tw & me

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have heard that India turned down help from the US Military. They only want civilian aid. I can't verify it, though.

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I have heard that India turned down help from the US Military. They only want civilian aid. I can't verify it, though.

India has a very special and careful relationship with the indigenous people on the islands of Andaman and Nicobar. For some unknown reason, they are very careful to protect these people from outside influences much like the Galapagos Islands are also protected. Is this where India may be rejecting foreign aid? I don't know details other than India is careful to limit outside exposure of these people.

[Dagney]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I have heard that India turned down help from the US Military. They only want civilian aid. I can't verify it, though.

You're right Bruce...and until last week, they turned down ALL outside aid.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Dagney

I'd really like to know how you know absolutely without a doubt, barring the mainstream press the President didn't do anything.

What day did the military finally get its marching orders? Thursday. This from the White House. The Lincoln was on scene two days later. The Marines finally arrived today. Why? George Jr finally made a decision last Thursday. For five days, nothing was dispatched. Timeline provides damning facts - dude.

[Dagney]

Originally Posted by tw

What day did the military finally get its marching orders? Thursday. This from the White House. The Lincoln was on scene two days later. The Marines finally arrived today. Why? George Jr finally made a decision last Thursday. For five days, nothing was dispatched. Timeline provides damning facts - dude.

That's funny, there were troops en route Sunday, on the ground Monday.

And I'm not a dude. But try pulling yer head outcherass....'dude'.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by tw

However George Jr never ordered action until Thursday - and only after worldwide redicule. His day three aid was phone calls?

My link showed you were mistaken, but I'm sure your opponents will call it dishonesty or incompetence.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

My link showed you were mistaken, but I'm sure your opponents will call it dishonesty or incompetence.

Please cite the quote? Yes he did offer some C-130s and some recon planes. Yes, he did offer $15million - which according to your citation was upped to $35 million on day three after the first wave of criticism. IOW that still constitutes a near zero response - similar to George Sr's response in the five days after Hurrican Andrew. FEMA will never make that mistake again. But again, if you see something different, then cite it. Where did he do anything more significant than a few phone calls on day three?

[Dagney]

Actually, I'm having MUCH more fun watching you prove that you are TW....yes, yes indeed, MUCH more fun.

Good lord dude, you are a rabid bull dog on a slimy bone...give it up.

You're so far out of the box, you're knocking on it from the bottom.

Do you think, just by chance, that there is a slight chance that there was no IDEA of the amount of damage and destruction by day 1, and that things were going on behind the scenes to determine what needed to be done and how to do it?

Honestly, you want to know what I think? You hate Bush SO much, that you were going to latch on to the first thing you could to just parrot 'mental midget mental midget mental midget' so you could feel better about things. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

And I notice, that you still haven't answered the questions sent your way. Hiding the fact that you've not gotten off YOUR ass...what..21 days later and made a donation to the people who have died?

I do believe that would make YOU a hypocrite.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Dagney

Do you think, just by chance, that there is a slight chance that there was no IDEA of the amount of damage and destruction by day 1, and that things were going on behind the scenes to determine what needed to be done and how to do it?

You tell me what the president did for those first three days. You looked at the satellite photos that the president had on day one. You tell me that is was not a disaster on a massive scale. Even back then in the first days, we were talking about 17,000 dead with the number to exceed 40,000. That alone is enough to dispatch the USS Lincoln right then and there. You saw those satellite photos. Town was not just destroyed. Land beneath the town was removed. Anyone with those satellite photos - ie a mental midget president - knew this was a disaster of the decade. But George Jr could not even make a phone call to offer help for three days. It may have been worse. It may have been the disaster of generations.

But George Jr could not even make a phone call for three days - having this information. He did same with PDB warnings of the WTC attack. He sat on it - or better still - he never bothered to read it.

Why would you defend a man who caused the death of 98,000 Iraqis - who intentionally lied about WMD, undermined the Oslo Accords, almost got us into a war with China, and even tried to blame Saddam for the WTC attack. This is a moral man? Dan Rather is, in comparison, a saint.

