BF2S Forums Sould the U.S. rebuild itself before other country's

I think we should definitely rebuild our country (WTC & N.O.) first, but I don't think we should completely disregard the countries that we mess up in the name of peace and security. I guess we should rebuild both at once, while giving more priority to NO first, so they can get back on their feet down there, then focus on a new WTC.
   I know that i would be a new enemy of the US if i lived in another country and US forces came in, destroyed it (in the name of security), then left without doing a damn thing to help us.  And at this stage in the game, I don't think the US can afford many more world enemies.

On New Orleans.  People have distaste for the people who resided there not because they lived there, but because they were too incompetent to heed the warnings, acted intolerably in the aftermath (looting, corrupt cops), and then turned around and blamed the federal government for their state and city governments' utter lack of competency.  To make matters worse, they implied that the federal government was racist and to blame for the disaster, and the populace reelected a mayor who made openly racist comments and was shown to be incompetent.  Those of you who blame Bush for NO are ignorant of the fact that it was niether his responsibility or right to intervene until asked by the Governor of Louisiana (a democrat, mentioned to imply sinister political cajolling by said political organization).  The fact of the matter is that the federal government was called in only after it was too late for a lot of people.  The political structure of the United States implies that the states should take care of themselves, and that the federal government intervene only at the request of the states.  With regard to the levies, they should have been built to higher standards, and were intended to be at some point; however the politicians at the state and local level did not make the levies a popular concern to the point where it would be politically expedient to complete the levies.  However, the state of Louisana has now asked for help, and should be duly assisted.  However, the federal government is NOT explicitly responsible for the reconstruction of private property, that is what flood insurance is for.  Btw, I should point out that it would be common sense to purchase flood insurance if one lives under sea level, near the ocean.  With regards to the WTC, it was destroyed as a result of the federal government's failure to protect the state of New York from outside influences.  This is different because the devastation was from an external political and military enemy.  This responsibility is given to the federal government by the Constitution. 

However, the real issue of the thread is not the debate between NO and WTC, but rather between the reconstruction of America and the reconstruction of the countries.  I will say this.  We do not have the legal responsibility to rebuild other nations who have suffered natural disasters or military agression by people other than the United States i.e. Indonesia during the tsunami, Iran during their earthquakes, Israel and Lebanon.  However, what aid we can provide for them should be given, for it IS the moral responsibility of the strong to assist the weak.  And if America wants to claim the moral high ground (beacon of freedom, hope, liberty etc.... all that stuff we think we are) it must act accordingly.  This does not mean those countries should get priority over the United States however, because it is the responibility of a government to help its people first.  With regard to those countries that need reconstruction due the military acts of the United States; it is our responsibility to help those we knowingly choose to inflict harm upon FIRST before ourselves.  It is our responsibility to help the innocent who we harm first and foremost; for it was done by our hand, our choice, at their expense.

kr@cker wrote:

no one has ever cut the funding for the levy system, this is some old shite and I'll try to dig up my relevant links, but the main problem was the bureaucratic tangle of red tape involved in managing the levies, each one was managed individually, and often the funding was diverted by the levy authorities for ridiculous projects like dredging shipping lanes in areas not even remotely used for shipping

I found this, I don't know how accurate it is but it looks like there was some cutting here.
Federal flood control spending for southeastern Louisiana was chopped from $69 million in 2001 to $36.5 million in 2005.

The district has identified $35 million in projects to build and improve levees, floodwalls and pumping stations in St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson and St. Charles parishes. Those projects are included in a Corps line item called Lake Pontchartrain, where funding is scheduled to be cut from $5.7 million this year to $2.9 million in 2006. Naomi said it's enough to pay salaries but little else.

http://www.alternet.org/story/24871.?co … ;pID=31050

i about halfway understand people being frustrated with the fact that even a rebuilt new orleans will eventually be hit with another huge hurricane, and it's easy to think that people were stupid for not getting out, but it's way more complicated than that.  the people that couldn't get out of new orleans were (in general) basically too poor to get out.  and while they were sitting in new orleans, there were enough school busses to get everyone to higher ground.  what happened to the busses?  ruined in the flood.  it was a massive failure by the city and the state, and then fema didn't do much good when they finally were called in.  and as far as not rebuilding new orleans, it's the biggest port in the country.  we need a port at the mouth of the mississippi...

