Penny Wise, Dollar Dumb

Juan Cole makes some interesting observations in the course of linking to several relevant articles covering the earthquake/tsunami disaster in South Asia and Indonesia:

Such catastrophes can have a political impact and can affect security affairs. The failure of the Turkish government to respond in a timely manner to the 1999 earthquake [link] sounded the death knell for the government of then prime minister Bulent Ecevit, and set the stage for the later victory at the polls of the Muslim reform party, Ak.

As John F. Harris and Robin Wright of the Washington Post cannily note [link], US President George W. Bush has missed an important opportunity to reach out to the Muslims of Indonesia. The Bush administration at first pledged a paltry $15 million, a mysteriously chintzy response to what was obviously an enormous calamity. Bush himself remained on vacation, and now has reluctantly agreed to a meeting of the National Security Council by video conference. If Bush were a statesman, he would have flown to Jakarta and announced his solidarity with the Muslims of Indonesia (which has suffered at least 40,000 dead and rising).

Indeed. Any number of blogs have noted a distinct lack of serious reaction on the part of the Bush administration to what is a catastrophe of truly global consequences (for instance, consider: many of the areas affected by this tragedy produce goods and/or services consumed here in the USA). Bush has been tepid in his response--in fact, my own opinion is that he's probably a little pissed that a such an event would ruin his perfectly good vacation--unlike, say, Iraq, which at this point looks more and more like the baby from Eraserhead.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the world showed an incredible degree of solidarity with the United States. In contrast, it speaks volumes that Bush very publicly made it clear that more important things were on his agenda--like clearing brush, working on his inaugural and SOTU addresses. Which makes me wonder what the world reaction will be if, god forbid, another major terrorist attack occurs in the country...