A Wave of Questions Putting a Disaster in
Context
How does one comprehend the
magnitude, impact, and context of a disaster that may claim more than 100,000
lives? But enough about the U.S. occupation of Iraq...
Mickey
Z.
12/29/04 "ICH" -- The recent
earthquake/tsunami in Asia raises more questions than answers. Here's a
start:
What's the political context of the disaster? Reports on the
Asian tsunami typically ignore the crucial political back stories in volatile
areas like Aceh and Sri Lanka...and how "aid" efforts will be exploited for
geo-political gain. Without such context, the coverage is woefully incomplete
and irresponsible. Today, Democracy Now did delve deeper into the situation in
Aceh...the military repression, the role of Exxon-Mobil, and now the
earthquake/tsunami.
( http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/29/161219
). Do some research and see for yourself.
Is the U.S. stingy? Even
if we were to trust the estimates of $1 billion in aid eventually coming from
the U.S., that number pales in comparison to the tens of billions being spent in
Iraq to keep the world safe for petroleum. At this writing, the U.S. has spent
an average of $9.5 million every hour on the war and occupation of Iraq. In a
global sense, the U.S. spends $1 million dollars a minute on war...a percentage
of which helps create Third World poverty and the inability to deal with natural
disasters.
Why was there no warning? There was warning. Here's how
the folks at Democracy Now describe what happened: "Within minutes of the
tsunami forming on Sunday, U.S. officials at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
in Hawaii began tracking the waves. But the scientists claimed they had no one
to contact in the Indian Ocean region about the possible danger. One exception
was the British-owned island of Diego Garcia that houses a major US Naval base.
The Independent of London reports that U.S. officials in Hawaii did warn Diego
Garcia about the possible tsunami and the island suffered no major
damage."
Could any of the affected countries done anything? It
might have helped if U.S. scientists in Hawaii hadn't initially calculated the
earthquake at a magnitude of 8.0 (ten times weaker than in actuality). "Based on
it being an 8.0, we assumed the damage would be confined to Sumatra and would be
a local tsunami event," said Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center, "one that strikes shore within minutes of the event." But even
so, we must never forget that profits outweigh people. An official in Thailand's
meteorology department told the Guardian of London, "A proper warning was not
given. If we had given the warning and then it hadn't happened, then it would
have been the death of tourism in those areas."
Will it happen
again? Can it happen here? As I sit here in New York, with a fault line running
across 125th St., I need only remember that 200 million years ago the earth was
one gigantic continent.
Where does this disaster rank for that
area? The continent of Asia is no stranger to natural events like this. A 1942
hurricane in Bengal, India killed 40,000. A 1970 cyclone Bangladesh
claimed
300,000 lives. Going back to 1556, 830,000 died in an
earthquake in Shaanxi, China. August 1931 saw China's Huang He River flood and
kill 3,700,000.
As for man-made disasters, Hurricane Lyndon helped
kill 1,000,000 or so in Indonesia in 1965. Hurricanes Ike, Jack, Lyndon, and
Dick wrecked havoc throughout Southeast Asia for decades...with millions upon
millions dead. We can't forget Hurricanes Gerald and Jimmy...responsible for
hundreds of thousands of deaths in East Timor in the late 70s. The list goes on
and on.
How can I help? If you're trying to figure out a way to
help but do not want your dollars sucked into a huge bureaucracy, you can help
the Indonesian area of Aceh via the East Timor Action
Network:
http://www.etan.org/action/action2/23alert.htm#Donate%20to%20Aceh%20relief.
Another
way to help (in a more abstract manner) is to see past the corporate media
coverage of the tragedy and educate yourself on the deeper issues. The more we
know about the world, the harder it is to fool us. Donate at the link given
above. Donate...then educate, agitate, and demonstrate.
Here in the
U.S., we can't honestly say we haven't been warned...
Mickey Z. is
the author of four books, most recently: "The Seven Deadly Spins: Exposing the
Lies Behind War Propaganda" (Common Courage Press). He can be found on the Web
at http://www.mickeyz.net.
Please consider donating to either of these
worthy groups.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
1-888-392-0392 http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)1-888-588-2372
http://www.afsc.org
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