Yeah you guys should forget about your country. Apparently Zimbabwe, Somalia and Sudan are in a bit of shit right now - you should rebuild them. Cheers.

CameronPoe wrote:

Yeah you guys should forget about your country. Apparently Zimbabwe, Somalia and Sudan are in a bit of shit right now - you should rebuild them. Cheers.

Count on us to be there, because we fight for freedom.

PseudoX13 wrote:

Governor Blanco called for the national guard the thursday before the storm, and she declared an emergeny the day before that. oh, but i guess you're right. the correct form wasn't filled out. so yeah, that certainly makes it all right that bush didn't really give a fuck and didn't feel the need to do jack shit, cheney didn't feel the need to stop his fly-fishing trip, and condoleeza didn't feel the need to call off her shoe shopping trip at Ferragamo.

so yeah. it was our fault my house was under water, i lost my job, and one of my friends drowned (not to mention almost 2000 other people). damn, we sure need to remember to ask the president to get off his ass next time. because protecting the citizens of the United States from a major cataclysm is certainly not even sort of his responsobility.

and on the topic of the city being below sea level. Shit! you know, that's right. i should have told the french people who settled here in the 1700s that it just wasn't a good idea, that in the future people would be so cynical and malicious that they wouldn't care when 2000 people died, because hey, they were born in the wrong place, the dumbasses. ya know, better go tell san francisco the news, since they have earthquakes. and then everyone in tornado alley. i mean, holy crap, they were so stupid to be born in a place called tornado alley! everyone should just go find that sacred place in america that's safe from any kind of natural disaster (including rain and snow and temperatures not between 55-85 fahrenheit), because otherwise they're just freaking morons.

1.  Condoleeza Rice is Secretary of State... in other words "External Affairs."  What resources was she supposed to mobilize, eh?

2.  If Blanco had done all of that stuff before the storm, then why were so many people still there when the storm actually hit.  It was not the federal government's responsibility to air drop school busses to get those people out, it was your "Chocolate City's" mayor's responsibility to get off his ass and get those busses already on the ground moving. 

3.  You're damned right your city's under sea level, shit is right!  Just because the people before you didn't have the insight to see this as a serious issue does not mean that the people there today have an excuse not to either.

4.  Tornados cause localized devastation, earthquakes can be prepared for by constructing adequate structures (building the foundation into the bedrock), just as floods can be stopped with adequate systems as well. 

5.  We all care that 2000 people died, and I am personally sorry for your losses.  I don't mean to offend you in any way.  I am not speaking of the individual person when I develop my arguments.  However, on a broader scale, even you must find it undeniable that your people were ill prepared for this catastrophe and then acted wholly irresponsibly afterwards i.e "Chocolate City", "Bush hates black people", placing ultimate blame on the Bush administration instead of the state and local administrations, "rescuing" of plasma tv's, shooting at USN helicopters, failure to relinquish authority when the federal government finally came, skyrocketing the crime rate in Houston, etc.

PseudoX13 wrote:

I just wish that the some people would realize that we didn't ask for this situation, that we thought we were protected from something of this magnitude (we were obviously wrong). In the end we're just people who are trying to live our lives, and deserve the level of safety and security that should be afforded to everyone living in this country.

I will agree there!

kr@cker wrote:

sergeriver wrote:

Miller wrote:

We haven't forgotten our own economies.  If you haven't noticed, whenever we help rebuild a country, or make it democratic, we do buisness with them, thereby helping our economy also.  New Orleans deserves to burn to the ground.  They should have prepared better and should have been ready for Katrina, not our fault they're idiots down there.  New York should be rebuilt, and rebuilt now.  It was attacked by terrorists in the largest sucessful attack ever.  They deserve our help.

Oh, New York is worthy, but screw New Orleans.  You are wrong, New Orleans people aren't idiots.  The idiot is the government who cut the funds to protect New Orleans from floodings.  You couldn't protect New Orleans from Katrina, but you could from the floodings.  So, how the hell is that people of New Orleans are idiots?

no one has ever cut the funding for the levy system, this is some old shite and I'll try to dig up my relevant links, but the main problem was the bureaucratic tangle of red tape involved in managing the levies, each one was managed individually, and often the funding was diverted by the levy authorities for ridiculous projects like dredging shipping lanes in areas not even remotely used for shipping

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co … 02261.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co … 01427.html