l airport, and it is a logistical nightmare to send all that stuff over there. Things like blankets, tents and so on are a big help, but the cost to send them (find an aircraft, crew who are on tight schedules and can't work more than x-hours, etc, etc...) exceeds by far the cost of buying these things over there, so I am for giving money.

I can understand the logistical nightmare with moving goods halfway across the planet, especially when wander cattle can close an airport. But, it's not insurmountable, especially when the militaries can be involved. Regardless of where you acquire the goods- even locally, they still must be brought to the people. And what of all of the amphibious invasion machines? What about helicopters and air drops?


Now for the money part.....
a lot of smaller organisations are in fact cover-ups for money laundry (did I write this correct?), a close friend of mine was gone for about a year, helping as a volunteer in one of such organisations, when suddenly he showed up again, with proof that it was in fact a façade. So it makes we wonder aswell where this money goes to. We are safer to donate to BIG organisations, like the red cross, because they are obliged to have an "open countability" and are followed more closely than others.



I have no problem with people donating to certain large charities, such as the Red Cross, especially since they are already "in theatre" and have infrastructure in place. But pledges of donations are up tp 2 billion dollars, and for the life of me, I cannot see but less than half of that, if even, ever making it to the people who really need it. Look at what happened to the 911 relief fund....did all that money go to the victims of 911? I do remember the Red Cross saying thank you very much, but that they will decide how to use those funds. Or, how many hurricane victims in the US discovered themselves quite screwed despite all the help that was given them.

But when you look at countries that are experiencing economic difficulties, such as Canada and it's problems with softwood lumber, and beef exports to the US, I cannot ask myself why our government doesn't buy 2x4s from Canadians and send those instead, or buy some of the beef we have a surplus, can it and send that instead.

When a person I know is need of assistance, I buy them groceries if I can't be assured that the cash I give them will be used for what I gave it to them for. (like when a drunk spends the rent on booze and his family is left without food)

While I do hope that some good is done with all this money, I do fear that they will rebuild on a shoestring, and somebody will get quite rich.

[MacRasta]

....that the money will be used for waterpurifiers, like you said in your previous post, and the lots, but once those issues out of the way, rebuilding those devastated parts is going to be top-priority, and my biggest fear is that there will be no more money to do just that.

And yes, I'm pretty sure that "some-one" will get pretty rich from all those donations. Very sad but true.

[ALIENTheorist]

And yes, I'm pretty sure that "some-one" will get pretty rich from all those donations. Very sad but true.


sad but true indeed still the government never learns the first time it is warned but doesn't happen but the second time it's ignored and does happen *shakes head*

[prezhorusin04]

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Bush, the Pentagon and the Tsunami
By ROGER BURBACH and PAUL CANTOR

After Secretary of State Colin Powell surveyed the devastated coast of Aceh in Indonesia from a military helicopter, he proclaimed at a press conference that Americans "care about the dignity of every individual and the worth of every individual" and have a "need to respond to the needs of every individual of whatever faith."

Most Americans are indeed empathetic and generous to others. Unfortunately the Bush administration of which Powell is a part does not represent America. It's very actions in the aftermath of the quake and the tsunamis point out it's hypocrisy as it spins out images for the global media while maneuvering to protect corporate interests and project the Pentagon's power even deeper into the Muslim world.

Consider, for example, that the only place in the Indian Ocean basin that received full advance warning of the impending tsunamis was the US military base on the British isle of Diego Garcia. It houses "Camp Justice," one of the secret facilities used to imprison and torture suspects in the US war on terror. As it battened down the hatches on the base, the Pentagon made no effort to alert the nations in the region of the impending doom that was about to strike them.

Consider, too, that with the death toll mounting in the days after the tsunamis hit, Americans reacted with dismay and embarrassment as President Bush at first pledged only a meager $35 million in aid to the region while continuing to do photo ops and chop wood while vacationing on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Only after the head of the United Nation's emergency relief effort and The New York Times called that offer stingy and others pointed out that the President planned to spend more than three times that much on his inaugural events and parties did he up the ante to $350 million. Japan pledged half a billion. Three hundred and fifty million is approximately what the US spends in a day and a half on the war in Iraq.

Now the President is trying to use the tsunami tragedy to bolster his image in the world. There is no question that US aid workers and agencies who have converged on countries stricken by the tsunamis are dedicated to their lifesaving roles. But the President appears to be less interested in saving lives than on burnishing his image and the Pentagon's to divert attention from the criminal activities of his administration in Iraq and elsewhere.

Hence, we are treated to film coverage of U.S. military helicopters taking off from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with food and medicine for the tsunamis victims. The Abraham Lincoln is the same ship on which the president, decked out as a fighter pilot, landed on May 1, 2003 to proclaim an end to the hostilities in Iraq. The use of this ship symbolizes how Bush is adept at saying one thing and doing another and then using staged events and the media to mislead large numbers of his constituents about his intentions and actions. He told us and the world, for example, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when he had evidence that it did not. Then he said that Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda when he knew that was not true. Next he insisted he wants to promote democracy and the rule of law by holding elections in Iraq. Tens of thousands have died and are dying in Iraq as a result of these fabrications.

Now he says his goal in Indonesia is to aid the victims of the tsunamis. But instead of funneling aid through neutral sources he is now channeling it in Aceh through the brutal Indonesian military, where a Free Aech Movement has been fighting for independence since 1976.

The Indonesian military, according to Human Rights Watch, has been responsible for "executions, disappearances, torture, and collective punishment, as well as its efforts to restrict fundamental rights of expression, assembly, and association." The military is also protecting the Exxon-Mobil natural gas facility in Aceh. As Amy Goodman noted on Democracy Now, ExxonMobile makes direct payments to the Indonesian military contingents stationed around its natural gas facilities. The Aceh movement has proclaimed a cease fire since the tsunamis struck, but its relief workers and a dozen villages have been attacked by the Indonesian military.

Since 9/11, the United States has extended military aid and training to the Indonesia military (TNI) as part of the US war on terror in the largest Muslim nation in the world. Powell announced in Indonesia that the United States is "increasing the number of helicopters to help the TNI." Just as in Iraq there is an imbroglio unfolding between the Pentagon, petroleum corporations and proxy military forces.

Little wonder, then, that the world needs to be skeptical of President Bush's reasons for sending U.S. troops and aid to Indonesia as a result of the tsunamis.

Roger Burbach is director of the Center for the study of the Americans (CENSA) based in Berkeley, California. He is co- author with Jim Tarbell of "Imperial Overstretch: George W. Bush and the Hubris of Empire," He released late last year "The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice."


Paul Cantor is a professor of economics at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut.

www.counterpunch.org/