Editorial: Blame comes all too easily

When disaster strikes, the human impulse is always to look for somebody to blame. The reason is not that the human beings are naturally nasty but rather that blame makes us feel less helpless. If a misfortune can be attributed to human error then we can do something about it. We can hold somebody to account, draw useful lessons from the experience and take steps to see that mistakes are not repeated.

When a disaster is caused by natural forces far too large for human control, there is temptation to look anywhere for the catharsis of blame.

Wisdom in hindsight is always an easy recourse. If tsunami warning meters had been as plentiful in the Indian Ocean as they are in the Pacific, some people might have been saved. If the warning that was sent from the Pacific centre in Hawaii had been transmitted within the affected countries, some would have had time to flee. Now, of course, there are plans to put a better warning system in place. Just as armies have a tendency to train for the last war, civil defence tends to prepare for the last unexpected event. And you cannot blame them. An earthquake in the Indian Ocean has not produced a tsunami like this in recorded history and might not do so again for as long into the future. But the fact that nature has now demonstrated the threat makes it imperative to respond. At least it makes us feel less helpless.

Human fault might more readily be found in the aid efforts. There was early criticism of the financial contributions of the United States and other rich countries. Many, including the US, increased their offering as the scale of the disaster became more apparent. Even so, the response contrasts sharply with the mobilisations of military force the world has seen at times.

Why cannot the world be organised and equipped to meet a disaster like this with an "invasion" of forces bringing food, medicines, temporary shelter and infrastructural restoration on the scale and expense of the ordinance rained on military targets in recent years?

The instinct to blame usually settles on political leaders, which is why Prime Minister Helen Clark is wise to cut short her Christmas holiday and come home. There might be little she can usefully do for New Zealanders who have lost people in the stricken resorts, but her absence was beginning to attract critical notice.

No criticism can be made of Foreign Minister Phil Goff or staff of the ministry who have come back to their desks for long hours, fielding calls from worried relatives of the missing and relaying casualty information to the public.

On the world stage, political leaders such as United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan are saying what needs to be said but there seems little more they can do. It is less encouraging that an international conference has been called to discuss the relief requirements. This is not the time for talk.

Ordinary conversation flags on a subject like this unless it finds human fault somewhere. But it is a pointless exercise. In the face of a purely natural catastrophe we can only offer support to those trying to cope and admiration for everyone who is trying to help. Critical comment need not be the only antidote to a sense of helplessness - a donation to disaster relief could be more satisfying, and infinitely more useful.