TSUNAMI HYPOCRISY

The terrible disaster in the Indian Ocean which has resulted in loss of life already soaring to 150,000, with many more made homeless and threatened with disease, famine, etc., has brought a genuine outpouring of sympathy and practical help in the form of money, volunteers, donations of food and clothing from ordinary people all over the world.

However, the hypocrisy of world leaders like Tony Blair and George W. Bush is astounding. They weep crocodile tears for the victims of this natural disaster, yet they are personally responsible for over 100,000 Iraqi deaths in their recent war for oil which they dismiss as 'collateral damage'. Recently a U.S. deserter from the armed forces told the Press that in training for the recent Iraqi war soldiers were told that they were not going to Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish democracy, they were going to grab the oil for America and the West. That is the truth of the matter, and Blair and Bush didn't care how many innocent Iraqi civilians died in the process.

Moreover, it ill behoves ANY of the leaders of the nuclear powers to express sympathy for the victims of natural disasters or terrorism when they themselves are in possession of nuclear weapons which would cause destruction on the scale of the Far Eastern tsunami over and over again. Blair, Bush, Putin and the other nuclear power leaders are quite prepared, at the push of a button, to cause thousands of human and environmental catastrophes such as occurred in the Indian Ocean area on December 26th, 2004.

Their expressions of regret and sympathy COULD be taken as genuine if, for example, Blair and Bush humbly apologized for the civilian deaths they caused in Iraq and elsewhere, pledged to pull out all their troops and hand over to a UN security force as soon as possible, and announced that they were going to immediately get rid of their nuclear weapons as they could not contemplate using them under ANY circumstances having witnessed the terrible suffering caused by the tsunami. Blair and Bush should then hand themselves over to the International Criminal Court for trial and sentencing as the international war criminals they are, along with all their cronies. The entire British and American governments, and military leaders, should be locked up for life for their heinous war crimes!

Apart from all this, the effects of the tsunami could have been greatly reduced if there had been adequate earthquake warnings. Apparently weather forecasters in Thailand avoided mentioning the threat, although aware of it, for fear of damaging the tourist trade. Other reports suggest drilling and sonic tests below the ocean off Australia could have triggered the earthquake and the tsunami. Underground nuclear tests have also been blamed for earthquakes on previous occasions.

At any rate, if enough money was put into the under-developed world by the developed countries not only could earthquake warnings, etc. be more accurate and timely all over the world, but the shanty towns and wooden buildings which are so easily destroyed by such natural disasters could be replaced by strongly-built earthquake/tsunami resistant buildings.

It says it all that while local people's homes have been destroyed, tourist hotels on the coast in Thailand and elsewhere are already open for business again, the sun-loungers are out on the beaches, and they are urging tourists to come back. The loss of life wouldn't have been nearly as great if these countries hadn't been saddled with debt to the developed countries, and if their infrastructure had been brought up to developed world standards.

All 'debt' from the under-developed countries should be written off. They don't owe the developed world ANYTHING! On the contrary, the developed countries of the Northern Hemisphere plus places like Japan and Australasia owe the under-developed world billions of dollars in debt for exploiting their human and natural resources for centuries.

Natural disasters will always occur from time to time, but the twin evils of global capitalism and imperialism make them a thousand times worse. The people of Southeast Asia were ill-prepared for the earthquake and resultant tsunami - they didn't have earthquake-proof buildings like they have in San Francisco, nor did they have adequate earthquake warnings. They were caught completely unprepared and the wooden buildings were easily washed away by the tsunami whilst tourist hotels withstood the onslaught, and were quickly put back into service.

Now is the opportunity for the developed countries, and the nuclear powers in particular (including China, India and Pakistan), to mend their ways, do their best to create a fair world for all by dividing its resources so the needy benefit most, and by renouncing forever nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction which would make the tsunami look like a minor incident.

HOME