Whatever the truth about the response to Katrina, the perception of the rest
of the world (among others things) is that:
The response was slow.
The ones left in New Orleans were the poor and the black (in many cases
both). The impression is so what? They're black and they're poor. (If this
is so, then to me this is the most damaging. I'm not racist in any sense,
and can't abide racism in others. I don't judge anyone by the colour of
their skin, their religion or anything else about them - I only see a person
as another human being. I might not like them when I get to know them, but
that's based on them as an individual.)
When asked if the response would have been better if troops hadn't been in
Iraq "We will defeat terrorism" appeared in Bush's reply before anything
about the hurricane.
Bodies have been left lying in the street like pieces of meat to be eaten by
rats.
People were evacuated to a stadium with insufficient facilities to cater for
them, and they were left without food or water for days.
The attitude of troops finally sent in is that they will do what they've
been told to do and nothing else.
There is no urgency in the response, except to get 20 oil tanker ships to
Europe to fill up with fuel oil.
When the tsunami hit, there were buckets at supermarket checkouts, people
holding fund-raising events and and a huge appeal went out. For this there's
not even a hint that anyone wants to make a donation - after all the US is
the most powerful, richest nation in the world.
As I said, this might not be the true picture, but that's the perception of
the world, and nothing seems to be being done to persuade us otherwise.
Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK
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