Largest Earthquake in 40 years hit Asia

[dilloduck]

And where in the hell are the rich Muslim countries ??????? supporting terrorism.

 

[no1tovote4]

And where in the hell are the rich Muslim countries ??????? supporting terrorism.

I don't think that we should let that color our reaction.

Other than a PR coup, it would simply be an outlet for the compassion that the US often feels.

 

[Said1]

France is cheap. The country is only giving 100,000 euros.

:cof: Touche! Points for you!

 

[dilloduck]

I don't think that we should let that color our reaction.

Other than a PR coup, it would simply be an outlet for the compassion that the US often feels.

I think our reaction will be the same generosity as always---even when it comes to helping Muslim nations but when some yahoo says the US is stingy or some liberal says we're waging a war on religion, the truth needs to be magnified so these assholes get it !

 

[no1tovote4]

I think our reaction will be the same generosity as always---even when it comes to helping Muslim nations but when some yahoo says the US is stingy or some liberal says we're waging a war on religion, the truth needs to be magnified so these assholes get it !

First donate the money, then rub their faces in the truth.

Bush is sending military aid to help build the infrastructure needed to get the help to the right places and for medical help. He has pledged 35 million. We donated ? dollars. The US is clearly not stingy.... blah blah blah.

 

[padisha emperor]

Even for a tragedy, you kick France.
And then ? you will say that France is responsible of the Earthquake ?

morons...


Last estimation of the casulaties : more than 80,000.
This subject is really good to laugh, and to kick France. Totally.


France give 1,000,000 euros, not 100,000....
And EU give 30,000,000 dollars.....in these 30 millions, France pay too, France and german,y are the 2 countries who pay the more in the EU. Be sure, that in this help, we pay a lot.
so, shut up, and think to the victims and their families, instead of beeing stupid.

 

[no1tovote4]

Even for a tragedy, you kick France.
And then ? you will say that France is responsible of the Earthquake ?

morons...


Last estimation of the casulaties : more than 80,000.
This subject is really good to laugh, and to kick France. Totally.


France give 1,000,000 euros, not 100,000....
And EU give 30,000,000 dollars.....in these 30 millions, France pay too, France and german,y are the 2 countries who pay the more in the EU. Be sure, that in this help, we pay a lot.
so, shut up, and think to the victims and their families, instead of beeing stupid.

You are still only one member country, Germany another.

You give so little per capita! Only 1,000,000 Euros? Sad and piddling little offer indeed!

The entire EU ends up giving less than the US? We send support troops in order to help build the roads and other infrastructure. We send an Aircraft Carrier to help aid in delivering aide to places that need it and for the medical support that they can give. What does France do? They point to the EU as if that makes up for the sorry piddling amount your country is actually willing to do! The EU is not your country France is, look to yourself before attempting to judge us.

 

[KarlMarx]

Even for a tragedy, you kick France.
And then ? you will say that France is responsible of the Earthquake ?

morons...


Last estimation of the casulaties : more than 80,000.
This subject is really good to laugh, and to kick France. Totally.


France give 1,000,000 euros, not 100,000....
And EU give 30,000,000 dollars.....in these 30 millions, France pay too, France and german,y are the 2 countries who pay the more in the EU. Be sure, that in this help, we pay a lot.
so, shut up, and think to the victims and their families, instead of beeing stupid.

Actually Padisha, private individuals here in the US are giving that much and a lot more. With our government's contribution, don't be surprised if over 50 or 60 percent of the money that goes to the affected areas come from America.

As for kicking France during this time of need. May I remind you that the UN seemed to have found the time to kick the US during this crisis. In addition, your country's government has acted pretty dishonorably during the entire Iraqi war and during the 1990s. First, your country was involved in the oil for food scandal, many high ranking government officials were accepting kickbacks and bribes from the Saddam regime. Then your government was helping Saddam Hussein avoid sanctions, then your government was trying to get the sanctions lifted. And all for economic benefit.

So, it's not that we hate France, we just hate governments that collaborate with mass murdering maniacs like Saddam Hussein. In addition, your president Jacques Chirac has made it quite clear that the EU should do all it can to counter American influence in the world. That sounds like a statement that is hostile to the United States to me.

So what are we as Americans supposed to think? Are we supposed to support and admire your government when it has demonstrated time and time again over the course of the past several decades that it is hostile to us? Like you, we love our country and we resent being the constant target of ridicule, and being blamed for all the perceived problems in the world.

