Trump Administration Begins Formal Withdrawal From WHO (thehill.com) 313
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: The White House has officially moved to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), a senior administration official confirmed Tuesday, breaking ties with a global public health body in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. has submitted its withdrawal notification to the United Nations secretary-general, the official said. Withdrawal requires a year's notice, so it will not go into effect until July 6, 2021, raising the possibility the decision could be reversed.
The formal notification of withdrawal concludes months of threats from the Trump administration to pull the United States out of the WHO, which is affiliated with the United Nations. President Trump has repeatedly assailed the organization for alleged bias toward China and its slow response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. But public health experts and Democrats have raised alarms that the decision may be short-sighted and could undercut the global response to the pandemic, which has infected 11.6 million people worldwide. The U.S. has the highest number of reported cases in the world at nearly 3 million. They have also argued that some of the WHO's initial missteps can be attributed to China's lack of transparency in the early stages of the outbreak.
The formal notification of withdrawal concludes months of threats from the Trump administration to pull the United States out of the WHO, which is affiliated with the United Nations. President Trump has repeatedly assailed the organization for alleged bias toward China and its slow response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. But public health experts and Democrats have raised alarms that the decision may be short-sighted and could undercut the global response to the pandemic, which has infected 11.6 million people worldwide. The U.S. has the highest number of reported cases in the world at nearly 3 million. They have also argued that some of the WHO's initial missteps can be attributed to China's lack of transparency in the early stages of the outbreak.
not a member != breaking ties (Score:2, Insightful)
Just because you don't pay dues doesn't mean you won't have communication with them. The US will be getting the CDC or whoever to do whatever programs they want, whatever programs the WHO does and results they come up with will likely be public anyways. Kind of a win win I think for the US: don't spend money on an organization that will cover for China's or anyone else's BS while still getting access to whatever discoveries or recommendations they come up with.
Re:not a member != breaking ties (Score:4, Funny)
The prez has a new strategy. He will have healthy people take the virus test [usnews.com] for those who get sick. The numbers will look much better, right?
It means you have little or no say (Score:4, Insightful)
It's abdicating a leadership position. Given the WHO's role in identifying and containing pandemics that seems like a terrible idea. Especially with (as is traditional with this administration) zero plans to put a replacement in place.
I suppose Trump is going to put back the pandemic response team he shut down. So there is that. But I'm worried he's going to put his buddies in charge instead of Epidemiologists. There's strong evidence that his son in law profiteered off PPE at the start of the pandemic.
Re:It means you have little or no say (Score:5, Informative)
and that China, who is fronting the bulk of the money, is largely in control of the organization.
What!? That almost sounds like a right-wing talking point. You OK buddy?
China provides 0.21% of the WHO's budget. [who.int] That puts them at number 46 on the list of entities that fund the WHO. LOL, they're 10 positions behind Luxembourg, who provides more than twice China's funding while having less than 1/2000th of the population!
China doesn't front the bulk of jack shit at the WHO. While they certainly have an outsized voice compared to the amount of money they provide, saying that they are "largely in control" of the WHO is just nonsense.
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The evidence suggests that the WHO allowed themselves to be used to propagandise for China instead of warning the world about a new Chinese disease.
That the WHO got snookered by China doesn't mean the WHO is controlled by China.
And you have the brass balls to say China doesnâ(TM)t control the WHO?
Not everybody believes China controls the WHO. Near as I can tell, most people who think the WHO is controlled by China are Trump supporters who want to scapegoat the WHO and China over all the trouble the virus has caused in the US. Not sure about attitudes in other countries.
You are acting as a mouthpiece for a regime that has 2million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps and is actually committing real genocide.
So defending the WHO means I support genocide? Gee, what a horrible person I am.
Re:It means you have little or no say (Score:4, Insightful)
...whilst simultaneously asking America's allies to join him in putting the boot to China.
I don't think that can happen, due to the vast profits Western corporations make from China.
China has rules for companies who want to do business there, and they made those rules quite clear 25 years ago when they opened up to western investment.
Nobody is going to fight a war against China.
I think you might be right about Biden's first couple of years though. He might need to spend quite a lot of time in Europe apologising. There is an awful lot of ill-will now among America's allies and a feeling America just can't be trusted.
It's been the opposite so far (Score:3)
I forget who, but someone pointed out that rather than us exporting Democracy to them they've exported Authoritarianism.
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:3)
You clearly have no idea how global organizations work and how geopolitics and the rapid annihilation of American influence in the world will affect your paycheck.
If you think WHO is about access to research, it is not. Also, USA is the country with most infections, more deaths and also the one that had the biggest economic losses in the entire world. We even rejected WHO kits that were available much earlier and that Korea put to good use to save their country from the economic devastation we see in ours.
