This Date in Bush History 12/29: The Decency Dividend

[BlueButGlad2]

On This Date in Bush History 12/29: The Decency Dividend

"Tart Words make no Friends: a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than Gallon of Vinegar" Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1744

2004: President Bush discusses US support for the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Asian tsunami today. "This morning, I ... expressed my condolences and our country's condolences. I told them of our support". Mr. Bush would give almost $1 billion for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Additionally, 16,000 US military assisted in the region including 26 US ships, 58 helicopters, and 43 aircraft. Over ten million pounds of food and supplies and over 400,000 gallons of fresh water were contributed.

The effort paid a surprising dividend. In a world that has recently come to hold a low opinion of America, a 2005 global opinion survey found one Muslim country where the opinion of America had actually improved. That country was Indonesia, 88% Muslim, and a recipient of much of the tsunami aid. Likewise, the 2007 version of this survey revealed that the U.S. got some of its highest approval ratings from African nations, reflecting the generous help that the Bush administration has given to fighting AIDS there.

The surveys reveal the dividends that can come when money is spent on things like food and water instead of dropping bombs. While the hundreds of billions spent on military operations in Iraq served, by almost all accounts, to increase dislike of America in the Arab world and add to the numbers of anti-America terrorists, the spending of less than $1 billion in Indonesia made us friends instead of enemies. If Iraq and 9/11 have taught us one thing, it is that, for all of our military might, it can be very difficult to detect and stop suicide bombers, determined airplane hijackers, and those hiding bombs in roads. Every individual that is turned against America is a potential terrorist than can sneak through our defenses. Every individual who comes to see us as a caring and good people is one less person susceptible to being recruited by the enemy.

Consider the dividends if a portion of those hundreds of billions spent fighting Saddam were instead spent showing the world that we are not, in our hearts, a country that desires to create the misery and destruction that was created in Iraq. Guns and bombs might seem the obvious tools to use in a fight, but they are not always the best way to defeat an enemy, or gain allies, in the age of terrorism.

Excerpted from the FAREWELL TOUR of the 2008 Bush Calendar: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm (These posts end TUESDAY)