All people care about other people, and want to do all they can to help in circumstances like these. Many of the westerners coming out of the devastated regions all speak of the generosity of the Sri Lankans, the Thai, etc etc. If we were able to keep the relief effort at that level, it would be wonderful.

But disaster relief is big business, and fraught with geopolitical realities most people think get magically suspended at times of crisis. Nothing could be further from the truth. Because people aren't educated about those cold, hard, brutal realities of "foreign aid" doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, or that we should all plug our ears, cover our eyes, and pull the blankets over our heads.

It is much better to learn the truth, and then have some knowledge to carry us all forward to the next crisis, hopefully changing things for the better along the way, than simply deny that side of disaster assistance and relief exists and spit at the messengers saying otherwise.

I've just watched a State Department briefing on C SPAN. Believe me, I'm not the only one disgusted by the Bush administration's militarist response to the crisis and attempt to usurp the UN's authority as the global institutional leader in humanitarian and refugee aid, assistance, and relief. The reporters kept asking why the US was forming this "Core Group" when it was UN's job to spearhead and coordinate. I'm not just making all this up out of thin air.

The State Dept is also being challenged by the reporters in the briefing why it has taken so long for the US to dispatch the planes and ships already in the region to assist. I don't have any problem whatsoever with ships, helicopters, etc. being used for the rescue and recovery relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. I have serious problems though, with sending in US troops (I mean come on, there aren't any blue helmets or other country's military going into the region that I've heard of) rather than US humanitarian experts and workers, and with any set up that results in our military remaining beyond the initial rescue and recovery phase as a presence in the region. Especially in the most unstable areas like Banda Aceh in Sumatra, where a civil war has been raging for years.