The Washington Post reports:
Last night, more than 24 hours after the quake struck, Bush administration officials were unable to say what else the United States had done to help. Officials held an evening conference call among themselves, but a participant said no progress was reported.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden were sending teams of technical experts and rescue workers, the Associated Press reported.
Bush himself could only issue a written statement that "expresses his sincere condolences," which he apparently was too busy or grief-stricken to do himself.
When the United States is pouring literally hundreds of billions of dollars into a misbegotten war in Iraq, the only thing we can do 24 hours after the most devastating earthquake in nearly half-a-century is hold conference calls and have our minions write that sad about what happened.
The War on Terror would be more effectively fought through an outpouring of American compassion for the victims of this horrible event than through the continuation of this Administration's misguided policies.