"Major Humanitarian Disaster"

[August1991]

I'm posting this here since I think this is a moral issue and it concerns the inflation of language:

Washington - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan renewed calls for an end to fighting between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, warning of a 'major humanitarian disaster' as Israeli troops massed along their northern border Friday, possibly preparing for a ground invasion.

Link

Military Action Against Iraq Could Trigger a Major Humanitarian Disaster But US Military Should Not be in Charge of Relief

Oxfam

NATO: Kosovo on brink of 'major humanitarian disaster'

Nato

Refugees International is gravely concerned that the ongoing fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea has created the potential for a major humanitarian disaster in Eritrea.

Link

BAGHDAD - Experts studying Iraq's weak network of emergency services say the country faces a humanitarian disaster if it's plunged into another war.

CBC

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that regardless of how the Sudanese government describes the violence in western Sudan, the international community cannot stand by idly while a major humanitarian disaster unfolds.

RFE

Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 5th October, 2001--Against the backdrop of a major humanitarian disaster, heightened by tensions of potential international conflict and a massive refugee crisis, Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) is continuing to move ahead with rehabilitation activities in Afghanistan even as it presses forward with its ongoing relief programme across the country.

Aga Khan

"We have to recognise that we are now on the brink of a major humanitarian disaster ... the likes of which we have not seen in Europe since the closing days of World War II," he said.

BBC

UNITED NATIONS, June 16 (AFP) - The fate of children in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo is a major humanitarian disaster, the coordinator of an umbrella organization to protect children said Monday.

Link

These major humanitarian disasters seem to be happening more frequently and in many places. I've noticed occasional usage of "massive humanitarian disaster" which seems to be the likely next step.

I'm anxiously waiting for the hackneyed phrase "war-torn Beirut" to make a comeback.

Lastly, you'll note how most of the people using the term "major humanitarian disaster" either want money or have an agenda.

Bush got blamed for Katrina so I'm sure he'll be blamed for all the future "massive humanitarian disasters" too.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Bush wasn't blamed for Katrina, he was blamed for how he handled that situation. Every international conflict has a humanitarian side to it does it not?

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear August1991,

I'm posting this here since I think this is a moral issue and it concerns the inflation of language:

Actually, Victor Borge invented 'inflationary language' some time ago. It involves adding 1 to each of the 'hidden numbers' in our language...so 'before' +1= 'befive', create +1 = 'crenine', ans so on and so fifth. So rather than saying "I ate my tenderloin with my fork", one should say "I nined my elevenderloin with my fivek".

Seriously, though,

Lastly, you'll note how most of the people using the term "major humanitarian disaster" either want money or have an agenda.

generally the 'agenda' is saving said people from said disaster. The rise in the tone is likely part and parcel of the general numbing and desensitization people have experienced over the years. Would another Rwandan genocide be called a 'major humanitarian disaster'? Or would that not cut the mustard anymore?

[Guest Warwick Green]

a'major humanitarian disaster'

As opposed no doubt to an ordinary humanitarian disaster. I wonder how Annan would characterize terrorist bombings in Iraq and AIDS in Africa?

[jdobbin]

Bush got blamed for Katrina so I'm sure he'll be blamed for all the future "massive humanitarian disasters" too.

It wasn't the hurricane that Bush was to blame for but for not heeding the warning about just how precarious New Orleans situation was going to be if that hurricane hit dead on. This is all came out in the Congressional hearings afterwards when there was a debate about when Bush was warned about all this.

In several polls over the last year, Bush's popularity has been hurt in areas vulnerable to hurricanes because of a shaken faith in the federal response.