Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(January 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
A
disaster of immense proportions:
It’s a great pity that it takes a natural
disaster, caused by a huge, under the ocean, earthquake
followed by a gigantic tsunami (ocean wave) which hit
the shores of many Far East countries, causing death
and destruction in its wake, to  bring out the best
in the people of many nations. This disaster of unbelievable
proportions has brought the current known body count
to a number approaching one hundred and fifty thousand
people, (with thousands still unaccounted for), and
it is possible that future disease and pestilence,
due to the rotting bodies and unsanitary conditions,
will double that total.
One religious entity espoused the idea that God had
sent the tsunami to punish the unrighteous - absolute
rubbish! Where on earth do they get this stuff from?
If, as this individual believes, there is a Supreme
Being, then that entity is certainly a sadistic and cruel
force that chooses to destroy the human animal by creating
immense suffering which is generally aimed at the less
fortunate people upon this earth.
 Relief aid has been flooding, (a terrible word to use
considering the circumstances), in from all sources and
yet the most affluent of all nations, the United States,
was alleged to have been slow to respond and in the opinion
of some did not meet the initial financial support that
could have been be expected from the richest country
in the world.
The initial donation by the United States
of thirty million dollars has now been increased ten
fold to three hundred and fifty million dollars. Once
again I plead with you to please do not blame the American
people, who are some of the most generous people in the
world, for dragging their feet in acknowledging the severity
of the international disaster and delaying adequate financial
aid. If any blame is to be assessed - perhaps it should
be aimed in the direction of the American administration
and in particular at the American President, George W.
Bush, who apparently took four days to size up the situation
of the immense natural disaster and publicly acknowledge
the estimated death and suffering of  a huge number of
people brought about by this natural disaster, but what
else is new - this President apparently does not have
a quick reaction capability, as was noted shortly after
the September 11th, 2001 terrorist action upon American
soil.
The granting of immediate aid in a world disaster, (of such immense proportions),
should certainly be worthy of an immediate response from, and reaction by,
the President of the so-called richest nation in the world,
The generosity of the American People:
The criticism apparently still exists worldwide
that the United States Administration can spend hundreds
of billions of American dollars fighting a war in Iraq
to protect American oil company interests, but apparently,
(as some commentators have suggested), baulks and drags
its feet at providing a reasonable amount of financial
aid to the victims of a huge worldwide natural disaster.
It is not fair to blame what I consider to be some
of the most generous of people in the world, (the citizens
of the United States), for what can be considered by
some to be the appalling actions taken by their government
in  outlaying vast sums of money to fight external wars,
but on the surface appearing to be reluctant to provide
relatively smaller, but adequate, sums of money for
humanitarian aid purposes to fight world poverty, disease,
and especially in the case of the current particularly
violent and deadly natural disaster, immediate relief.
I’m sure that the United States will eventually
come through with the necessary aid that is required, as
they have always done in the past, and the world
will be very grateful---but one must remember that America
cannot do it alone and other nations will have to provide
their fair share also.
NB -
Readers in the UK (or abroad) can make charity donations
online via the Disaster And Emergency Comittee web
site at www.dec.org.uk
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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