At Least the Tsunami Victims are Helping Kashmir

Kofi Annan came forward today to publicly shame countries into giving more money for the Kashmiri Earthquake. Is this what it’s come to?? Do we just simply not care about people in need anymore? Recently, a highway bill was passed in the United States and in that bill was alot of wasteful spending. The best example: A bridge larger than the Golden Gate Bridge will now connect 50 people with a town of 8,000 at the cost of $315,000,000. If the congressman who asked for this money had any shame, he would ask for the money to be donated to the victims of this disaster.


BBC Reports:

He warned that tens of thousands of people in remote areas had received no relief, while some three million people were facing the fierce Himalayan winter with no shelter or blankets.

That’s 3,000,000 people facing one of the harshest winters around, outside!

The UN children's agency, UNICEF, has warned that a further 10,000 children could die if relief efforts are not boosted.

I know children die everyday for health, hunger and poverty reasons, and I also know the political reasons why some feel they can’t do enough to help there, but in this case, the problem is clear, it is in a defined location, and the solution is very simple. This is a problem that probably can be solved by simply throwing money at it!

The secretary general complained that the international community had only given firm commitments to fund 12% - or $37m - of the UN's appeal.

37 million?? THAT’S IT?? Why does the UN even have to appeal for this? What should further shame countries tremendously is this:

People in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands are yet to recover from last year's tsunami, but they are now helping South Asia quake victims… the first consignment of relief materials included 200 tents, over a 1,000 blankets and three tonnes of biscuits.

The people of the Anaman and Nicobar Islands had relatively little before the Tsunami, and that was pretty much destroyed after it. Yet they still have an unbelievable heart to contribute whatever they can to help others. This is the “Just World” I hope one day will come to fruition. People giving everything they can to ensure other people don’t suffer needlessly.

Record Setting Wilma

This is pretty much the worst season ever.

Hurricane Wilma, which has swelled into a dangerous Category Five storm, is the
strongest hurricane ever recorded, the US National Hurricane Center says. It says the storm's barometric pressure - a measure of its strength - was the lowest on record in the Atlantic basin. Its winds of near 175mph (280km/h) and heavy rains are threatening Cuba, Mexico and the Cayman Islands.

I know I was wrong about Rita, and I hope I’m wrong about this one, but it looks bad. The storm is currently more than 300 miles across, with 100 miles of Tropical Storm winds! Thankfully it should come down to a Catergory 4 when it makes landfall, but that would be devestating in of itself.

More on this Shady Letter

For a more intellectual discussion of the authenticity of the Al Qaeda letter captured by the United States, I refer you to Juan Cole and his discussion on why this letter is fake. Here are some excerpts:

On the Blessing to the Prophet

The very first element of the letter is the blessing on the Prophet… the phrase "salla Allahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam" (the blessings and peace of God be upon him and his family) is a Shiite form of the salutation…I do not believe that an Egyptian like al-Zawahiri would use this phraseology at all… Adding to the salutation… would be an insult to Zarqawi and to the hardline Sunnis in Iraq.

Al Qaeda themselves have also distanced themselves from this letter.

The U.S. and its Al Qaeda letter

This week a letter sent by Al Qaeda’s #2 man Ayman al-Zawahiri to the leader of the opposition in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was intercepted by the United States and published. After looking this letter over, it is the first one released by the United States that I doubt is real. Following are some excerpts.

“So we must think for a long time about our next steps and how we want to
attain it, and it is my humble opinion that the Jihad in Iraq requires
several incremental goals: …

The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq…

The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate…

The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries
neighboring Iraq.

The fourth stage: It may coincide with what came before: the clash with Israel, because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity.”

Why exactly is this letter laying out goals for the Iraq conflict? Goals were likely established when Zarqawi met with the Al Qaeda leadership a couple of years ago when Zarqawi formally changed his group to be identified with Al Qaeda with the name “Al Qaeda in Iraq”. Even if they were not then, why would you send the goals in a letter, and not discuss and create them face to face?

Now take a closer look at the goals. All of them support the argument that the United States cannot leave Iraq and must remain to remove Al Qaeda from there. If you were the United States and engaged in Psychological Operations, like we know they are, this is the perfect letter for two reasons. First, it reasons why the United States must remain in Iraq, or else look what they are planning.

Second, the letter goes on to tell Zarqawi that he should change his tactics in Iraq to achieve those goals.