Let me also remind you Padisha, that many American soldiers are buried in your country because they died trying to help gain your freedom in two World Wars. Some of us on this board have uncles, grandfathers or other relatives that fought during World War II in France.

I am afraid Padisha, that eventually our two countries will part company. France has not been a good faith partner in the war on terrorism and seems to be heading down the path of confrontation with us.

Sorry to have to break it to you like that, but that is the way it is with our two countries.... and will continue to be until your government changes its attitude.

 

[Trigg]

With 100,000 deaths 1/3 to 1/2 of them being children, this is not the time to be bickering back and forth.

Bush confronted the UN about the stingy remark and they backed down. It never should have been said.

 

[freeandfun1]

hey Karl, don't forget.... the French were selling the Iraqi's anti-tank missles and other weapons right up until just before our invasion..... da pricks!

 

[Adam's Apple]

France give 1,000,000 euros, not 100,000....

The list of countries giving financial aid was listed on the internet yesterday, and France was listed as giving 100,000 euros. I will try to locate the listing again and bring it to the board for everyone's information.

Dilloduck, as far as the Arab countries are concerned, the only two I remember seeing on the list of financial contributions were Israel and Saudi Arabia. There could have been others, but that is the only ones I remember off the top of my head. The south Asian countries involved in this tragedy are closer to the Arab countries than they are to the U.S., so it dumbfounds me that more of the Arab countries aren't contributing to this worthy cause.

 

[freeandfun1]

The south Asian countries involved in this tragedy are closer to the Arab countries than they are to the U.S., so it dumbfounds me that more of the Arab countries aren't contributing to this worthy cause.

A friend of mine is a Malaysian Muslim. He always tells me that the Arab Muslims and the SE Asian Muslims in many ways don't like each other. The Arabs probably just figure that it was "God's will" and so who are they to offer aid to the suffering - that deserved it in "God's" eyes......

 

[NATO AIR]

The news only gets worse and worse, but now EVERYONE seems to be realizing the horrific magnitude of this, and is starting to get on the ball.

There's a carrier task force on the way to Thailand/Indonesia and an expeditionary force on the way to Sri Lanka. Apparently this is only the beginning, the Pentagon says this is looking to be an operation with missions and goals to stretch into 2006... these people have been devastated in a way most of us can not imagine.

(and besides, the US is the FIRST & BEST RESPONDER to these disasters, fuck the europeans, they probably want a trade deal or something in return for assistance, and don't even get me started on their chinese allies)

 

[KarlMarx]

hey Karl, don't forget.... the French were selling the Iraqi's anti-tank missles and other weapons right up until just before our invasion..... da pricks!

True.... of course, if I were to list all the transgressions of the French, Germans, Russians and Chinese with regard to Saddam, I'd have to break my strict policy of limiting my posts to 100 million words or less.....

 

[freeandfun1]

True.... of course, if I were to list all the transgressions of the French, Germans, Russians and Chinese with regard to Saddam, I'd have to break my strict policy of limiting my posts to 100 million words or less.....

sad but true!

 

[NATO AIR]

good on him

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/i...&en=86aab162f77ac9dc&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Bush Announces 4-Nation Team to Coordinate Aid for Southern Asia
By DAVID STOUT

Published: December 29, 2004

"We will prevail over this destruction," President Bush said today from his Texas ranch in his first comments on the disaster.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 - Breaking his holiday silence, President Bush promised a long-range American commitment today to help countries battered by earthquake-spawned waves.

"These past few days have brought loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension," Mr. Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., as the death toll from the tsunamis on Sunday continued to climb. He said the United States would work closely with Japan, India and Australia to coordinate relief efforts.

"We are committed to helping the affected countries in the difficult weeks and months that lie ahead," Mr. Bush said, adding that Washington had pledged an initial $35 million in assistance and was prepared to contribute much more.

The president said he spoke this morning with leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia. "I praised their steadfast leadership," Mr. Bush said, adding that he had assured them of America's continued support.

It was not clear whether Mr. Bush's news briefing, which had not been scheduled, was prompted by concerns that critics might accuse him of insensitivity if he did not speak out. But he made it very clear, as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell did on Tuesday, that he resented any suggestion that the United States was not generous.

The president was clearly annoyed by remarks on Monday by the United Nations' humanitarian-relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, that rich Western nations were being "stingy" in doling out aid to flood-stricken regions. Mr. Egeland, a Norwegian, later backtracked and said he was not speaking of any specific country, but his comments had already ignited controversy.

