I know that your criticism was directed against those who criticize the US efforts to help. And neither am I a liberal nor am I standing close to the MSM. I just think that this mud-throwing should stop - I didn´t say that I participate in this game. Oh, and when the US was hit on Sept 11th 2001, the whole free world offered assistance! People all over the world donated money for the victims families... kids who lost a parent were even flown over to Germany for vacations to get some distraction. Please see actually the story from ALL angles and not only pretend to do so. And now let´s stop this f*kin´ childish game and go on with real issues. The discussion "who gives more, you are stingy!" "No, YOU are stingy!" helps nobody, but out there are enough who need help!
Michael, Yiu know that I read the EU/German papers daily.
I agree with you about being fair.
Todays headline in the Der Spiegel, US Airforce there and helping, while the EU will have it's first meeting on the 7th. The inability of the eu/un to go to work immediately, coupled with the scandals that have plaqued the UN recently, prompted the US, AUstralia and India to go ahead with relief and not wait for bureaucratic delays.
I do get tired of the daily anti-american onslaught from Europe.
Election time must be approaching for Schroeder? He must want to lay the groundwork for it. I bet you, that it will become the predominant topic in his bid to be elected again. This time though, it may bite him (and unfortunately Germany) in the Butt.
"...I didn´t say that I participate in this game."
Right...yet you felt free to make ME a participant, but that's not slinging mud?
The way I participate in this game is to send $300-$400 in care packages to Marines in Iraq every month, and this year I'll be adding $100/mo donation to the folks at breedlove.org to help feed tsunami survivors. I don't do this for any reason other than that it's the right thing to do. I'm one of the millions of hateful conservatives who do what they can, seeking nothing and knowing it will never be enough to make some people happy.
Where I draw the line is when someone tells me the truth is off limits because the world is hurting. The world is always hurting, and the US is always helping. The world's perception of the US is an issue 24/7, and when that perception is being twisted against the US it must be corrected at once.
Seeing the story from all angles it's obvious that, while first and foremost right now, relief is just one part of the picture, and flooding the area with cash is not the answer. Guerrilla wars and Islamic fundamentalists were making life hell in that region before the tsunami and they're sure to be revived when the debris is cleared and the dead are buried. We'd damn well better keep track of who's giving what and to whom. That's not a competition, it's common sense.
And pardon me for not growing misty-eyed over the 9/11 gestures made by foreign countries. That was a blip on the world heart monitor that flatlined again as soon as the US showed it was serious about eradicating terror wherever it exists. When they realized it might cost them blood and fortune, their sympathy turned to schadenfreude and showed how truely meaningless those gestures were.
Now criticize me all you want. I have boxes to ship.
Michael81Dus Post 55: I didn´t say that I participate in this game.
It kinda sounds like you did.
Shalom.