The generosity of the United States
Jan. 25, 2010 4:00 p.m.
During the past year, the United States has seen a President intent on apologizing for what he perceives to be the mistakes and misdeeds of our country. A President who admires countries like Cuba and Venezuela. A President who tends to dismiss those countries that are our allies in favor of those who are our enemies. A President who is very hesitant to say anything good about America or tout it's greatness.
Recently, as everyone knows, a devastating earthquake shook one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere - Haiti. Measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, the earthquake toppled buildings, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people. Haiti has been impoverished for centuries. The government is corrupt. Haiti's infrastructure is akin to a third world country, with little signs of improvement over the years. Destitute. Most of it's people have no marketable skills and only a small minority finish school. Most Haitians exist on pennies a day. Hard to imagine it could get any worse, but it has.
So, which country was first in line to come to the aid of the Haitians? Even prior to this horrific act of nature, which country sends many groups and individuals on humanitarian missions to the region - intent on helping the impoverished with dental care, health care, education, engineering, etc.? When devastation strikes, what country is the first to come to the rescue? What country provides physical help as well as monetary aide?
Another horrific event comes to mind, similar to what has befallen Haiti. In December of 2004, Southern Asia was devastated by a massive tsunami, leaving almost 179,000 people killed and close to 50,000 missing and/or presumed dead. The United States immediately sent $400,000.00 to embassies in the region, and gave $4,000,000.00 to the International Red Cross. The U.S. Pacific command sent three surveillance planes to the area in an effort to help survey the damage. President Bush went further with an aid package of $950 million - which included the following (from the White House/George W. Bush - US Support and aid for earthquake and tsunami victims website):
- $339 million for reconstruction of infrastructure, such as the construction of roads, schools, and water distribution systems;
- $168 million to help victims transition back to their communities, including food aid, shelter, housing reconstruction, education, and programs that help victims recover and get back to work;
- A total of $35 million for early warning and disaster mitigation efforts -- $23 million to improve the international and U.S. tsunami early warning system, and $12 million to enhance tsunami early warning and disaster mitigation in the affected countries;
- $62 million for good governance and technical assistance for planning reconstruction activities and the costs of U.S. government agency operations in the region; and
- $346 million to replenish costs incurred by the United States Agencies for International Development (USAID) and the Defense Department for provision of immediate relief.
To date, the United States has committed $350 million in emergency relief assistance – which will be replenished in the supplemental to enable the United States to respond to future emergencies. This is in addition to operational costs incurred by the Department of Defense. Relief resources have been focused on emergency food assistance, provision of relief supplies, shelter, water and sanitation, health, education, cash for work, livelihoods recovery, psychological and social support, protecting women and children from human-trafficking, logistics and coordination, and debris clean-up.
When the earthquake hit, USAID immediately worked to mobilize staff to respond to the humanitarian needs in the affected countries. At the height of the relief effort, more than 150 USAID personnel, including Disaster Assistance experts, were on the ground in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives, and the Seychelles conducting assessments of affected areas, managing U.S. civilian response, participating in the overall coordination of relief and reconstruction activities, apprising funding requests, and recommending appropriate U.S. Government relief efforts.
- The United States, through USAID, has funded debris clean-up and other community rehabilitation projects in the relief phase benefiting more than 344,000 people through cash-for-work projects and temporary shelter for more than 165,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India.
- USAID has also funded water and sanitation activities in the emergency phase benefiting more than 885,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives.
- USAID provided 21,220 metric tons for the first four months of World Food Program (WFP) operations, contributing to WFP's beneficiary total of 1.4 million tsunami victims.
· The Defense Department brought into action military assets to support relief operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The Defense Department has been providing vital supplies and logistics to the humanitarian effort since December 30.
- At the height of the DOD humanitarian support activities, there were nearly 16,000 U.S. military personnel in the region focused on this effort.
- There were 26 ships, 58 helicopters, and 43 fixed wing aircraft.
- DOD delivered over 10 million pounds of food and supplies and provided well over 400,000 gallons of fresh water.
- To date, DOD has treated almost 2,500 patients.
Other agencies have also contributed to the effort including the State Department with diplomatic coordination, the Department of Health and Human Services by deploying technical health experts, the Department of Agriculture with food aid, and the Treasury Department through the efforts of the international financial institutions.
Former Presidents Bush and Clinton will visit tsunami-affected countries of South and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Maldives in February 2005.
Estimates place the generous private-sector donations towards the tsunami relief efforts at more than $700 million.
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The people of Haiti will be helped by the greatest nation on the face of the earth: The United States of America. We are the most generous country in the world. Other countries look to us for help and guidance when tragedy strikes - and we always come through. Whether it be our government sending military, monetary, or general aide, or the people of our nation reaching into their own pockets to send as much as they can spare to help out - the United States can always be relied upon. No matter that many in our own country are unemployed and our own economy is in dire straits. Americans will help one another - and others much less fortunate. This has been proven time and time again.
Oh, of course we will hear the usual laments regarding "Hurricane Katrina" and what a terrible job President Bush supposedly did in helping the New Orleans area. Yet, if people honestly examine what happened in that area, one would find the federal government reacted exactly the same way it does for any major catastrophe in our own country. The response was quick and the federal government did what it could, given the circumstances and logistics. The failures of New Orleans fall directly on it's local and state government officials - for their own corruption and ineptitude. The culture of poverty prevalent in New Orleans, and people who lived their lives dependent on the government to solve all their problems, didn't help. Many people didn't know what to do - having been so dependent on others for so long, they were lost when left to their own devices for a period of time. Of course, we don't hear too much about that, since one of the favorite mantra's of libs is "it's Bush's fault." Does a day go by now without President Obama uttering those same words?
In getting back to my original question,: When devastation strikes around the world, what country is the first to come to the rescue?
And no, the answer is not Cuba, Venezuela, Europe, Saudi Arabia, China or Russia for that matter.
The answer is the good ole' United States!!! A fact that we should ALL be proud of!
(If you would like to make a donation to the Haitian relief efforts, click on: Haiti Earthquake Aftermath; How to Help for more information. And Rush Limbaugh was right in stating that Americans wishing to help should NOT send their money to Obama and the federal government. They already take enough of our money to use as they see fit through taxes. Limbaugh instead encouraged people to send their money to reputable charities of their own choosing! I agree.)