HONOLULU -- Now that a month has passed since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that wrecked widespread devastation across South and Southeast Asia, it is time to separate fact from fiction regarding the timeliness, level and intention of U.S. relief efforts.
Of late, I have been frequently asked the following question: "Can the U.S. relief effort, despite its slow and too modest start, somehow improve America's image in Asia in general and among Muslims in particular?" The question itself incorporates many fictions.
First is the question of whether Washington's response was timely. It was three days after the tragedy before President George W. Bush held a press conference from Crawford, Texas, to personally express his nation's profound sense of sadness over the tragedy and to pledge American support. But this does not mean that nothing was being done before that.