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| Southeast Asia |
| Sri Lanka Rejects Tsunami aid, AGAIN (just send money) |
| 2005-01-05 |
Several blogs have reported that the government of Sri Lanka has rejected a contingent of 1,500 US Marines sent there to aid in tsunami recovery. Today, I just heard that a huge US military relief force had been rejected. More than 1,300 Marines ready to disgorge from a US warship with emergency equipment and shelters for the tens of thousands made homeless were simply given the message "No thanks!".A small contingent of US Marines had already landed in Sri Lanka before someone there changed their minds. Also see Jerusalem, Dec 28 : Sri Lanka has refused to accept an Israeli rescue team which was to leave today for the island nation to assist operations, as it would accept only supplies because the tsunami-hit areas "are swamped with rescue teamsAlso see A vocal, influential, and extremely small Muslim minority in Sri Lanka was blamed by talk show host Steve Lucas on the 12/28 refusal. There is no evidence that there has ever been a "surplus" of rescue teams in Sri Lanka, rather the opposite. These twin refusals of aid have gotten virtually no coverage in the MSM. Perhaps additional thousands of Sri Lankans died due to the stupidity of the Sri Lankan government. No wonder they have a civil war. Their dithering caused a large contingent of aid to be delayed in delivering critically services to those willing to accept it. |
| Posted by:Whutch Threth6418 |
| #8 I guess in this case, the Sri Lankans really will FOAD. If they won't tolerate help from our military, we should take care that not one red cent of our aid is allowed to be washed through some politically correct organization for their benefit. Help the Thais and, if they're sufficiently grateful, the Indonesians. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-01-05 4:29:36 PM |
| #7 The UN special representative has got to them. Look for a communique shortly announcing a Massive UN Coordinated Effort for Sri Lanka. Food for Flood complete with minor administration charges levied for all. |
| Posted by: john 2005-01-05 4:16:44 PM |
| #6 Aha. Carry on. |
| Posted by: lex 2005-01-05 1:56:14 PM |
| #5 Meant the Sri Lankans, lex. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-01-05 1:31:44 PM |
| #4 Sorry, have a day job thousands of miles away, tu. |
| Posted by: lex 2005-01-05 1:10:31 PM |
| #3 See ya! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-01-05 1:08:55 PM |
| #2 If there was ever a chance for the blogosphere to outshine the MSM, this is it. Bloggers are in the thousands, on the ground and can cover the regions far more effectively than the Beeb or CNN can. And most importantly, bloggers don't give a shit about the idiotic pronouncements of UN Coordinators of Coordination and do not consult "experts" in order to write speculative BS about the effects of a colossal event whose effects are massive and completely unpredictable. |
| Posted by: lex 2005-01-05 12:32:32 PM |
| #1 If they've changed their minds, fine, let them be. Our help should only go where it's wanted. Oh, and no money in lieu of direct help. No telling where that money would end up, but it certainly wouldn't be in the hands of those that really need it. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-01-05 12:04:35 PM |