I wonder how much of the current discussion of American aid to earthquake/tsunami victims is driven by a genuine humanitarian sentiment, and how much by a desire on the part of the political establishment to rehabilitate the image of America in the eyes of the world. Expressing concern for the physical devastation and deaths of 100,000 plus victims of a natural disaster may divert attention from the devastation and deaths of 100,000 plus Iraqis killed by the savagery of the American state. When former presidents join forces to issue platitudes, and politicians fly into ravaged areas for photo-ops, and the major media become preoccupied with asking "are we doing enough?," I suspect that the statists have found another disaster to exploit for their ends. It has been my experience that individuals have always been quietly generous in helping the victims of disasters, and are doing so in this case. But when the state and its servile media pose as caring benefactors to the suffering of one set of victims, while maintaining a rigid indifference to the suffering experienced by the victims of American aggression, they engage in a cruel hypocrisy that ought not be tolerated by decent people.
