Posted on 01/15/2005 12:59:45 AM PST by kattracks
The national government has forced the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to leave Indonesian territorial waters, and Marines assisting survivors have had to scale back operations.Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Wednesday that foreign military forces must leave within weeks — barely three months after the tsunami struck.
Yet, the governor of Aceh province — the hardest hit, with nearly 130,000 people killed and 300,000 homeless — urged foreign workers to stick around in the interests of "long-term support."
All of which raises the not-unreasonable question: Why bother?
Yes, the Indonesian government is juggling a lot of balls right now.
In addition to recovering from a disaster of epic proportions, Aceh province has been the site of a decades-long virtual civil war.
[snip]
Given all this, it is somewhat understandable that the Indonesian government wants to be strict about security.
But the fact is that the U.S. military certainly has more than a few other priorities competing for its attention.
So if Jakarta wants American forces and relief workers out, fine.
They can be gone, yesterday.
But Jakarta can't have it both ways. If the U.S. personnel stay, they must be allowed to do what they can to both get the job done and keep themselves safe.
Either let them do their jobs or turn it all over to, say, the United Nations.
If Jakarta thinks that's a good idea, all it has to do is say so.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I say leave, then drop pamphlets around the province telling the people why.
The US is so loathed by these people that I bet the level of anti-Americanism goes UP in these countries, as they resent the help their hated enemy gave them. And yet we can help, and we should help. Like the great song goes, Sometimes, you just can't win...
Actually, that's a great idea.
Great idea!! Make sure we take all of equipment too! They surely don't want that either. We can also take back any of our TAX money the Government illegally gave away also. The American People have given more than a lot of Nations to the NGO's. We can use the Money and the Equipment to Control our own borders! We can even send some of our Reps and Senators to our Northern and Southern borders to get a closer look at the mess there.
Isn't it funny how they all want to go to these foreign countries to get a first hand look at the problems there, so they can send our TAX money to them, but never to our borders, ports, cities, or the countryside to get a closer look at the porblems we face!
We always GIVE the money to Foreigners, but to our own people that have Hurricane, Tornado or other disasters befall them we give our people LOANS!
The American Taxpayer has been and is the worlds biggest fools! We even support Organizations that plan our downfall, steal our money, and maybe even buy off our politicians.
Why?
We'd be fools to turn over all that money to a corrupt regime without the supervision of US troops to see that the people are actually getting aid.
Tell Jakarta that we'll leave, but so will the funds. See if they change their tune.
You got that right, pardner! I say to help them is to add insult to injury, literally...
I say we deduct the money the military spent on their ingrate asses from the 350 mil relief budget
I would not be surprised to see people take to the streets by next weekend. That is how bad it is getting.
Expect very soon the United States and all Christian based organizations ordered out of Indonesia and a Muslim based organization led by countries such as Malaysia assembled to administer aid.
Expect within the very near future all charges to dropped against Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and he is released from detention.
As an added bonus, slap 1000% tariffs on anything being imported into the U.S. from Indonesia. Call it the Ingrate Tax, designed to partially recoup what we've spent on these fools. Watch their government collapse immediately.
That's all.
If you think that the USA is loathed in Aceh, you shold go there. Your eyes might be opened.
I will guarantee you thet the gratitude felt by the people we are helping is genuine and deep. Not only that, I am equally certain that it is expressed every day to our personnel in many ways, large and small. You won't find a single one of our people that will disagree with my assessment, and I'm not even there.
But I know the Acehnese people, having lived among them for four years.
But, the government in Jakarta is a different story, and represents a different agenda. It is bureaucratic and political, corrupt and demogogic.
Right now, Jusuf Kalla is pandering to the lowest common denominator of human scum, the Islamist hateful moron, and he should be ashamed of himself.
Trust me when I say that Geroge Bush would be welcomed in Aceh like you wouldn't believe, but Jusuf Kalla would need a 24 hour a day bodyguard.
I'm sure there is a lot of truth in what you say. But, unfortunately, the Indonesian government would have things otherwise.
I would rather have our troops help the people there---but perhaps, this is one time we let them know that we will help when we are welcome ( which means that changes in the political situation need to occur ).
It's about Muslim threats, instability, worry that the US won't stay the course...ala Vietnam...and we can thank Kerry and his ilk for that, and national pride, testosterone. Plus, what if we decide to move in? Then Muslims start blowing up Jakarta. Indonesia wants it both ways, sure. They want to be on the winning side, and thanks to Leftists and America haters worldwide, they think about us and get cold feet.
But I have to say I'm really confused because of the amount of anti-US stuff I saw coming out of Indonesia after 9-11, and seeing some of those pictures again recently has reminded me of all that. I'm not disputing your points at all, I'm just perplexed. I have friends from many countries around the world and they all tell similar stories, but I have to say I get more suspicious with each one--I mean, if I took all of them at face value I'd think Americans and George Bush were universally beloved, when polls, demonstrations, leaders, papers, etc. all tell me otherwise. Again, I'm not disputing what you say, but I DO find it odd that from all these places where I see the US denounced when we need the moral support, I hear that we're actually LOVED. Considering that the religious and ethnic and political makeup of the populace don't seem very simpatico with the US, I'm still suspicious.
Because we're not like them.
The whole tsunami relief effort has shown me three things which most of us probably knew all along, but can no longer be denied:
1. Western culture is superior. 2/3 of the victims are Moslem, but last time I checked, Saudi Arabia had given more than twice as much money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Apparently they would rather see dead Jews than live east Asian Moslems. It will serve them right if our kindness converts some of the people in Aceh to Christianity.
2. We don't need the UN for anything. A full week before the folks from United Nothings arrived on the scene, aid workers from the United States, Australia and Japan were there, and doing a fine job without UN bureaucrats directing them. Is the UN doing anything there yet, besides holding meetings and appearing for photo ops?
3. Indonesia is no longer a US ally. Jakarta may have been pro-Western during the Cold War years, when it feared communism, but apparently they don't feel that way now. Let's hope the previous comment about the people of Aceh liking us is correct.
Keep in mind that if the whole world really hated us, they wouldn't be beating a path to our door, and we would stop hearing stories of immigrants risking everything to start a new life here. I'm reminded of the time a few years ago when an anti-American demonstrator in the Philippines put this sign on the fence of a foreign-owned factory:
"Yankee go home! And take me with you!"
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