Posted on 01/03/2005 12:18:47 PM PST by SmithL
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Hours after a tsunami flattened south Asia beaches -- a magnet for thousands of vacationing Swedes -- the Swedish foreign minister went to the theater.
Even though the vast extent of death and destruction was not known at the time, Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds' outing has come to represent for many Swedes the government's failure to fully realize the scope of last week's disaster and to respond quickly.
As the extent of Swedish casualties has unfolded -- 2,322 Swedes are missing and 52 are confirmed dead -- normally tolerant Swedes have directed rage and frustration against government leaders, accusing them of incompetence and lack of leadership.
That outrage is likely to haunt the current government when Swedes go to the polls in national elections next year, analysts warned Monday.
The day after the tsunami crushed south Asian beaches on Dec. 26, Sweden, a Western country with a standard of living among the highest in the world, was slow to react. With thousands of its citizens injured, missing and dead, planes that could have been flying to Thailand to evacuate them were idle.
In Finland and Norway, plans were already under way to evacuate their citizens, and the first planes were in the air Monday. Despite pleas from Swedish doctors in Thailand on Dec. 28 to immediately transport injured Swedes to European hospitals, the first two air ambulances didn't leave Sweden until Dec. 30.
The number of missing is nearly six times the number of Swedes killed when the ferry Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994, the largest single loss of Swedish life in modern history. The reach is so pervasive in the country of 9 million that Prime Minister Goeran Persson said it would be hard to find someone in Sweden untouched by the tragedy
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'm surprised the Swedes have not figured out until now that government doesn't work.
I'm wondering if the average Olaf and Ingrid on the street care that Kofi Annan spent three days in Jackson Hole, Wyoming after the tsunamis before returning to New York.
But he said he could speak on the phone as well in Jackson Hole as he could New York. Of course, he couldn't ski as well in Manhattan but that is not the point...
Normal Swedish passivity is ablated, for the moment....
Yeah, Kofi can, but President Bush can't possibly deal with anything while he's in Crawford. [/sarcasm]
If you live your life expecting the government to take care of you.... well then don't be suprised when they don't.
Another side effect of the 'nanny state' is the children can throw irrational tantrums from time to time.
Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
Hey!! It was Christmas, and in Sweden it was BOXING DAY for god's sake!! Everyone was on some type of vacation!!!! How about cutting some people a break here!! They did the Best they could with what they had at the time!!
From what I have read there was an effort to put a Tsunami warning system in this area, this was from some "expert" for the UN was saying on Fox the other day! They payed no attention, then there was a warning, but again no one was listening, they wanted the Tourist Buck!! They got the Tourist Buck! and the Big Wave!!
I am not criticizing any Government, the only one I am upset with is Jan Englund the overpaid snooty little twit from Norway the made the Stingy Statement.
These people did their BEST with what they had availabble to them during this Holiday Season!! Thank all of you for doing the Best that you could at that time with what you had!
"Your government's incompetence shines like a bonfire in the night."
"I am ashamed of being Swedish when I have a prime minister who says that they can't get more people answering telephones because it is Boxing Day and people have the day off," wrote Claes Thilander in an e-mail to the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.
The Swedes of WWII era were among the most self-reliant allies in the war......seems that three or four generations of socialism has softened them into whining complainers. Perhaps they should appeal to the UN.
I hope these JERKS who are complaing anout their government and fellow citizens will remember this and their criticle attitude they have when they are working on a Holiday and something terrible happens. Let's see what they do!!
Yeah ... I'm running for my life too.
Give Schwen and Gerta a chocolate bar, and call me in the morning.
It's nice to have them angry at someone other than Bush for a short while.
Is this where they make Swiss Cheese?
I bet he didn't want to! In fact I have used the Michael Moore technique for finding the truth and know that the Tsumani was caused by a US nuke setoff underwater. Bush ordered it so all those people would die and we could harvest their organs like we have been doing to people in Iraq (the Saudi's said we were to it must be true). /sarcasm off
The day after the tsunami crushed south Asian beaches on Dec. 26, Sweden, a Western country with a standard of living among the highest in the world, was slow to react. With thousands of its citizens injured, missing and dead, planes that could have been flying to Thailand to evacuate them were idle.
Anybody who petitioned the government on December 26th to fly planes to Asia and evacuate its citizens has a valid position to complain from.
The rest of them are ridiculous second-guessers, faulting their government for being just as in the dark as they were as to the scope of the disaster.
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