"I felt like the person who made that statement was very misguided and ill-informed," Mr. Bush said today. "In the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food, in cash, in humanitarian relief to cover the disasters for last year."

"That's $2.4 billion," Mr. Bush went on. "Forty percent of all the relief aid given in the world last year was provided by the United States government."

The president said Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman would lead an American task force to work with Japan, India and Australia to help coordinate relief efforts among various agencies and to encourage other countries to join in.

In enlisting India's help in coordination efforts, and in describing India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia not just as beneficiaries but as partners in a long multinational recovery effort, the president seemed to be taking care to avoid any hint of American condescension toward less-developed countries.

While Mr. Bush did not cite a specific monetary amount for America's long-range contribution, he said that individual Americans as well as official Washington would continue to be generous. Nor can some contributions be easily measured in dollar terms, Mr. Bush said, alluding to the Marine Corps expeditionary force that has been assigned to help.

"It takes money, by the way, to move an expeditionary force into the region," Mr. Bush said. The Pentagon has also sent transport planes to Indonesia with tents, blankets, food and water bags.

The Navy is sending into the region seven water-producing ships, five from Guam and two from Diego Garcia, as well as a hospital ship from Guam, Lieut. Gen. James T. Conway of the Marine Corps said at a State Department briefing. General Conway, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said each water-producing ship could turn out up to 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day.

The general said teams were being deployed in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia "to make immediate assessment as to the nature and the scope of the impact of the disaster" and what needs must be met first.

Since the initial American contribution of $35 million has drained the emergency relief fund of the United States Agency for International Development, the agency will soon ask the White House budget office for more money, the agency's administrator, Andrew Natsios, told The Associated Press. The agency is an independent unit that works closely with the State Department.

 

[NATO AIR]

its reading stories like this, you begin to slowly picture the horror of what happened, and the devastation this will signify for decades to come for so many. we saw this on CNN today a few minutes before quarters and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...9dec29,0,7908295.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Father's Grip No Match for Wave
Hundreds of children in a southern Indian city were killed, unable to fight the torrent. Parents wonder if they should have done more.

By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer

NAGAPPATTINAM, India — To save his only son, Vijay Kumar hugged the boy as hard as he could. But in the struggle against the horrific power of the waves, that last embrace just wasn't enough.

Kumar fought hard. He refused to let the first wave take 3-year-old Rajaraman when it lifted the pair to the height of a two-story building and whirled them around.

He wouldn't let go when the wave bashed father and screaming child against snapped trees, tumbling chunks of concrete and other debris as they tried to keep their heads above the choking, dark water.

But then the tsunami dropped them as quickly as it had snatched them, and something wooden, a tree or piece of a smashed boat, hit Kumar hard in the back.

The force of the sudden blow threw open his arms. The water pulled Rajaraman away and down into a roiling torrent, and all his father could do was watch the terrified face of his son as the boy disappeared.

On Tuesday, Kumar still had not found his son's body, so there cannot be a burial, a proper goodbye. And a father's heart is as empty as the menacing ocean is deep.

"What else is there left in life? I have lost my son," he wept outside the ruins of his home in the port area of this southern Indian city. "My God, what did we do wrong to lose him?"

At least 2,500 people died in this city Sunday morning, a majority of them women and children unable to fend off the three waves that struck in succession, tossing dozens of fishing trawlers around like playthings and dropping one upside down on the pedestrian bridge that joins two parts of the port.

The waves rolled hundreds of yards up the street leading into the port's customs compound, leaving dozens of corpses in the road. Volunteers who helped collect the bodies said they found several dead women clutching the corpses of small children.

Hundreds of bodies were still believed buried under the sand along the city's beaches Tuesday, and the stench of death filled the air. Many of the residents wore surgical masks, hoping to ward off the sickly sweet smell.

Worried that rotting corpses could take more lives by spreading disease, health officials ordered them collected in city trucks and dumped in mass graves. Many were buried before they could be identified.

More than half the dead were children, and burial teams continued to pile their corpses in mass graves Tuesday, mainly with women and the elderly.

The survivors are left to live with tormenting questions: Could they have done more? Did they try hard enough to save the children who weren't strong enough to save themselves?

"I'm the only one in my family now," said Nagaraj, 45, a fisherman who sat dazed on a broken slab of concrete with his last few belongings stuffed in a plastic bag by his bare feet. "A family of four, starved of humanity, by three flooding waves," he added, and his voice trailed off.

