The Great Satan Should Lend A Hand
When I heard the news this morning of the devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran (at least four thousand dead, probably many thousands more) my first thought was that this was an excellent time for the United States to demonstrate to the Muslim world our desire to help improve the lot of their peoples. Sending relief supplies, rescue crews, and other assistance as quickly as possible would be both a humane and politically savvy move. Instead of seeing US soldiers in Iraq, Al-Jazeera viewers could see US relief workers helping out in a country that we have labeled part of the Axis of Evil.
Hugh Hewitt shares the same thoughts:
I hope we are scrambling the international relief agencies to rush assistance to Iran. Nothing distinguishes this country more than its ready aid to those nations with governments that routinely berate it. The rule of thumb is that early reports of death from earthquakes significantly underestimate the carnage, and the first reports from Bam put the loss of life in the thousands, so it must be devastation on a scale that the U.S. hasn't seen in modern times. People who begrudge help to a very hostile government should keep in mind that the Iranian people are increasingly pro-western and the democracy movement is large and growing. The U.S. should respond to Iran as though it was responding to Japan or another close ally.
Update: The good Professor concurs.
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