Posted on 09/02/2005 8:04:20 AM PDT by finnman69
LONDON (Reuters) - The world has watched amazed as the planet's only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society.
World leaders and ordinary citizens have expressed sympathy with the people of the southern United States whose lives were devastated by the hurricane and the flooding that followed.
But many have also been shocked by the images of disorder beamed around the world -- looters roaming the debris-strewn streets and thousands of people gathered in New Orleans waiting for the authorities to provide food, water and other aid.
"Anarchy in the USA" declared Britain's best-selling newspaper The Sun.
"Apocalypse Now" headlined Germany's Handelsblatt daily.
The pictures of the catastrophe -- which has killed hundreds and possibly thousands -- have evoked memories of crises in the world's poorest nations such as last year's tsunami in Asia, which left more than 230,000 people dead or missing.
But some view the response to those disasters more favorably than the lawless aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"I am absolutely disgusted. After the tsunami our people, even the ones who lost everything, wanted to help the others who were suffering," said Sajeewa Chinthaka, 36, as he watched a cricket match in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
"Not a single tourist caught in the tsunami was mugged. Now with all this happening in the U.S. we can easily see where the civilized part of the world's population is."
SINKING INTO ANARCHY
Many newspapers highlighted criticism of local and state authorities and of President Bush. Some compared the sputtering relief effort with the massive amounts of money and resources poured into the war in Iraq.
"A modern metropolis sinking in water and into anarchy -- it is a really cruel spectacle for a champion of security like Bush," France's left-leaning Liberation newspaper said.
"(Al Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden, nice and dry in his hideaway, must be killing himself laughing."
A female employee at a multinational firm in South Korea said it may have been no accident the U.S. was hit.
"Maybe it was punishment for what it did to Iraq, which has a man-made disaster, not a natural disaster," said the woman, who did not want to be named as she has an American manager.
"A lot of the people I work with think this way. We spoke about it just the other day," she said.
Commentators noted the victims of the hurricane were overwhelmingly African Americans, too poor to flee the region as the hurricane loomed unlike some of their white neighbors.
New Orleans ranks fifth in the United States in terms of African American population and 67 percent of the city's residents are black.
"In one of the poorest states in the country, where black people earn half as much as white people, this has taken on a racial dimension," said a report in Britain's Guardian daily.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, in a veiled criticism of U.S. political thought, said the disaster showed the need for a strong state that could help poor people.
"You see in this example that even in the 21st century you need the state, a good functioning state, and I hope that for all these people, these poor people, that the Americans will do their best," he told reporters at a European Union meeting in Newport, Wales.
David Fordham, 33, a hospital anesthetist speaking at a London underground rail station, said he had spent time in America and was not surprised the country had struggled to cope.
"Maybe they just thought they could sit it out and everything would be okay," he said.
"It's unbelievable though -- the TV images -- and your heart goes out to them."
Let's not forget the "culture" that NO represents in our country.
But could this happen is New York City were 80% underwater and under siege by gangsters? You are comparing ideal conditions to the worst possible conditions.
I wonder how many of the New Orleans Looters, Rapers and Murderers had their beginnings in a real third-world country such as Haiti..and just immigrated in to the USA?
That would explain the third-world behavior IMO.
Flame On...
Sad but true in this case...."
GW will catch hell trying to get out of this. I too am sad and disgusted with this whole mess. WE could have C-130 with aid in Sri Lanka in 36 hours, and I am still hearing of hospitls in NO without food and water after five days. Very sad indeed. The TRUTH always comes out...
quote "The mayhem is confined to New Orleans"
I only wish that were so. The truth is, every major city is America is like this, they are just socialist sink holes waiting for an event like this to reveal the utter failure of liberal democratic/ socialist policies to the world.
Completely concur.
I've noted his recent quotes where he basically condoned lawlessness and looting.
And I've also seen the photos of his "police force" taking stacks of DVDs from the stores they've looted.
Many countries are offering condolences and sending practical aid as well.
It is very embarrassing on many different levels.
"Now with all this happening in the U.S. we can easily see where the civilized part of the world's population is."
A really cheap shot. Maybe there was nothing to steal, in your poverty-stricken overpopulated sinkhole of a country. These people can't feed, cloth and house their own population (they're too busy murdering each other). How about you return the millions of American dollars generously sent to you without question or hesitation, Mr. Criketer? They could sure use it now.
This illustrates the skewed perception of the United States held by many in the world. In the end, Americans are a people like any other. They struggle in adversity, but rise to the challenge every time, instead of crying to the world to help them, and blame somebody else for their troubles. For all those laughing now at this horrible natural disaster: You can all go to hell, and I'm sure you will. Grrrrr.
Numerous Vietnamese and Hispanics with no money for hotels fled NO and made their way to Texas -PRIOR- to Hurricane Katrina and were seeking shelter through area churches and temples.
Illegals haven't been tittied by their government like the people in New Orleans have. So they had the good sense to get out. However, as they become more acclimated to American politics, and learn to live on the dole for their votes, they too will become worthless and unable to think for themselves - like the Democrats in Louisiana.
"WE could have C-130 with aid in Sri Lanka in 36 hours, and I am still hearing of hospitls in NO without food and water after five days. Very sad "
Yea we had a few C-130's in Sri Lanka...so? People still died there. This isn't Bewitched where President Bush blinks his nose and fixes everything. You make it seem like nothing has happened. Many people have been rescued, patients flown from hospitals, people given shelter etc. Get some perspective.
Who doesn't? ;)
That must be why your politicians used DDT to make sure rampant cholera and malaria don't spread. Oh, that's right, they didn't.
A band of a few hundred thugs does not make a society uncivilized. Being able to get billions in aid and thousands of people to any one place within 3 days to a week does. Can Sri Lanka mobilize any quicker? I highly doubt it.
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