Tsunami aftermath: Opportunity as the seas recede

Charity is charity

It has often been said that out of disaster comes hope, and out of chaos comes opportunity. The tsunamis that ravaged Southeast Asia this last week exemplify both. Most notably they give the West a chance to bring hope to a forgotten people and an opportunity for the United States in the War on Terror.

For too long, the third world has seen Western powers, most notably the United States, through the prism of its ability to wage war and ability to create an exclusionary civilization. Now, hundreds of sailors and marines aboard aircraft carriers akin to floating cities are embarking on the largest operation of its kind in Southeast Asia since the Vietnam War – this time not to wage war, but to fan out and provide hope through airdrops to remote areas and clinics to save hundreds from dying of simple infections.

As rebuilding begins and entire cities start over, the opportunity arises not just to rebuild but to do so in a manner that raises up communities and improves their access to proper shelter, preventative health care, and strong civic institutions. One of the most formative pioneers of building upon disaster relief to help communities leapfrog ahead was a maverick humanitarian expert named Fred Cuny. In Guatemala, following a massive earthquake in 1976. Cuny taught villagers how to rebuild their houses with simple low cost techniques that would increase their resistance to earthquakes. In a city under siege by snipers Cuny built water purification systems in the tunnels surrounding Sarajevo that helped save the city from falling to Serb forces. He later disappeared in the Russian province of Chechnya, but the ideas he spearheaded can be applied to helping tsunami victims with great effect.

Instead of handing out aid after initial relief efforts a smarter alternative would be to sell it at a negligible amount to existing merchants. By doing so you keep the commercial sector viable in the face of new imported goods and discourage the practice seen in Somalia of merchants financing warlords and bandits as they see their existing turf threatened.

There is also an opportunity for a ravaged infrastructure to leapfrog ahead in communications by using cell phones instead of landlines, or satellite internet access in schools and windup low-power radio as a cost effective way to bring a world of knowledge to the most remote patches of land on earth.

As aid flows in, we can distribute it through newly elected city councils advocating the inclusion of both disadvantaged women and religious elements of all faiths. Doing so helps ensure accountability and communal responsibility. As a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom assigned to a civil affairs unit, I had the opportunity to witness the formation of the local neighborhood councils where Iraqi men and women, pastors and Muslim clerics began the lurching progress toward grassroots democracy. Regardless of many policy blunders by senior Department of Defense officials on the national level, these efforts have helped elect local leaders that are seen as both legitimate and a refreshing alternative to Baathist rule.

Every touchdown of a navy chopper delivering relief supplies to the Indonesian province of Aceh, ravaged by both Islamic fundamentalism and civil war, is a defeat for the recruiting efforts of Al Qaeda affiliates like Jemiah Islamiya. Each act of humanity by Americans weakens the rhetoric used by fundamentalists as they attempt to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world by painting the West as an enemy to all with little regard for the humanity of others. In parts of India communities of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus that saw tension are now replete with scenes of mosques and temples turned into sanctuaries for all survivors regardless of faith.

As millions of dollars of aid flows in the opportunity to help lift communities out of poverty through micro-loan development is immense. In Bangladesh, Grameen Bank, began giving out small loans to women’s co-ops that started their own small business ranging from weaving to building stores. The program has helped villages and most notably women lift themselves out of poverty and avoid the corruption normally replete in developing countries. It’s foreign aid that even a Republican like Senator Jesse Helms could support.

When Americans resume vacationing in Southeast Asia (an even better deal given the decline of the dollar against the euro) they can help encourage fishing communities to move away from destructive practices like logging and stun fishing to sustainable eco-tourism. Joint US�Host Nation military cooperation can serve not only as a basis for improved diplomatic relations but also encourage increased human rights awareness among local military forces which in turn increases trust between citizens and the military. That trust can increase cooperation on law enforcement and counter terrorism that keeps us all safe.

Hope survives and opportunities abound to surge forward in improving humanity as disaster presents itself. America can continue to shine as the beacon of a city upon the hill but only when it remains ever vigilant that its supremacy carries responsibility to insure the well being of its citizens by being a consistent advocate of remaining committed to its ideals – even when it may not be politically convenient to do so.

Mohammad Omar Masry recently returned from a tour of duty with the US Army in Baghdad, Iraq.  He lives in southern California.