Nagaraj, who like many Indian Tamils goes by one name, managed to ride out the waves by holding on to a large chunk of tree bark and bodysurfing the raging waters.

His 80-year-old mother, Ponnammal, his wife, Valli, 40, and their 7-year-old son, Rishekeshan, disappeared in the water.

"And there are multitudes of other children orphaned," he said. "The shock has been so severe that we can't even explain what's happened with fate, God's or nature's, just yet."

Kumar's mother, Uma, was nearby when the first wave came out of nowhere and crashed down on the family's two-room brick home, knocking half of it down. The waters left several hulking fishing boats up to 48 feet long in the street out front and in the backyard, beside smashed cars.

When the family saw the tsunami racing toward the shoreline about 100 yards away, it was already too late to do anything but stand in terror.

"It was 9 o'clock sharp when we heard people running, yelling and wailing," she said, and her voice broke. "And then, without a moment's notice, the horror struck us. I was thrown almost 20 feet up and then back down. This happened three or four times before I could hug a bamboo pole and escape."

Kumar was asleep when he heard what he thought was a loud crackling noise, as if an enormous fire was racing through the port.

"I came to ask my mother in our snacks shop what the burning sound and the commotion I heard were," he said. "At that instant, the angry sea invaded our little house like a thick, black mass of water."

His son was swept away as the wave retreated. At least 15 minutes later, another surge smashed into the home.

"The sewage systems collapsed. The saltwater and sewage choked our mouths and nostrils, and the tide was overwhelmingly powerful. I could only hold on to my wife and daughter, and we were thrown about 300 yards before we formed a chain with other adults to hold on to anything sturdy."

Kumar's wife was seriously injured and hospitalized. But their 18-month-old daughter, Bhakiyalakshmi, was small enough for him to hold tightly like a ball and not let go. She survived.

Ravi Francis, 33, lost his four children to the three waves, which he said hammered his village on Kallar River next to Nagappattinam every 30 minutes. The first hit as the family was eating breakfast. In the last seconds that Francis saw his three daughters alive, Maniyarasi, 3, Prema, 8, and Sivashankari, 10, were desperately trying to hold on to the windowsill as the water pulled at them.

The body of their brother Vijayabalan, 9, hadn't been found. But two of the girls' corpses were found half a mile away from their home, dumped by the retreating waves near the river. Another was stuffed deep inside a tangle of thorn bushes.

"My daughters are together with the human rubble in mass graves now," Francis said. "But I have decided to pick up the threads of my life once again. At least I have my wife and mother to turn to. I console myself with that thought."

 

[NATO AIR]

hopefully they won't be unfounded

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,334721,00.html

Does Aceh Have a Chance for Peace amid the Disaster?

The Indonesian province of Aceh was hit hard on Sunday. First by the quake and then by the tsunami. Thousands have perished. But the disaster presents the breakaway region on the northern tip of Sumatra with an opportunity as well. Current relief cooperation with the Indonesion military could result in an easing of tensions that have spurred a decades-long war in the region.

In the square in front of the landmark Raya Baiturrahman Mosque in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh, debris is strewn chaotically about, some heaped in piles over six feet high. Nearby, dead bodies -- dozens of them -- are neatly laid out in the streets of the city. Some are covered in bright orange plastic. Many others are not. And they aren't the only corpses. On Tuesday, some 1,500 dead were buried in a mass grave out by the airport.

But the dead, this time, aren't a result of the civil war that has been raging in the separatist Aceh Province for decades. At 7:58 a.m. on Sunday, the region, on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, was rocked by a tremendous earthquake. Aceh was the closest land mass to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude trembler and damage was immediate. Streets were ripped open, telephone polls broke in half and buildings collapsed into piles of rubble.

And then came the tidal wave.

The water was suddenly everywhere -- up to 10 meters (33 ft.) deep according to Aliuddin, a resident of a coastal village in the province, in an interview with a reporter from the Indonesian Internet news site detik.com. He says he found his unconscious niece in a seven-meter-high tree. Her mother disappeared in the waves.

Death and destruction in Aceh

According to the first estimates, up to 3,000 people lost their lives in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh alone, but the number will very likely be much higher than that in the end. Unconfirmed reports from the coastal region of Meulaboh, just 150 kilometers south of the earthquake's epicenter, indicate that up to 10,000 people may have lost their lives. If true, that would represent 80 percent of the population of the region.

The Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla now estimates that the total dead in Indonesia could be as high as 25,000, which would be higher than in any other of the affected countries.

