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EARTHQUAKE
Sincere condolences from the ranch
BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN

As the scope of the disaster in Southeast Asia became clear on Sunday, President Bush was en route to his Crawford ranch for a post-Christmas vacation. His press office released a 121-word statement during the flight, titled "Statement on Bay of Bengal Earthquake and Tidal Waves." In it, the president expressed his "sincere condolences for the terrible loss of life and suffering" and promised that the United States would offer "all appropriate assistance" to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, and "other countries impacted." (This last would include India, with nearly 10,000 dead as of Tuesday morning.)

Two days later, those words remained Bush’s only public statement about one of the worst natural disasters in a generation. (At press time, Bush was expected to speak on the subject for the first time on Wednesday.) Do "sincere condolences" really capture the scale of the loss — the death of tens of thousands, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more?

Actually, in Bush’s world, it might; this appears to be only the second time Bush has expressed "sincere condolences" during his presidency, according to a search of the White House Web site. (The other went to the people of Florida after several hurricanes swept through their state this year.) Oh, he has expressed "condolences" many times. But apparently only natural disasters along coastlines merit sincere ones.

Nevertheless, the terse statement does not compare well with the immediate reactions from those same ravaged countries to the attacks of 9/11, which did a fraction of the damage. Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga was "deeply shocked and dismayed" on September 11. Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was "shocked and appalled ... and deeply saddened by this enormous tragedy." Even leaders of Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, and Thailand, with a sizable Muslim population of its own, made strong public comments.

None, however, ultimately joined Bush’s "coalition of the willing," and one has to wonder whether that has contributed to Washington’s brittle formality with regard to their plight. According to White House spokesman Trent Duffy, who addressed a brief press gaggle on Monday, Bush had not placed calls to any leaders of the affected countries (he had written letters) and had made no plans to send a diplomatic envoy. Had he done so, his claim to sincerity might have been more convincing.


Issue Date: December 31, 2004 - January 6, 2005
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