“…For that reason, many of your Muslim admirers amongst the common folk
are wondering about your attacks on the Shia. The sharpness of this
questioning increases when the attacks are on one of their mosques, and
it increases more when the attacks are on the mausoleum of Imam Ali Bin
Abi Talib…”

The one thing the United States cannot afford to have is the continual strikes on the Shia. The US can handle attacks on their troops because they can defend against them and minimize them, but are less able to restrain attacks on the Shia. Continual attacks on the Shia have two problems. First, they give the media something tragic to show on the news everyday; the death of 100s of ordinary citizens every month. Second, the more violent and disrespectful the attack, the more likely there will be retaliation. The only thing preventing a civil war right now is that the Shia have not responded to the insurgent attacks, but it is only a matter of time for that to change. It is in the interest of the United States to have Zarqawi change his tactics, not in the interest of Al Qaeda. Although Al-Zawahiri is right in the long term, in the short term it is better for a civil war to break out in Iraq to get the U.S. to leave. Public opinion will plummet when 100s of soldiers begin to die per week, and the United States will be praying for the civil war to stop so they can leave. As soon as it does stop, the U.S. will get out of there quick. I know some don’t think we would leave a place in such bad conditions, but I’d like to remind you of what happened in Somalia. A civil war for a month of two is probably in the best interest of Al Qaeda, no civil war is in the interest of the United States.

For these reasons, I believe this letter is a phony.

Al Qaeda
Al-Zwahiri
Iraq

Why we don't care about Pakistan's Victims

I was discussing the earthquake in Kashmir with a friend today and he asked some interesting questions that I can’t really answer.

Why is it that some disasters get more attention in the United States as opposed to others? Why was there an enormous effort to raise money by ordinary citizens in colleges, schools and churches when the tsunami hit last year, when Katrina hit but not when the earthquake hit Azad Kashmir and Pakistan?

One theory was that 500 deaths in the United States would make big news here, but for events to have the same impact to Americans over 100,000 would need to die overseas. It seems to make sense at first, but when you think more about it, it doesn’t seem so simple.

It seems to me that what affects our desire to help is governed by how emotionally impacted we are by the event. That is largely directed by the media; we would have been less moved if we didn’t see the pictures of the disaster constantly. For example, right now the victims of the Tsunami still need help, but are mostly forgotten.

So how does the media pick which events to prop up as mega disasters, and which ones to glaze over? Is the deaths formula still correct? I’d say no.

Although Katrina, the Tsunami, and the Kashmir earthquake would agree with the formula, other disasters do not. When 800,000+ Rwandans and 1 Million+ Sudanese died, the media was silent, but was ever present during the humanitarian disaster in Somalia, and the Kosovo violence where the total deaths were far less than 100,000.

So what is the answer? Does it have anything to do with the fact that Kashmiris and Pakistanis are mostly Muslim? If there is a anti-Islamic bias, then why cover Kosovo?

Maybe Kosovo is an exception to the rule since our military went there, and our media just followed. Maybe the reason Rwanda and Sudan received no coverage is because they were man-made disasters and dangerous, but wasn’t Somalia man-made and dangerous?

In conclusion, I have no clue why no one cares as much about Pakistanis and Kashmiris.

Why NASCAR?

I’m watching NASCAR right now and it’s got me thinking. The only reason I’m really watching it is because I’m waiting to see a crash, is this normal?? I know everyone seems to hate Kurt Busch, and I’m hoping he does something stupid so I can see it happen.


Normally I hate NASCAR because it’s just so boring; all they do it make left turns in a circle!!! (Now rally car, that’s another story) But what is it about NASCAR that draws people to it? Do they all watch it for the crashes too??

Democracy at it's Best: Energy Bill and the CBS Poll

So today was a bad day for democracy. I was very surprised to see what took place today in the Congress in the House Floor. An Energy Bill was passed on the floor by a vote of 212 to 210. The bill itself is of questionable benefit, but what is unquestionable is that today was not a day for democracy. After a vote took place that left the bill failing 212-210, the GOP extended the vote by more than 30 mins so they could pressure some Republicans to vote for it. The arm twisting that took place helped ‘convince’ two Republicans to change their vote.

New York Times:

The legislation, which now goes to the Senate, passed 212-210, but not before a standoff on the House floor. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., asked at one point, ''Is this the House of a Banana Republic.''

It looked as if the bill was going down to defeat, two votes shy of approval. Democrats to no avail called for gaveling the vote closed as GOP leaders lobbied
their own members to switch votes and support the bill.

''He worked me over a little,'' said Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., among the last group of lawmakers to switch to support the legislation, referring to his discussions with House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois. Rep. Tom DeLay, who recently stepped down temporarily as majority leader after being indicted in Texas over a campaign finance issue, was as active as ever, administering pressure on wavering lawmakers in the crowded, noisy House chamber.

Finally, long after the vote had been scheduled to close, two GOP votes switched, providing the Republican victory. A tie would have killed the bill. ''Shame, shame, shame,'' came a chorus from the Democratic side of the aisle.

Afterward, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California called it all ''a shameless display of the Republican culture of corruption,'' a theme she has used in recent days on a number of issues since DeLay's indictment in Texas on conspiracy and money laundering charges in connection with campaign finance activities.

I know Democrats do the same thing from time to time, and I condemn that also. Is this the will of the people or the will of the party?

The good news is, CBS is reporting President Bush is at his lowest approval rating EVER! I guess the fog is finally clearing.