"Soft Not-Power"
Begin forwarded message:
> From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
> Date: September 3, 2005 4:35:59 PM EDT
> To: Ip Ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
> Subject: [IP] Reactions From The World Press BBC selection
> Reply-To: dave@farber.net
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@adelphia.net>
> Date: September 3, 2005 4:27:45 PM EDT
> To: dave@farber.net
> Subject: Reactions From The World Press
>
>
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4211320.stm
>
> Press dismay at Katrina chaos
> Newspapers around the world see Hurricane Katrina's chaotic
> aftermath as a defining moment for the presidency of George W Bush.
>
> While there is clear sympathy for the disaster's victims, many
> commentators place the blame for the delayed rescue effort squarely
> on Mr Bush's administration.
>
> Mexico's El Universal
>
> The slowness with which the USA's federal emergency services have
> joined the rescue operation has already generated great political
> tension... There is no doubt that the lack of well-timed responses
> to assist the population will have political costs for President
> Bush's Republican Party in the next federal elections.
>
>
> Colombia's El Colombiano
>
> It is now urgent that the world's leaders take heed of nature's
> warning, look at the evidence and realise that the climate, on a
> global scale, is changing. This is already known from scientific
> reports, but they continue to ignore it, to play it down, or not to
> care about it.
>
>
> Argentina's Clarin
>
> Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because,
> now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of
> an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more
> than anyone.
>
>
> Spain's El Pais
>
> Up until Monday, Bush was the president of the war in Iraq and
> 9/11. Today there are few doubts that he will also pass into
> history as the president who didn't know how to prevent the
> destruction of New Orleans and who abandoned its inhabitants to
> their fate for days. And the worst is yet to come.
>
>
> Spain's La Razon
>
> Proving that even the gods are mortal, it is clear that the USA's
> international image is being damaged in a way that it has never
> known before. The country will probably be able to recuperate from
> the destruction, but its pride has already been profoundly wounded.
>
>
> France's Liberation
>
> Bush had already been slow to react when the World Trade Center
> collapsed. Four years later, he was no quicker to get the measure
> of Katrina - a cruel lack of leadership at a time when this second
> major shock for 21st century America is adding to the crisis of
> confidence for the world's leading power and to international
> disorder. As happened with 9/11, the country is displaying its
> vulnerability to the eyes of the world.
>
>
> France's Le Progres
>
> Katrina has shown that the emperor has no clothes. The world's
> superpower is powerless when confronted with nature's fury.
>
>
> Switzerland's Le Temps
>
> The sea walls would not have burst in New Orleans if the funds
> meant for strengthening them had not been cut to help the war
> effort in Iraq and the war on terror... And rescue work would have
> been more effective if a section of National Guard from the areas
> affected had not been sent to Baghdad and Kabul... And would George
> Bush have left his holiday ranch more quickly if the disaster had
> not first struck the most disadvantaged populations of the black
> south?
>
>
> Ireland's The Irish Times
>
> This is a defining moment for Mr Bush, just as much as 9/11 was. So
> far his reputation for prompt and firm crisis management has fallen
> far short of what is required.
>
>
> Saudi Arabia's Saudi Gazette
>
> The episode illustrates that when the normal day-to-day activity of
> society disintegrates, the collapse of civilisation is only a few
> paces behind. We all walk on the edge of the abyss.
>
>
> Musib Na'imi in Iran's Al-Vefagh
>
> About 10,000 US National Guard troops were deployed [in New
> Orleans] and were granted the authority to fire at and kill whom
> they wanted, upon the pretext of restoring order. This decision is
> an indication of the US administration's militarist mentality,
> which regards killing as the only way to control even its own
> citizens.
>
>
> Samih Sa'ab in Lebanon's Al-Nahar
>
> The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina... has proved that even
> the No 1 superpower in the world is helpless in facing nature's
> 'terrorism'.
>
>
> Pakistan's The Nation
>
> To augment the tragedy, the government of the world's richest
> nation defied the general expectation that at the first sign of the
> storm it would muster an armada of ships, boats and helicopters for
> the rescue operation. For nearly three days it sat smugly apathetic
> to the people's plight, their need for food, medicine and other
> basic necessities.
>
>
> Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po
>
> This disaster is a heavy blow to the United States, and a lesson
> which deserves deep thought... [It] is a warning to the Bush
> administration that the United States must clear its head and truly
> assume its responsibility to protect nature and the environment in
> which humankind lives.
>
>
> Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
>
> Even if our money may not be needed, at the least we should be
> offering moral support. Our skills in dealing with storms may be
> useful to help Americans prevent other such tragedies. We should be
> offering this help rather than shrugging off what should be our
> humanitarian duty.
>
>
> Ambrose Murunga in Kenya's Daily Nation
>
> My first reaction when television images of the survivors of
> Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans came through the channels was that
> the producers must be showing the wrong clip. The images, and even
> the disproportionately high number of visibly impoverished blacks
> among the refugees, could easily have been a re-enactment of a
> scene from the pigeonholed African continent.
>
>
> BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television,
> press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more
> than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several
> bureaus abroad.
>
>
> Published: 2005/09/03 15:18:54 GMT
>
> © BBC MMV
>
> -------------------------------------
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