We're sending this?

By Grant Ellis

Reading Deadly Typhoon Ketsana Slams Into Vietnam over at MSNBC.com, I found this at the bottom of page 2:

The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the country's south, where they have been providing counterterrorism training.

Understand that this disaster is Katrina-like and perhaps then some.

I'm wondering how America's donation will be received. To me, it seems paltry...well, OK, laughable. At the same time, it's consistent with the current foreign policy: screw 'em.

In fairness, two more storms are brewing in the area and perhaps there's a developing strategy to address a wider disaster. That said, I expect any "developing strategy" will be led by one of several international groups, probably one sponsored by the UN. Actually, the United Nations World Food Program is already on the job. Good, somebody else is taking the lead. That gives us time to worry about real issues like securing the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.

Under Obama, we are no longer behaving like a superpower. Perhaps that's for the best. At the current rate of slouching, our status as superpower won't be valid much longer anyway.