Time to Live

The more the people of the United States help the less fortunate around the world, the more we are spit on by the people we are helping.

It is the same story time after time.  Foreign countries around the world are willing to take our aid money quicker than Michael Jackson lures young boys into his bedroom.  However, once all the corrupt politicians in the foreign countries have their Swiss bank accounts full of US aid dollars, “Yankee Go Home” graffiti starts appearing on buildings and protests soon start at our embassies.

Our brilliant government leaders, both Democrat and Republican, seem to think throwing our tax money at these countries is going to change the United States' negative image around the world.   This may sound good in theory, but it’s not working.  People around the world will hate the United States even if we end poverty, cure aids, save the world's endangered species and put Michael Jackson in prison.

After the December tsunami that killed an estimated 200,000 people, the United States pledged over 350 million dollars in aid to Southeast Asian and East African countries affected by the tsunami.  President Bush promised the dollar amount would be higher once the true extent of the destruction was known.

Predictably, 350 million dollars and President Bush's promise of more money is not good enough for leftist around the world.  Liberals whined that a country as prosperous as the United States should pay much more.  President Bush was accused of “being stingy” by Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator and head of the Norwegian Red Cross.

Stingy?  My guess is Egeland must have had too much Glogg to drink during the Christmas holiday.  What else would make someone say something so idiotic?  Maybe it’s true what the Swedes say about the Norwegian's.

Soon after news of the tsunami became known, United States Navy ships and military personnel rushed to the affected areas to help dig out survivors, rebuild roads and provide much needed drinking water to distraught victims.  Over 2000 US Marines and millions of dollars worth of aid were rushed to Indonesia.

In case anyone has forgotten.  Indonesia, a predominantly Islamic country, had thousands of people dancing for joy in the streets on September 11th after Islamic terrorist slaughtered 3000 people in the World Trade Center bombings.

In a strange twist of fate, the 2000 United States Marines sent to Indonesia to help the stricken, were on their way to fight Islamic terrorist in Iraq.  Now they are helping people who could very well turn out to be Islamic terrorist in the future.

Indonesian authorities, apparently appeasing their radical Islamic population, announced that U.S. troops providing tsunami disaster relief must leave the country by the end of March.  Vice President Yusuf Kalla said foreign troops should leave tsunami-ravaged Sumatra Island as soon as they finish their relief mission.  "Three months are enough. In fact, the sooner the better," Kalla was quoted as saying.

In an effort to ease the fears of local citizens, Marines participating in the humanitarian mission on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, have agreed to leave their weapons behind on their ships whenever they go ashore.
 
My question is this:  Are the leaders in the Pentagon out of their minds?  Sending unarmed Marines into an Islamic country where the majority of the people hate Americans, is like disarming General George Custer's troops and sending them to the Little Big Horn to hand out beef jerky to the Indians.  This sounds like a stupid idea Bill Clinton would come up with, not George W. Bush.

Bleeding heart liberals think our act of kindness in Asia will ease the hatred the Muslim world has for the United States.  I think our kindness just kindles the fire of hatred.  The United States never wins in these endeavors.  We are either accused of flaunting our wealth by world elitists, or accused of not providing enough money to the poor of the world.  We just can't win.

I really feel sad for the loss of life in Indonesia and other parts of Asia and Africa.  I think the United States should spend as much money as is needed to help the less fortunate.

As for our military in Indonesia:  I think it is time to pack up and leave before we have another Somalia incident on our hands.  The Marines should go to Iraq and kill terrorist like they are trained.  They shouldn’t be handing out care packages.

Who is going to help the Indonesians when the Marines leave?  I don't know.  Maybe Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla should feed his own people.

Just make sure we watch the balance of his Swiss bank account.
 
Steve Darnell

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