by Cactus Jack » Sun Feb 19, 2023 3:05 pm
DND wrote:It was over a week before AID trucks were let in. War or not, no one living in a natural disaster site should be left helpless. Watching them dig with hands and spoons was gut wrenching. Now they are getting through, the Syrian border guards are demanding payment. They are having to give them some of their cargo to get in. All the while both sides flashing pearly smiles for the cameras, while their people are in Hell.
Now the Americans are being sanctimonious about the Aid they have given them, while bombing the bejesus out of Syria at the same time! You could not make this up.
Do you think it right that the UN "waited" for permission? (They don't need permission btw), or do you feel there was a real threat to aid workers going there?
Being a bit of a cynic, I think they may have had a heads up about the US airstrike that was about to happen.
In a war zone there are definitely threats to both aid workers and to the resources that will be deployed into any emergency situation, to the extent that some corruption and looting is 'factored in' when allocating aid.
That's not a surprise. In this country we saw the extent of corruption when ordinary vetting processes were suspended when handing out PPE contracts. The Tories shovelled literally billions into their own pockets and the pockets of those near and dear to them, how much greater the opportunities are when there is almost no functional state around to oversee the process.
As there is no added moral value in saving one life over another if it's difficult to get the aid into place A and save 100 lives Aid Agencies just go to place B instead and save 100 lives there
I wish the earthquake victims in both Syria and Turkey well and whereever my meagre donation ends up I'm gratfied to know a life will be saved. Whether that's a Turkish life or a Syrian life makes no difference.
[quote="DND"]It was over a week before AID trucks were let in. War or not, no one living in a natural disaster site should be left helpless. Watching them dig with hands and spoons was gut wrenching. Now they are getting through, the Syrian border guards are demanding payment. They are having to give them some of their cargo to get in. All the while both sides flashing pearly smiles for the cameras, while their people are in Hell.
Now the Americans are being sanctimonious about the Aid they have given them, while bombing the bejesus out of Syria at the same time! You could not make this up.
Do you think it right that the UN "waited" for permission? (They don't need permission btw), or do you feel there was a real threat to aid workers going there?
Being a bit of a cynic, I think they may have had a heads up about the US airstrike that was about to happen.[/quote]
In a war zone there are definitely threats to both aid workers and to the resources that will be deployed into any emergency situation, to the extent that some corruption and looting is 'factored in' when allocating aid.
That's not a surprise. In this country we saw the extent of corruption when ordinary vetting processes were suspended when handing out PPE contracts. The Tories shovelled literally billions into their own pockets and the pockets of those near and dear to them, how much greater the opportunities are when there is almost no functional state around to oversee the process.
As there is no added moral value in saving one life over another if it's difficult to get the aid into place A and save 100 lives Aid Agencies just go to place B instead and save 100 lives there
I wish the earthquake victims in both Syria and Turkey well and whereever my meagre donation ends up I'm gratfied to know a life will be saved. Whether that's a Turkish life or a Syrian life makes no difference.