… so I keep my money in my pocket; or what else is the reason for the missing donations towards the disaster in Burma???
I can see that the excuse is that the regime isn’t letting the help through. And of course that’s horrible. But some of the international aid organisations like Save the Children are already inside Burma and they are litterally pleading for more donations. So why don’t you donate some of your surplus right now!
I was thinking about the not-exactly-necessary things I’ve bought within the last couple of weeks. I won’t tell you all of it, because, frankly, it’s pretty embarrassing, but I’ve bought some handkies for my husband, a wall calendar to keep up with school holidays etc., white tea to satisfy my spoilt tastebuds, a cute shirt for Dane, Vanity Fair and eh, probably a lot more. So donating a few pounds towards people in real need hasn’t exactly bankrupted me! Nor will it bankrupt you, I suspect…
The next issue of course is what to do about that awful regime down there?!? Handing Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi the Nobel peace prize didn’t exactly do the trick, did it? And the international pressure seems to be making no impression on the generals whatsoever. Small wonder, when the bulk of “international pressure” seems to be directed towards the “evil regimes” in the middle east (and then there’s North Korea). China, who is the Burmese regime’s primary protector, is probably at the core of the problem here. Because the world leaders seem to be more than reluctant to put any kind of pressure on the Chinese, no matter if it’s about their oppressive regime at home or the protection of others’. Did you know that a good deal of the war in Iraq is actually financed by China? Well, it is, because China is lending money to the US on an scale hitherto unheard of. Read here and here. And now China has to deal with it’s own catastrophe, the earthquake. The timing couldn’t be worse!
On a favourite American news site of mine, Slate, they argue for a REAL “coalition of the willing”. Namely countries who are willing to intervene on behalf of the Burmese people against their leaders. France & Germany – have another go, please! And Britain – join a coalition that’ll do the world some good for a change. That goes for you too, Denmark…
Pictures from the New York Times
