California: 1 Billion dollar Disaster. Iraq: 500 Billion dollar disaster.

[Danieljay]

California: Natural Disaster

Iraq: Man made disaster.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071024/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires

[Xipe Totec]

1. Don't even go there

Do not compare the California fires to the Iraq war.


This is not a productive argument.

[Danieljay]

2. Just a bit of perspective as to the cost, not the tragedy. n/t

[Strelnikov_]

3. Actually $2.4 Trillion for IraqNam

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3041305

[Danieljay]

4. We could rebuild Californa AND the entire state of Louisiana with that kind of money...n/t

[Strelnikov_]

11. Or make a hell of a dent in transitioning from petroleum and other fossil

fuels.

$2.4 T to secure energy (oil) that could have been mitigated for a fraction of the cost.

Yep, them Pubs are some real good businessmen.

[lapfog_1]

5. What makes you think that the California wildfires are "natural"???

Even if sparked by lightning, I submit that man has a *lot* to do with the disaster, including, but not limited to a) Global Warming creating conditions of prolonged drought in SoCal, b) Aggressively fighting past wildfires, thus causing a buildup of fuels, c) building homes in areas that are prone to wild fires - thus creating a "disaster" when, in fact, a wildfire would have been just another natural periodic event.

I could go on... but won't. I sympathize with the people who have lost homes, just as I am sympathetic to people who lose their homes when hit by a hurricane... but we should be smarter about where and how we build homes... and we shouldn't be contributing to the climate conditions that cause or enhance these disasters.

[Danieljay]

6. Excellent Point. I was thinking of going there myself. I believe you are correct.

Mother Nature will kick our ass in the end.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. You realize though that Manzanita is NOT a tree but brush

and that its ecology REQUIRES hot fires to sprout

Smokey the bear is a nice talking point, but it has precious little to do with the local ecology

[TahitiNut]

10. It's a kind of Bush. (They both need fire and destruction to thrive.)

I thought the parallels were obvious.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

7. Act of God? $1 Billion

Act of a Fucking Moron? $500 Billion.

So if you really want to screw things up, don't trust God. Elect a fucking moron.

[Bennyboy]

8. A Billion? That number is laughable at best......

Most of the houses destroyed are at least 1/2 million each.

The fire deparments, police, overtimes,emergency supplies, lost work time etc has to be at least 10 billion alone.

Not to mention every single one of those people involved, be they fire, police or the evacuees would be out shopping and ding everyday things f they were not in this place.

Lost shcool times?

[bdamomma]

12. don't forget the Gulf states and New Orleans

and add in 9/11 too.

[begin_within]

13. I'm of the opinion that the "disaster" aspect of the fire is man-made.

We have fires every year here in Soutern California, it is a natural part of the ecosystem. People who live here need to learn to protect their property by clearing the brush for 100 feet in every direction from the buildings, to create a "defensible space." Over and over again the fire departments say that the homes with the defensible spaces are the ones that survive. But people don't like that "barren" look, they want lots of trees and vegetation around their houses. In October 2003, the Cedar Fire burned more than 275,000 acres, destroyed 2,232 homes and took 15 lives. Homeowners have had 4 years since then to learn from that, and clear out the canyons and hillsides (at least to the 100-foot line), but obviously many didn't bother to, or thought that "it would never happen to" them. The fires are natural but the "disaster" is human-caused.

[Yukari Yakumo]

14. Bush: A Disaster not measureable by any number {nt}

uguu