A Good Opportunity...
...has presented itself for us to show some good will towards Muslims who are not our allies, but nonetheless in need of our assistance. The city of Bam, Iran, was devastated by a bad earthquake over night
Now, I don't know if we are allowed into Iran without some special diplomatic permissions, but if I were Mr. Powell, right about now I'd be offering to send in hundreds of non-military volunteers along with clean water, blankets, medical supplies, freeze-dried food, and the like. NOW would be a great time to demonstrate that not all of our international goals are politically or economically driven.
Will you do the right thing, Bush Administration?
Quote:
powerful earthquake jolted the city of Bam in southeastern Iran today, destroying residential areas where Iranian officials feared many people were killed or trapped under rubble.
Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said in a report on its Web site that the earthquake registered 6.3 on the Richter scale and destroyed about 60 percent of the homes in the city, about 610 miles southeast of Tehran. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.7.
``The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss,'' the director general of public relations at Iran's Red Crescent organisation, Mehran Nourbakhsh, said.
Reuters news agency quoted Iran's state television as saying in an initial report that at least 4,000 people were killed and some 30,000 were injured.
In remarks to Iran's news agency, Mr. Nourbakhsh said water, electricity and telephone communications were cut off in Bam and at least four other cities. This made it difficult to verify the exact number of dead, but IRNA reported that more than 90 percent of the victims who were taken to the capital city of Kerman province were in critical condition.
powerful earthquake jolted the city of Bam in southeastern Iran today, destroying residential areas where Iranian officials feared many people were killed or trapped under rubble.
Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said in a report on its Web site that the earthquake registered 6.3 on the Richter scale and destroyed about 60 percent of the homes in the city, about 610 miles southeast of Tehran. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.7.
``The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss,'' the director general of public relations at Iran's Red Crescent organisation, Mehran Nourbakhsh, said.
Reuters news agency quoted Iran's state television as saying in an initial report that at least 4,000 people were killed and some 30,000 were injured.
In remarks to Iran's news agency, Mr. Nourbakhsh said water, electricity and telephone communications were cut off in Bam and at least four other cities. This made it difficult to verify the exact number of dead, but IRNA reported that more than 90 percent of the victims who were taken to the capital city of Kerman province were in critical condition.
Now, I don't know if we are allowed into Iran without some special diplomatic permissions, but if I were Mr. Powell, right about now I'd be offering to send in hundreds of non-military volunteers along with clean water, blankets, medical supplies, freeze-dried food, and the like. NOW would be a great time to demonstrate that not all of our international goals are politically or economically driven.
Will you do the right thing, Bush Administration?
Comments
Originally posted by Moogs
Will you do the right thing, Bush Administration?
I'll keep my fingerse crossed.
This is really Sad News to read.
Germany and Russia have so far offered help. I have heard nothing from the US admin.
Fellowship
Bush saying that "the people of country X are our friends" while generating ill will from that people's government, is just another way to say "if we threaten military action against your government, don't hate us; we care about you even though we may bomb your cities or take other actions that will 'indirectly' harm you."
Either way, this isn't about what Bush says, but about what he and his administration DO.
Originally posted by Powerdoc
It's strange to consider a disaster (an earthquake) like an opportunity.
I don´t know. Remember Turkey and Greece helping eachother after similar earth quakes hitting them about a year ago? (could be more than a year ago and could have been something else than earthquakes. Can´t think right now. The flue is kicking in at the evening).
Originally posted by Anders
I don´t know. Remember Turkey and Greece helping eachother after similar earth quakes hitting them about a year ago? (could be more than a year ago and could have been something else than earthquakes. Can´t think right now. The flue is kicking in at the evening).
Well you may be right, but i find strange to start a thread about an earthquake with this angle of vue.
Scott: no, not Bush himself. I said "Bush Adminsitration" in my very first post. You said Bush himself declared the citizens of Iran allies, to which I replied that he in particular (rather than the administration in general) might say a lot of things about a people being considered an "ally". But that doesn't make it so....
