January 24, 2005
Helping, Despite all Odds
I guess it’s UN-bashing day…
I’ve tried to stay out of the tsunami relief debate, but I saw this article and had to post it. As is expected, while Americans and other kind souls are doing their damnedest to get the help to the people devastated by one of the worst natural disasters in memory, they’re hamstrung trying to accomodate people biting their lips and “feeling their pain”. What’s worse, the useless fools will take credit for the amazing work our boys do after it’s all over.
As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water every day to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are now used in great part to ferry these “relief workers†from place to place every day and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the Lincoln at night. Despite their avowed
dedication to helping the victims, these relief workers will not spend the night in-country, and have made us their guardians by default.
Perhaps you can call us “stingy”. And perhaps Bush didn’t jump out at the forefront of the aid offerings. But who’s soldiers have boots on the ground doing the dirty work? What country’s individual citizens are bending over backwards to bankroll the private charities helping out? When the fit hits the shan, who’s offering talk and who’s offering action?
The UN wants to be seen there on camera, to show how much they care. Not that they actually do anything, but they’re going to be seen as the great “overseers” of our good works. That still puts them a step ahead of the Indonesian government, of course.
As for the Indonesian officers, while their job is apparently to encourage our leaving as soon as possible, all they seem to do in the meantime is smoke cigarettes. They want our money and our help but they don’t want their population to see that Americans are doing far more for them in two weeks than their own government has ever done or will ever do for them.
The behavior of the people I’ve seen makes me want to throw up my hands and call our help home. If they don’t want it, I want to tell them all to go to hell. But I know we can’t do that. I know that despite the spotlight-hogging UN good-for-nothings, and the unconscionable actions of the local government, who seem more interested in hiding whatever oppression they’re committing than helping people, it’s the people there that need help that make it worthwhile. There are people in need, and once again, it is Americans that come to help. We do it because it needs to be done. We do it because, despite the odds against us, it’s the right thing to do. And frankly, if we don’t do it, it’s not going to get done.
PS – If you’re still looking to donate, check out USA Freedom Corps for reputable places to do so.
(Hat tip to Consternations for the link)
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