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Credit where it's due
The Austrailian ^ | 5/14/08 | Janet Albrechtsen

Posted on 05/14/2008 2:43:38 PM PDT by Dawnsblood

THERE is a certain familiarity to the concomitant series of actions and reactions when disaster strikes in the world. The US stands ready, willing and able to offer assistance. It is often the first country to send in millions of dollars, navy strike groups loaded with food and medical supplies, and transport planes, helicopters and floating hospitals to help those devastated by natural disaster.

Then, just as swift and with equal predictability, those wedded to the Great Satan view of the US begin to carp, drawing on a potent mixture of cynicism and conspiracy theories to criticise the last remaining superpower. When the US keeps doing so much of the heavy lifting to alleviate suffering, you'd figure that the anti-Americans might eventually revise their view of the US. But they never do. And coming under constant attack even when helping others, you'd figure that Americans would eventually draw the curtains on world crises. But they haven't. At least not yet.

So it was last week. The US stood ready to help the cyclone-ravaged Burmese people. It did not matter that Burma's ruling junta was no friend of the Americans. With more than 100,000 people feared dead and many more hundreds of thousands left destitute, US Air Force cargo planes loaded with supplies and personnel started arriving in nearby Thailand to begin humanitarian operations in Burma.

A US Navy strike group in the Gulf of Thailand sent helicopters ashore, ready to arrive in Burma within hours. Alas, Burma's military leaders left their people to die for 10 days before finally accepting help from the evil empire. Even if the Yanks are allowed to boost their assistance to Burma, they can expect a groundswell of criticism.

(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aid; burma; military; us

1 posted on 05/14/2008 2:43:42 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
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To: Dawnsblood

Too bad more foreigners don’t have that type of opinion. This American is all about closing the doors, as petty as it is, to teach the world that sometimes, we’re just good people trying to help everyone else. If the figure in the column is correct, over 2 billion dollars worth of aid would be missed for a year and could probably solve a lot of problems here.


2 posted on 05/14/2008 3:06:03 PM PDT by republicanequestrian
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To: Dawnsblood
How long would South Korea, Israel or Taiwan last if the US decided it wanted to spend on itself the money it presently devotes to military spending in the Middle East and Asia?

With President Barak Obama becoming more and more likely due to conservative disenchantment with McCain, we are likely going to answer this question very soon.

3 posted on 05/14/2008 3:44:40 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Dawnsblood

BTTT!


4 posted on 05/15/2008 3:54:19 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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