| The Pot Looks At The Kettle And Doesn't Like What It Sees |
[May. 12th, 2008|07:58 pm]
Wizard of Changes -- ©cdozo 2004 to 2015
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The Myanmar government's reaction to offers of aid for the victims of the cyclone reminds me of President Bush's refusal of help after Hurricane Katrina, except the number of people needing help this time is on a much larger scale.
According to an article from the Associated Press today, President Bush criticized the Myanmar government's slow response and refusal to accept aid from other countries. He said, "Here they are with a major catastrophe on their hands, and (they) do not allow there to be the full kind of might of a compassionate world to help them."
However awkward his wording was, I agree with what Bush says in this quote. But it does seem to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. |
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Relief to the Katrina victims was delayed by Bush's determination to control everything, using military (including mercenary) force. American citizens were treated as criminals for wanting to survive. Aid was offered--relief organization had tires on the ground, boots on the ground, and were refused entry while people went hungry, thirsty, and died. And even after, there was virtually no effort made to evacuate people with family (let alone neighborhoods) and poor people, who most needed it, were not allowed back in to salvage their own possessions from their own homes lest there be "looting."
"Immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 1,500 Cuban doctors volunteered to come to the Gulf Coast. They waited with packed bags and medical supplies, and a ship ready to provide backup support. Permission from the U.S. government never arrived." | |
