(
From the diaries -- kos)
...In the long tradition of leaders such as Emperor Nero who let Rome burn and Marie Antoinette who told the starving to "let them eat cake", George W. Bush is still down in Texas on the ranch vacationing while ten of thousands of bodies are being discovered in the rubble & washing up on the beach.
According to the Washington Post, President Clinton has been the voice of America overseas during this tradgedy...
...In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cut short his vacation and returned to work in Berlin because of the Indian Ocean crisis, which began with a gigantic underwater earthquake. In Britain, the predominant U.S. voice speaking about the disaster was not Bush but former president Bill Clinton, who in an interview with the BBC said the suffering was like something in a "horror movie," and urged a coordinated international response...
Of course, the White House doesn't like being shown up, but experts are saying that Bush's reaction to this event, may impact the global response to any future domestic terrorist attack...
...Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he
spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "
Many Bush aides believe Clinton was too quick to head for the cameras to hold forth on tragedies with his trademark empathy. "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role.
Some foreign policy specialists said Bush's actions and words both communicated a lack of urgency about an event that will loom as large in the collective memories of several countries as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks do in the United States. "When that many human beings die -- at the hands of terrorists or nature -- you've got to show that this matters to you, that you care," said Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
There was an international outpouring of support after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and even some administration officials familiar with relief efforts said they were surprised that Bush had not appeared personally to comment on the tsunami tragedy. "It's kind of freaky," a senior career official said...
Update [2004-12-29 2:30:48 by Rimjob]:
Here's an AFP article of President Clinton's interview on the disaster, and what he would like the response to be...
..."
It is really important that somebody take the lead in this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today program.
"I think one of the problems is when everybody takes responsibility it's almost like no one's responsibility."
Clinton said individual countries should target aid at specific areas.
"Maybe what we should do is get countries or groups of countries to take responsibility for specific countries that were hurt," he said.
"I think if you did that you would have a better chance of seeing responsibilities fulfilled even when the emotional tug wanes"...