Paper no. 1215	07. 01. 2005
Aid to Tsunami Victims-View from US Guest Column-by Hari Sud A second Tsunami is in the making. It is the Tsunami of grief and sympathy for the victims of the killer wave, which struck South and South East Asia. Translated into financial terms, people of North America are mobilizing to aid the victims.  This will bypass the official aid, which President Bush has promised. The media is mobilizing with telethons and beaming aid addresses and phone numbers for people to contribute. Radio and talk show hosts are raising funds together with Hollywood personalities who are leading the funds collection drives. Corporate America is opening its wallet and financial institution are contributing and collecting funds for the same purpose. The aim is to get everybody in America realize the enormity of the situation and contribute freely. The same is happening across Canada too.  In one single stroke, image of America is changing from an armed bully to a benevolent nation.  Stingy Nation Utterances Struck US Hard.  A senior United Nations official’s utterances immediately after the Tsunami that US is stingy in its contribution, hit where it hurts the most – prestige. It was a holiday in America (and Europe too) when the Tsunami hit. Everybody was home with his or her family. Enormity of the situation was unclear and stingy American officials contributed a paltry sum of $15 million. Others in the west followed with similar paltry amounts. This led the UN official to utter the harsh words. Smitten with the words, Colin Powell, the outgoing Secretary of State came on the TV to denounce the word stingy and raised the amount to $35 million. This, still a paltry amount, further led the print media in US to question, US’s aid giving during emergencies. A further flurry of activities brought President bush who was holidaying 2,500 miles away into the picture. He immediately raised the sums to $350 million. Now it was no longer a paltry amount.   Political Benefits of This aid  The worst hit areas of Tsunami are Muslim fundamentalist areas of Indonesia in Aceh Bandar and Tamil areas along Eastern Ceylon. The southern tip of Sri Lanka, holiday islands of Thailand and Tamil Nadu state of India were also affected. The US aid with one masterstroke rehabilitated the stingy - bully like American image in the minds of people of Aceh and also Sri Lanka. US concentrated a bulk of its effort at Aceh. That province of Indonesia is center of Muslim insurgency. If US could project a benevolent aid donor image, it could undermine the Muslim fundamentalists influence in the area. Hence US marines and helicopters are rushing aid to the local population.   Sri Lanka’s east coast and southern tip was in the eye of the Tsunami, hence are second worst hit areas. India, realizing that US will concentrate in the tourist areas in the southern Ceylon, ran to help the eastern Tamil districts. This effort bought goodwill for the Indians. Not to be left behind, UK and other navies joined in the rescue effort.  US Mobilizes Public for Aid  Once, the political benefit of the aid to the victims was realized, President Bush asked the two past presidents – President Clinton and President Bush (Sr.) to join in the effort to mobilize public and corporate America for donations. The two past presidents promptly appeared on a talk show and appealed for donations. Their appeals were the start of a major effort to raise funds. Now everybody in the streets of America wishes either to contribute or solicit funds for the victims. It is just a matter of time that an equal amount as promised by President Bush will be raised with private donations. This drive has no parallel. Previous drives like Ethiopia famine relief is dwarfed with its size and effort.  Colin Powell and Brother Bush in South East Asia.  Colin Powell had a lot to do with UN officials calling US as a stingy. He is leaving the job hence was not fully tuned into the happenings except that he did not like America to be branded as stingy. As hours passed, he felt the heat from the White House staff and raised the amount. Then he decided to visit three country’s embassies affected by Tsunami in Washington DC and signed their condolence books. He missed to visit the Indian Embassy. Whether this act was deliberate diplomatic rebuff to India is not known. India is not in his itinerary during his current South East Asian visit. I will assume that it is a rebuff. He, in last two years has not missed an opportunity to either snub India or deliberately keep India in the dark on US policy in the region.   Never mind Colin Powell, President Bush and Former Presidents Clinton and Bush (Sr.) visited the Indian Embassy to express sympathy for the victims. During his trip the current President Bush indicated to the embassy staff that he has plans to visit India in 2005. That is a good news and first indication of tangible political gains for India from this disaster.  Western Media and the Tsunami Warning Media  Day after day the media in the US does not miss to remind that - had there been a Tsunami warning system this human tragedy could have been averted. True but far fetched conclusion. Warning systems are built for impeding disasters. If, no such disaster has ever happened in the region and none is predicted with good certainty then how does one conceptualize and design a system. Tsunamis happen in the Pacific Ocean and near Japan. These happen with great regularity there, hence a warning system has been built to save life and dams and walls have been built to save the property. These systems will be pointless, if early warning system information could not get to the people in the area, as is the case for the coastlines of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The current Tsunami took only two hours to reach Sri Lanka and India. In this timeframe hardly anything other than panic could have been initiated. Public communication system along the coast together with Tsunami warning system is necessary. One without the other is useless. The scene will not be any different if a large Tsunami travels towards American west coast. The west coast residents may have a two hours head start, but panic will jam all the exit points.  This scene is seen every year when Hurricanes visit Florida coast. Roads are jammed for days by people who are trying to get out of the way of Hurricane.  How is India’s Refusal to Allow Aid is going down in the West  Western media is quite hard pressed to explain the above refusal. They are having tough time to find dead and desperate people images from India. The Western media travels in the wake of the aid organizations. If no Western aid is sent, then images are unavailable. Two electronic media networks rather gave India a bit of a credit for acting as a big boy. They clearly mentioned that Indians are not only helping themselves but also helping others.   The ex President Clinton during his media interview on the subject said that visit by a western dignitaries will adversely affect the aid effort. The visit will take away the resources, which are currently busy in rescue operation. The same is true about western aid. An army of photographers and reporters, which will clog an already strained system, follows aid.  Hence, if a nation has a capable rescue system of your own then outside aid is unnecessary.    Where are the Arabs?  One does not get an impression that Arabs are benevolent people. They have billions of dollars. But most monies go to build palaces and printing free Quran booklets. None goes into other worthy causes. Most of the destruction has happened in a Muslim country of Indonesia. Still a paltry sum has been promised by Arab Kingdoms. They should remember that all their oil wealth passes thru the narrow straits of Indonesia and Singapore. Indonesia’s lack of co-operation in movement of this commerce will jeopardize their wealth.  Long Term Commitment of Aid  Immediate needs of rescue and food and shelter have been fulfilled. It is the long-term aid, which will make the difference. America is committed itself for the long haul. That is what President Bush said. We have to believe him.  Long-term advantages of this aid include goodwill of the people.  This will definitely polish America’s image. It is a contrast to the bully image, which America has generated for itself after the recent Gulf war. This is one great opportunity to lay it to rest. (The author is a retired Vice President from C-I-L Inc. and has lived in Canada for the past 34 years. A graduate of Punjab University and University of Missouri; Rolla, USA, the author is a former investment strategies analyst and international relations manager. The Views expressed are his own. email- harisud@hotmail.com)
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