Re: White House swipes at Castro after Katrina aid offer

[JohnnyCastaway]

hmmm..interesting bit about the aid that Castro offered...  donations from NJT?
 
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 Thursday, September 8, 2005
 
 WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The White House on Wednesday answered Havana's offer of aid to help victims of Hurricane Katrina by saying it hoped Cuban President Fidel Castro would "offer freedom to his people."
 
 Castro, who often deploys Cuban doctors abroad, has offered to send 1,586 doctors and 34 tonnes of medicine to the United States to help in the aftermath of Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters to strike the United States.
 
 White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the US State Department was handling overseas assistance offers but added: "In terms of Cuba, we would certainly hope that Castro would offer freedom to his people."
 
 The comments, which were not a rejection of Havana's offer, came after US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack did not rule out accepting the assistance, saying it would depend on the needs in the region.
 
 "In terms of Cuba, I understand that there has been an offer of medical personnel. I think it is an offer, along with some other offers of medical personnel, that we will continue to take a look at," McCormack said Tuesday.
 
 Speaking in Havana later Wednesday, the president of Cuba's parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, said Cuba was still waiting for a response to its offer of medical assistance for the US disaster zones.
 
 "We are waiting for a response. I imagine it would not be easy to figure out a position, the reasons they will give, but it's urgent because there are people who need medical assistance," Alarcon said.
 
 McClellan said 94 countries and international organizations had offered help to the United States, but he declined to say whether any of those assets were deployed along the storm-ravaged US Gulf Coast.
 
 Cuba, under a strict US embargo for more than 40 years, has rejected past US aid offers to help the island recover from hurricanes.
 
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 from Caribbean Net news online
 
 http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/09/08/swipes.shtml

[Gambitt]

I'm only going to offer two  smaller replies....
 
 1) What is the value of 36 tons of heat-packs, instead of 100 tons of "solarcaine", when everyone has frostbite???
  You give what you have, that will help to aid those in need.
 
 2) 1000 heart surgeons are not worth a nickel, when I have a brain tumor...
 Education, to deal with the current crisis, is the key.  Cuba has dealt internally with many of these crisies (ie Dennis) , and for the US to reject their offer  out of hand, is the height of conceit.

[lesab33]

Well said Gambitt.

[debmich]

Except to say....... If I was in a crisis and needed to feed my family, I would not accept someone else's last meal!
 
 The US has medicines and doctors, they just need to be shuffled around and organized, but to take supplies and doctors from a country that really needs to keep and use them, would not be necessary!
 
 Debbie