Thank Goodness For The Americans

Now here’s a Canuck, Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington, who gets it…

“Thank goodness for the Americans. What would this world would be like without the U.S.?

Especially in times of natural disasters like the Boxing Day tsunami that killed so many and shocked the world into unprecedented humanitarian generosity.

…The U.S. initial pledge of $35 million, later upped to $350 million is just the start. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell anticipates $1 billion from the U.S. — double the $500 million pledged by Japan, which will likely also up its giving.

U.S. President George Bush has recruited two former presidents — his dad and Bill Clinton — to head U.S. fundraising for the tsunami victims. It is one of those moments in history where the world is united — and America is leading.

As well as being the world’s wealthiest nation, Americans are the world’s most generous — $249 billion given annually to various corporate and private charities.

…Pledging money is vital, but it doesn’t save lives immediately. Again, that’s where the Americans shine.

The first large-scale international relief to the victims was from a U.S. warship, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln which sent relays of a dozen helicopters loaded with relief and medical supplies into the stricken area. The U.S. military has field hospitals, and soldiers, Marines, sailors who turn instantly into social workers and bleeding-heart aid workers.

…And it’s not just for this tsunami in the South Pacific. It happens every time there’s a horrendous natural disaster — an earthquake in Turkey, Iran, or the Balkans, mud slides, floods, whatever — the Americans are invariably first with direct, on-the-spot aid, no questions asked.

Some see the tsunami disaster as a chance for the U.S. to mend fences with the Islamic world with its aid — showing the people of Indonesia (the world’s largest Muslim country) that America is not the devil incarnate.

Maybe this will happen, but not likely.

Ordinary people in the under-developed world rarely view Americans as anything except what’s desirable.

The supposed unpopularity of the U.S. is often propaganda and rhetoric, and not shared by the people of the world who, even after 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan and the war against terror, seek to come to America to live in freedom and prosperity.

Those anxious to get in have no doubts about what America is — the most desirable country on Earth.

…A world without the U.S. would be a sorrier world indeed, especially when leadership in humanitarian causes is needed. “

Exactly!

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin for finding this one.

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