Genuine Care vs. Cynicism

I think this is a fantastic opportunity for us to bridge relations with the average Iranian. A few years back, we provided aid to them in the wake of the quake in Bam, which was much more devastating. Word has it that most Iranians already have a fairly favorable view of Americans as it is, despite the efforts of their government to alienate us. Iranians are pretty savvy and many of them watch Western TV via illegal satellite dishes. Contrast this with the people in Pakistan hit with that devastating quake, who were literally in Taliban country until US troops arrived in the wake of the quake to bring humanitarian relief. I've heard that this was an incredible boost to our efforts in the region to expose the lies spread to people in that region by Islamic radicals and to win them over.

All of that aside, it's just the right thing to do. Political and ideological differences aside, we are all God's children and we should do it because it is right and just, not to burnish our image with them or the world community. I think the very reason that the relief effort in Pakistan was so successful was partly due to the fact that those people saw the genuine concern for life our medical and aircrew people that went to help demonstrated and that this it wasn't a PR stunt or dog and pony show. We need to make sure we don't lose sight of that or let the enemy portray it as such when we do show up for things like this.

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