Over the past few weeks there was considerable debate over the United States' actions of not quickly providing a significant amount of help for the victims of the tsunami tragedy. By not acting immediately, the president was berated by some for missing a golden opportunity to improve the United States' world image, while others stated he was just waiting to get a full assessment of the situation.
Help should have been sent without hesitation, not because it would have improved foreign relations or world image, but because while we sat crunching numbers on our \how much is this going to cost us"" calculator, thousands of people were dying, injured and without food, water or shelter. From the instant this tragedy occurred, our minds should have been focused on how we can send as much help and money as possible.
There would have been no shame in sending too much help. A few dollars of lost tax money per person should not and cannot compare to the saving of human lives. This was an issue of human beings in need, and there should have been no room for world image or monetary concerns.
