The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed the
lives of thousands of Africans and several westerners there trying to treat the
sick. Somehow this disaster has become a political
issue in the United States. Every day it seems we hear new hysterical news
reports of faulty screenings at airports, accusations of political correctness
preventing a properly frank appraisal of the issue to the American people, and
our porous borders being a potential portal for the spread of the disease. The
noted infectious disease expert, Rush Limbaugh, has even suggested that
President Obama has intentionally allowed infected West Africans into the
country as payback for slavery.
Good Lord!
This story is proof positive that everything, and I
do mean everything in this country is
political. But it’s also disturbing proof that there is no end to the list of
jobs that the United States military is asked to do that have nothing
whatsoever to do with killing people and breaking things. 3000 military personnel
have been sent into the midst of an Ebola outbreak in a foreign country with a
fuzzy mission of unknown duration. Am I the only one who finds this to be a ridiculous
use of military assets? What’s next? Will the first armored division soon be
deployed to Shanghai to assist the local police with rush hour traffic?
In my opinion, an outbreak of an infectious disease
in Country A. is a regrettable tragedy for Country A. Country B has an
obligation to see to it that the disease stays in Country A. since its primary
constitutional obligation is to the citizens of Country B. not Country A. This
does not mean that Country B. cannot send doctors and nurses to assist Country
A., but it must be at their invitation. It would seem self-evidently clear that
Country B. would severely restrict, if not prohibit altogether, travel from
Country A. to Country B. until the disease has been checked. This policy would
not have roots in racism, or colonialism or imperialism, but rather would be a
natural response born of common sense.
But, this is not the world where we live. Instead,
with the active aid of a sensational media, whipping up hysteria to feed the
24/7 news cycle, Ebola in Liberia has become a political and even a racial
issue with possibly implications for the November elections.
Only in America.
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