We're From the UN -And We're Here to Help?

What has the UN done for you lately? The tsunami victims in Asia might well be asking themselves that questions these days. In the intervening days since the disaster, there appears to be very little in the way of aid from the bloated agencies of the UN. Maybe they haven’t figured out a way they can skim funds from this tragedy like they did from the “Oil for Food” program in Iraq. The UN is irrelevant. The UN is impotent. The UN is corrupt. Why don’t they just go away?

UN officials have commented on the situation however. UN Undersecretary Jan Egeland has called the US “stingy” even though we are, by far, the biggest contributor of aid in this disaster. In fact, we have contributed more to the victims of this calamity than all other nations of the world combined. Much of the aid we contribute is raised from private religious (Christian) sources which is astounding since virtually none of the victims are Christians. When was the last time you heard of Muslims sending aid to Christian disaster victims? I guess it's pretty much a one-way street. Americans -Christians- are NOT stingy!

But Egeland just couldn’t resist the opportunity to bash America. The UN apparently has it, as part of their standard operating procedures, to bash America. Maybe we should withhold next year’s UN dues, -and donate the money to the victims of the tsunami?

It's hard enough to raise private funds from US religious organizations for disaster aid in remote parts of the earth without the bad-mouthing from the UN. If we strip away all the veneer of civility and human compassion, most people outside of the affected area don't really care what happened to the far-off people of Sumatra or Sri Lanka. It sounds cruel, but it is nonetheless true. If the situation were reversed and we had suffered a catastrophic natural disaster in America, they wouldn't care much about us either. In fact, after 9/11, many of them were dancing in the streets. Many of the victims are Muslim. Where is the aid from Saudi Arabia and the other oil-rich Muslim countries?

Egeland's stupid statement doesn't help ameliorate the problem at all. The USA has always been generous to a fault even if most of the aid is ultimately purloined by greedy local government officials for their own personal use. We've always been far more generous than any other nation in history. Unfortunately, in reality there is little that can be done in the wake of such overwhelming natural force. Whatever aid we throw at this enormous disaster will be like spitting into the ocean. But help, we will. We always do.

And the world will remain ungrateful. They always do.