> Don't forget to add 35 ships including the aircraft carrier Lincoln,
> 20 C-130 cargo planes, dozens of helicopters and thousands of
> US service personnel.  No other country on earth could do this
> even if they wanted to. This costs real tax dollars over and above the
> "$US350K afaik...".

I'm not sure I agree with that. Not that it doesn't cost tax dollars, but
since big numbers are what grabs headlines, I would expect the bean
counters to have factored that in so the politicians could throw around a
bigger number.


It's hard to quantify, but it seems disaster aid has a relativistic value
that doesn't necessarily correlate to money. For example, which is worth
more- a hundred dollar bill, or a gallon of fresh water? We all know the
answer to that. My point being that even a lesser dollar figure from the US
may do more to save lives, because it takes the form of logistics and
equipment that wouldn't be available otherwise.


Either way, I have to second the comment about being glad the military was
useful for something other than destruction.

-Denny


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