United Nations Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland--yeah, the same jerk who called America "stingy" during the Indonesian tsunami disaster last year--has come around to offering the U.N.'s help to victims of Hurricane Katrina (hat tip: Catez Stevens, who has more): United Nations Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland, who oversaw relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, offered Washington U.N. assistance in a formal letter to new U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. "The United Nations stands ready to help with any kind of disaster expertise that might be required ... in full recognition that the United States is the country in the world that possesses the greatest civilian and military search and rescue and recovery assets themselves," Egeland told Reuters in an interview. He said U.S. officials had thanked the U.N. for its offer, but had not requested any assistance so far. This is also worth noting, since so many readers have been wondering: State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier on Wednesday 10 to 12 foreign governments have offered general assistance to the United States to deal with the hurricane aftermath but no decision had been made about how these offers might be used. Would be nice to know which 10-12, wouldn't it?
United Nations Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland, who oversaw relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, offered Washington U.N. assistance in a formal letter to new U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. "The United Nations stands ready to help with any kind of disaster expertise that might be required ... in full recognition that the United States is the country in the world that possesses the greatest civilian and military search and rescue and recovery assets themselves," Egeland told Reuters in an interview. He said U.S. officials had thanked the U.N. for its offer, but had not requested any assistance so far.
"The United Nations stands ready to help with any kind of disaster expertise that might be required ... in full recognition that the United States is the country in the world that possesses the greatest civilian and military search and rescue and recovery assets themselves," Egeland told Reuters in an interview.
He said U.S. officials had thanked the U.N. for its offer, but had not requested any assistance so far.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier on Wednesday 10 to 12 foreign governments have offered general assistance to the United States to deal with the hurricane aftermath but no decision had been made about how these offers might be used.
Would be nice to know which 10-12, wouldn't it?
Then she notices that even British are largely indifferent to U.S. Plight:
If British Prime Minister Tony Blair had not been vacationing in the Caribbean yesterday, it seems a safe bet he would have announced to the world that Britain feels deep sympathy for its freshly wounded ally, the United States. He might have been wrong. In fact, to judge by the reaction of some Londoners yesterday to Katrina's rising death toll, Britons seem to feel the United States is overdrawn on sympathy...
He might have been wrong.
In fact, to judge by the reaction of some Londoners yesterday to Katrina's rising death toll, Britons seem to feel the United States is overdrawn on sympathy...
What to say? Is this a reaction to the mischevious "world leader" who is too reckless about global warming and war-making consequences, and who finally got into trouble himself? As an excuse, we can still say that the world seems to be as much shocked as the US President.
a) Part of this is just about time differences and news cycles. It's really only yesterday evening and this morning that the true scale of the event has made it into mainstream media. This is partly because, of course, the US government was downplaying it earlier.
b) There's not much for foreigners to do in this situation. When it's a "poor country" then the charity machine fires up and there are campaigns etc. But we have been told for the last N years that the USA is the richest, most successful, most efficient, most capable, most naturally talented country in the world. So, whilst we may feel sorrow and sympathy for people trapped in the Superdome, there's no campaign to raise money etc. Sorrow and sympathy are just feelings and words, especially in the hearts of normal people. If Malkin doesn't read many European blogs or talk to many normal Europeans, she's not likely to come into contact with those words and feelings.
c) British politicians are all on holiday, so they are not making much media noise at the moment. Lots of blogs and the like are talking about this, but that's not official the way a Tony Blair statement would be for people like Malkin.
I think we in the US are so used to the media hyping up storms, every storm is supposed to be the worst we'll see in our lifetimes. Drama sells. Then, when they turn out to be just another bad but not apocalyptic storm, everyone goes back to whatever they were doing before.
So I think that was the initial reaction when the tidal wave missed New Orleans. Then, over the past 3 days, it has begun to sink in just how horrible it actually is. Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
The only thing is, the people who are in trouble, esp. the ones in grave trouble: the poor African American community, are not the ones who thumbed their nose at the world. Most of them didn't even vote for Bush. So they should not be made to suffer for his behavoir. My hope is that people around the world are able to differentiate between the President and the American citizens. Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
The international community, as well as the UN have offered help. Venezuela was one of the first to offer help. There was a story 3 days ago about Canada having a plane with supplies and personnel sitting on a tarmac, ready to fly, but the US declined the offer and would not give permission for the plane to enter our country. The US government has declined all offers of international help and has said (even in the tidbit Malkin posted) that they have made no decision about how these offers might be used. They can't figure out how to use international help? No surprise, here, considering their mantra is to go it alone, no matter what.
I've been disgusted with my government, since Georgie boy took office. Now, however, I'm so angry the only time I get relief from that emotion is when I'm sleeping.