In terms of his unilateral actions, I hope only that he encourages those here who can help, to go over there and do so (with Iran's permission).
Like I said it's about what the administration DOES during a time like this, not what it (or one of its members) says. Saying the citizens of a nation are "allies" while doing nothing in the aftermath of an earthquake [would be] completely disingenuous IMO.
Scott / Groverat: We'll see if Bush / his administration genuinely care about the citizens of Iran or not over the next few weeks, won't we?
Melodrama my ass. Especially given Scott's insistence that Bush considers the people of Iran our friends. Put up or shut up, or is that too high a standard to hold the Administration to? My comment about military action was more related back to Iraq, but I was just making a general point that talk is cheap.
Why leave it to the politicians? Go give money to the Red Cross. I don't need any politician doing "good deeds" in my name. I can do that on my own.
Originally posted by sammi jo
For the Bush Administration to extend the hand of humanitarian aid to Iran, while simultaneously branding that nation and its (muslim) people as part of the "axis of evil" is too incongruous to be viewed anywhere as genuine. The foreign policy hawks in this admin would prefer to complete what Mother nature has just started, by starting the bombing runs.
This is the most jaded and callous post I think I have ever seen. 5000+ people are dead. An entire city that has a long history is destroyed. But all you can think is that the US, which has some of the best trained and prepared natural disaster relief abilities, think California, would withhold them because there is some deep hatred of all thing muslim.
Edit: 5000 people are dead! Can't we stop the partisan bickering for a minute and think about the tremendous human loss?
Originally posted by HOM
....
Edit: 5000 people are dead! Can't we stop the partisan bickering for a minute and think about the tremendous human loss?
It'll be interesting to see what the final number is.
Originally posted by HOM
[B]This is the most jaded and callous post I think I have ever seen. 5000+ people are dead. An entire city that has a long history is destroyed.
So? Natural disasters happens all the time, all over the world, many of which we never even hear about, let alone send relief to.
But all you can think is that the US, which has some of the best trained and prepared natural disaster relief abilities, think California, would withhold them because there is some deep hatred of all thing muslim.
Sure my angle sounds jaded but it's more realistic than that quasi-humanitarian bullsh¡t served up by an administration which has zero regard for anything remotely compassionate, unless there's some hidden economic benefits. And. why would tthe administration earmark $$federal (that is in short supply anyway) to rebuild houses and infrastructure which will possibly be targeted, or collaterally damaged in one of Bush's next wars?
Excuse my skepticism, but please just show me some evidence that the Bush administration has at some point, or shows the intent to pursue decency and understanding to fellow humans, because I haven't seen any, yet. (Compassion towards corporate criminals doesn't count, btw). For example, the Bush grinches don't even give a damn for the tens of thousands who lost loved ones in the 9-11 attacks...instead the prefer to actively blocking independent inquiries into the disaster, preventing these families from getting any kind of closure.
Of course the majority of people would want to see these (Iranian) folk helped out. Human beings by nature want to lend a hand, in the worst of times that is. But the point is "people would see US aid to Iran as being an act of political opportunism, in the same way people can see through 'promoting democracy and liberty in Iraq' as the reason they started a war there. Or have we all become so conditioned by the administration-parroting media (CNN, Fox et al) that we have such a biased window into whats really happeneing in the world, that we can't (or daren't) venture an original thought anyway?
I know this is that time of year where we are supposed to be nice to each other, but why pretend that people in positions of power are so well-intentioned when the reality points exclusively to opposing conclusions? Is this all just a futile exercise of "feelgoodism"?
As an afterthought: 10 years back, we had a huge earthquake here in Los Angeles (magnitude 6.7), 60 were killed, thousands injured and there was some $40 billion in damage. Apart from the actual phsical damage, one thing that was talked about at length was the awareness regarding how many people suddenly learned the names of their neighbors, and what the insides of their houses looked like. Many friends and acquaintances were made that horrific morning, which was wonderful....BUT...why does it so often take a disaster to bring out the best in people, instead of this benevolence being the default way we treat others?