After the tsunami

After the tsunami

The unprecedented generosity in response to Asia's tsunami has reflected the sense that this is a different sort of tragedy.

The success of the relief effort, by contrast, is bound to depend on the competence of governments. National pride may prove an obstacle: India's government refused foreign help, and then was slow to deliver assistance to the remote Andaman Islands; Indonesia's government has forbidden U.S. Marines from staying overnight on its soil, which has restricted the U.S. role in clearing rubble and in reconstruction; Burma's dictators as usual seem more interested in preserving their positions than allowing help to reach their citizens.

Indonesia has also announced that foreign aid workers must register with its officials before leaving the two main towns in Aceh, a requirement that may become onerous if implemented restrictively.

Disasters can generate a tragic clash between humanity's two sides: Fortunate westerners are spurred to admirable generosity, but desperate survivors in the stricken regions may steal the gifts or bend them to their own ends. The result frequently is disillusionment with the whole idea of aid.

If Indonesia and the other tsunami-struck countries can manage disaster relief well, they will be helping the wider cause of foreign assistance as well as their own people.

-- The Washington Post, Washington DC