Full bullshit dominance

Here’s a conspiracy theory for you. I am convinced that there is someone calling the shots in Washington who sees a PR opportunity in Haiti; someone whose main objective is to make sure the world sees Americans as the only ones helping.

In the bad old days, Donald Rumsfeld and those dorks used to talk about “Full Spectrum Dominance”, which meant that the United States had to completely dominate everything. We see it in the Olympics, too. Who cares what the event is, as long as the U.S. wins.

I see no reason why these sentiments would not have spilled over to international disaster relief. Who cares what the disaster is, as long as everybody sees how America helps people who have a hard time.

Even Barack Obama is quoted in the Financial Times as saying, about Haiti: “In times of tragedy, the United States of America steps forward and helps. That is who we are. That is what we do.” (As the author, James Mackintosh, says, we’ll have somebody from Baghdad get back to you on that one.)

If you truly believe that the U.S. is the only country helping out, here are some sobering figures: The U.S. spends 0.19 percent of its gross national income on foreign aid. France manages 0.39, Britain 0.43 and Denmark 0.82.