Tsunami

Just about a year after the devastating earthquake in Bam which claimed the life of more than thirty thousand people, another disaster hits poor nations of Asia. The manmade disaster of poverty is compounded by the misery of devastating tsunamis.

Tsunamis have claimed 70000+ lives and are costing billions of dollars. The war in Iraq has claimed at least 10000+ (some estimates puts it at 100000+) lives and is costing more than 150 billion dollars. It seems that Mother Nature is competing with US government in creating disastrous results.

Bush has pledged 35 million dollars so far for aid which is less than what he will spend on his inauguration ceremony. So much money and resources are spent on a war that is not only illegal, but is defeating its purpose of eliminating terrorism. It is creating more terrorists and is making the world less secure. What it would have been like, if we had all this resources directed towards education, health care, reducing poverty, etc? We would have certainly been living in a much safer world and also the aftermath of natural disasters would have been more manageable.

p.s . US has increased its pledge to 350 million dollars which is much better than their initial response. The main problem seems to be distributing the aid at this point. The weak infrastructure of these poor countries is simply wiped out. It is good that the military forces are finally put into good use for once and are used to help with the distribution of food and medicine.