![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sepdetMy mom somehow wanted me to rally the international internet community with a snap of my fingers and encourage other governments to send help since our own is doing such a botch-up job of getting basic humanitarian supplies to the desperate fast enough.
I don't know what she thought I could do, but I figured hey, couldn't hurt to drop a pebble in the pond (or maybe oy, it was easier than telling her no). So I started poking around. However, as I suspected...a quick scour of the news shows that the US has not, in fact, managed to piss off the world so much that no one was feeling charitable. They HAVE offered.
Excerpt from USAToday.com article:
____
With offers from the four corners of the globe pouring in, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided "no offer that can help alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday. (Related news: World responds with compassion -- mostly)
However, in Moscow, a Russian official said the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency had rejected a Russian offer to dispatch rescue teams and other aid.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Bush and said Russia was prepared to help if asked.
Boats, aircraft, tents, blankets, generators, cash assistance and medical teams have been offered to the U.S. government in Washington or in embassies overseas.
Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States, the spokesman said.
Still, Bush told ABC-TV: "I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it."
________________
Now, while America may barge in on just about anyone without a by-your-leave, it doesn't take kindly to foreigners dropping troops on our soil. Bush said, in effect, "we can go it alone, no thank you!" Small wonder -- especially with emergency personnel being shot at, and with such horrific conditions -- the international community took Bush at his word that the US can take care of its own. In fact, I think we do have adequate resources: we've got thousands upon thousands of National Guard, and commandeering a few dozen flatbeds from Sparklettes with clean water plus a drop of MREs would not be that difficult. Unfortunately stuff does not equal logistics, and the emergency services don't yet have the coordination or numbers to manage levee repair, search and rescue, law enforcement, evacuation, and feeding and medical care for all those stranded.
I have eight 5-gallon jugs of drinking water on my patio, because Sparklettes is stupid and kept giving me more when I hadn't ordered any.
Gads I wish I had a big enough catapult to send them to the New Orleans Convention Center.
I don't know what she thought I could do, but I figured hey, couldn't hurt to drop a pebble in the pond (or maybe oy, it was easier than telling her no). So I started poking around. However, as I suspected...a quick scour of the news shows that the US has not, in fact, managed to piss off the world so much that no one was feeling charitable. They HAVE offered.
Excerpt from USAToday.com article:
____
With offers from the four corners of the globe pouring in, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided "no offer that can help alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday. (Related news: World responds with compassion -- mostly)
However, in Moscow, a Russian official said the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency had rejected a Russian offer to dispatch rescue teams and other aid.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Bush and said Russia was prepared to help if asked.
Boats, aircraft, tents, blankets, generators, cash assistance and medical teams have been offered to the U.S. government in Washington or in embassies overseas.
Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States, the spokesman said.
Still, Bush told ABC-TV: "I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it."
________________
Now, while America may barge in on just about anyone without a by-your-leave, it doesn't take kindly to foreigners dropping troops on our soil. Bush said, in effect, "we can go it alone, no thank you!" Small wonder -- especially with emergency personnel being shot at, and with such horrific conditions -- the international community took Bush at his word that the US can take care of its own. In fact, I think we do have adequate resources: we've got thousands upon thousands of National Guard, and commandeering a few dozen flatbeds from Sparklettes with clean water plus a drop of MREs would not be that difficult. Unfortunately stuff does not equal logistics, and the emergency services don't yet have the coordination or numbers to manage levee repair, search and rescue, law enforcement, evacuation, and feeding and medical care for all those stranded.
I have eight 5-gallon jugs of drinking water on my patio, because Sparklettes is stupid and kept giving me more when I hadn't ordered any.
Gads I wish I had a big enough catapult to send them to the New Orleans Convention Center.