You cannot prove George Jr is anything but a mental midget. That is your conclusion. Fine. We agree. The term mental midget is an accurate depiction.

Just curious. Can he spell potato?

[Undertoad]

Certainly. Your exact quote was "George Jr sat on his righteous ass - did nothing - for 5 days as people were dying." My link was a press conference held on day three which showed that he had done something on day two... announcing the creation of the "regional core group" of the US, Australia, Japan and India for the mobilization, on the basis of diplomatic work done on day two. And all of that is less than four hours old and is present in this very thread.

So, why your inaccuracy?

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Certainly. Your exact quote was "George Jr sat on his righteous ass - did nothing - for 5 days as people were dying." My link was a press conference held on day three which showed that he had done something on day two... announcing the creation of the "regional core group" of the US, Australia, Japan and India for the mobilization, on the basis of diplomatic work done on day two. And all of that is less than four hours old and is present in this very thread.

Action, my friend. Where is the action? When did he authorize any significant action? George Jr did not for five days.

In the meantime, that coalition which I understood to be Japan, Australia, the US, and China was later disbanded because the UN could do a better job. In the meantime, what action did that coalition accomplish? Action - like stock the USS Kitty Hawk with supplies and helicopters. Like dispatch C-17s with so many single pallets of emergency aid for remote villages? Where was the action for 5 days while people were dying? Action like in get satellite pictures to the Indonesian Interior minister. Like ask the president of Sri Lanka what she needs on day one and get it to her.

You cite a coalition that I understood broke up because it was unworkable. What action resulted from that coalition?

[Undertoad]

On the same day as that conference, the Pentagon rolled out the biggest military relief project in history. Why your inaccuracy?

In the meantime, here's what the Financial Times says about the UN's response.

The UN is being criticised for its failure to organise dozens of aid groups in and around Banda Aceh more than a week and a half after the tsunami hit the region, forcing some of them to bypass the international body and take action into their own hands to ensure aid reaches areas with the most urgent needs.

"If we wait for the UN to tell us what to do, we wouldn't do anything," said Abdul Hadi bin e Rashid, first admiral of the Malaysian navy at the country's operations tent at Banda Aceh airport.

"There are people who are hungry and angry. Why wait? So we just do it."

There's your "action" my friend.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

There's your "action" my friend.

Where does it say anything about major US action on or before Thursday - five days after the Tsunami?

UN 'failing to co-ordinate relief efforts' on 7 Jan 2005.
The UN is being criticised for its failure to organise dozens of aid groups in and around Banda Aceh more than a week and a half after the tsunami hit the region...

The article also complains how aid was held up on Wednesday because Powell arrived for a visit. Nowhere does it say anything about the size of Pentagon aid let alone say when the Pentagon finally got started. Nowhere does it say "Pentagon rolled out the biggest military relief project in history".

It was a famous commerical - "Where's the Beef?" No significant action occurred for five days while George Jr thought about making a decision. Maybe he could not contact Cheney for five days?

The Pentagon probably has rolled its biggest relief project in history - after George Jr stopped stifling the Pentagon for five days. Aid that should have been flowing on Sunday could not move because a lovable George Jr took five days to make a decision. Does the name Dan Quayle sound familiar?

[Undertoad]

This Telegraph article summarizes the tensions between the US and UN

Talking points on both sides in that article, but it's clear one side wants to act and one side wants to talk about acting. Guess which side is which.

At the same time, US officials were briefing journalists about the lack of a UN presence at the airport in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province.

"Look around and see who's present, and you will also see who's missing," said one. "I think you can read between the lines.

"They [the UN] have their compound in town, their cars, but are they getting food out? Are they setting up clinics?"

[OnyxCougar]

He won't answer that. Nor will he answer if he has ever been part of a relief effort, wither in the air or on the ground co-ordinating. Nor will he answer why Lookout is somehow responsible for GWB's actions. (I still can't figure that one out.) Nor will he apologize for his libel.

Because if he did, it just might prove he's talking directly out of his ass.