Foreign relief efforts have gotten underway across the Indian Ocean region. But here, for the four million residents of Sumatra's northernmost province of Aceh, conditions may get much worse before they get better. Not only do survivors there have to battle the threat of disease, the absence of power and drinking water, and completely overwhelmed hospitals, but the region's decades-old civil war could also hamper relief efforts. Aceh rebels in the Free Aceh Movement, known by its Indonesian acronym GAM, have been fighting against the Indonesian military for decades -- the same military that is now organizing relief efforts.

Peace has been close a number of times. In May 2003, the disintegration of a peace treaty resulted in martial law for the region with 50,000 Indonesian soldiers facing 5,000 rebels. Even though the status of the region has since been reduced to an "emergency area," military operations continue. At least they did until Sunday.

An ongoing and deadly civil war

Authorities say that over 2,000 rebels have been killed in fighting in the region since May 2003. Human rights activists have been vocal in their critique that many civilians have likewise died in the fighting. Since 1976, more than 12,000 have been killed as the GAM fights for independence for the oil-rich province of Aceh.

Now, however, even as thousands of dead continue to be discovered, piled up or buried in the mud and rubble, there are new hopes for peace in the region. The GAM on Monday ordered a cease-fire to allow relief workers access to the region and the Indonesian government has also eased restrictions that had prevented foreign journalists from traveling into the region. The Indonesian military and police operating in the region -- who were, until just days ago, intent on hunting down rebels -- have switched over to humanitarian operations and say they are now focusing on helping earthquake and tsunami survivors.

"We're holding back," Lt. Col. Ali Tarunajaya, a police chief in Aceh told the Associated Press. "We're not going to arrest the rebels. They're looking for members of their families, just like many of our police members are looking for theirs. We're all crying together."

DPA
Indonesian soldiers on patrol in Aceh: An opportunity for peace.
Despite the positive moves, there has still been some feet dragging, and many relief organizations have expressed frustration at not being given visas immediately. A group of 20 relief workers from Taiwan were forced to wait on Monday in Medan, a town in a neighboring province, because they didn't have the visas they needed to enter Aceh.

The emergency aid coordinator of the international relief organization Terre des Hommes (TDH), Michael Buente, told SPIEGEL ONLINE, that providing aid in the region would still be difficult, even with the borders open. The state of martial law in the area, he explained, has made it considerably more difficult for TDH to carry out projects in the region. "Many of our partners, especially human rights activists are the subject of state persecution," said Buente. Years of war along with Sunday's tsunami have also devastated the area's infrastructure, which will make it more difficult to get supplies and aid workers where they need to be.

The positive side of catastrophe

Despite the difficulties, the catastrophe likely will have positive side effects in the region. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke of a "national catastrophe" and ordered three days of official state mourning. He also released 50 billion rupiahs (about €4 million) for immediate aid to the region. Not much, counter critics, compared to the €580 million the government has spent in fighting the rebels in recent years, but it is still a step in the right direction. Indonesian diplomatic sources have also told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the country's vice president, Jusuf Kalla, has conceded that Indonesia will be unable to deal with the catastrophe on its own and is urgently requesting international aid.

But the massive humanitarian crisis could also ironically bring some concrete steps in a positive direction; after years of fighting, the Indonesian military has an opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the Aceh Province residents.

"It sounds awful, but this disaster is going to give the Indonesian army a good reputation," Dede Oetomo, a peace activist who has worked in Aceh, told the AP. "Since the disaster, all you read about is army, army, army. I'm actually thinking that the army is using this disaster to win over the hearts and minds of the Aceh people by showing themselves as necessary, that they are the good guys."

Others also see possibilities for the rebels to take a breather from what has been a difficult year of fighting for them and for the Indonesian government to show more dedication to coming up with a peace plan.

"GAM has taken some very serious losses over the past year and they may be looking for a reprieve" said Aceh expert Ken Conboy. "This also might provide an opportunity for the government to rethink their Aceh policy and come up with something that is a bit more cerebral, rather than continuing the policy of a civil emergency without any game plan."

 

[onedomino]

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From the USGS, check out the quake activity near Sumatra since 12.26 (website might take a minute to load):

http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/

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[Adam's Apple]

France give 1,000,000 euros, not 100,000....

The article I saw listing initial donations by countries is no longer available on Reuters. Revised figures now show that France is giving 20 million, which is a far more respectable figure than 100,000 euros (about $177,000).