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:5, Insightful)
Hm, well.... the WHO flat out lied when they covered up for China.
No, they didn't. The WHO was dependent upon China providing information as well as letting WHO personnel into the country to make a determination. This is no different than the U.S. preventing UN personnel from coming into this country to observe our elections to verify they are free and open after all the reports of vote and voter suppression. There's no way for an outside, independent organization to verify the elections are free and open if they can't observe for themselves. They can only report on what the government tells them.
Further, the con artist was hailing China's openness and transparency [politico.com] while at the same time saying the ensuing pandemic was no big deal, it was only 15 cases, the numbers would definitely be going down, it was nothing but a hoax by Democrats to make him look bad, etc, etc, etc. A few of his glowing remarks:
Jan 24
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
Feb 7
"I just spoke to President Xi last night, and, you know, we're working on the — the problem, the virus. It's a — it's a very tough situation. But I think he's going to handle it. I think he's handled it really well. We're helping wherever we can.
"Late last night, I had a very good talk with President Xi, and we talked about — mostly about the coronavirus. They're working really hard, and I think they are doing a very professional job. They're in touch with World — the World — World Organization. CDC also. We're working together. But World Health is working with them. CDC is working with them. I had a great conversation last night with President Xi. It's a tough situation. I think they're doing a very good job.”
Feb 13
“I think they've handled it professionally and I think they're extremely capable and I think President Xi is extremely capable and I hope that it's going to be resolved."
Those heaps of praise on February 7th were coming at a time when people were beginning to question China's openness and transparency [washingtontimes.com], including outrage on how the doctor who first reported the outbreak back in December was later found to have contracted the virus and died from it.
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't like Trump either, but I really am very tired of people dragging him/politics into every discussion, even where it's not relevant.
I must be having trouble with my browser, because it looks like this entire article is about Trump's reaction to the WHO, but yet you are claiming he is being dragged into a discussion where he isn't relevant. Something must not be loading correctly.
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For someone who claims not to support Trump, you certainly put a lot of time into defending him. Personally, I think you are lying. You are engaging in propaganda. You don't state your real premise, you assume it is true and craft a fable wherein your "truth" is just taken for granted. That's the definition of propaganda.
For example, when you attempt to call out someone above, for mentioning Trump. You say it is beyond the pale to say Trump is a con artist. Notable members of his own party say that frequent
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:5, Insightful)
"we can engage in real and productive discussions." No, we can't because I simply don't trust your motives. You are sea-lioning here.
It does not detract from the integrity of the speaker to call Trump a con artist, in this context or any other. That's your framing, and I reject it.
Any argument in support of Trump is already at the level of a physical bar room brawl, there's no dignity to be salvaged there. Respectable, patriotic US citizens do not debate with Trump supporters. We shame them, mock them, and belittle them because: a) that's all they will ever do to us, and b) that's the only kind of rhetoric they respect anyhow. Just look at how the man they elected talks.
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Perhaps if I saw you "correcting" disingenuous right wing talking points, even once, I might be more inclined to believe you. Must just be a coincidence that you only seem to correct criticisms of Trump rather than right wingers who mention him. I read back four pages in your comment history. There is a LOT of criticism of Trump's critics, and NO criticism of the right wing.
For someone who professes a belief in logic and rational debate, you seem completely uninterested in the emotionally charged language c
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:5, Insightful)
Trump is being a hypocrite. He did virtually everything he accuses China of. China lied. So did Trump. China downplayed the seriousness of the virus. So did Trump. China blamed others. So did Trump. China politicized the crisis. So did Trump. China sent out faulty PPE. So did Trump. China profited from PPE. So did Trump.
The Republicans even have a strategy paper that says "Don't defend Trump other than the China travel ban. Attack China". It's because his handling of the crisis is indefensible.
It may not be useful to refer to the President as a "con artist", but it's not inaccurate.
Re: not a member != breaking ties (Score:4, Interesting)
Trump and his administration continue to lie. Just yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar tried to build a case for schools reopening by saying that healthcare workers don't get infected "because they take appropriate precautions." However, a lot of healthcare workers HAVE gotten infected and many have died. So it's blatant and provable lying in order to get what they want. And this doesn't even get to the lie that "schools = hospitals." In fact, anyone who has ever seen kids in a school know that schools are about as far from a hospital setting as you can get. Kids in physical schools WILL get infected. They will spread it to teachers, administrators, parents, etc. They will cause spikes in COVID-19 and people will die.
But all this is fine with the Trump administration because they want us to stop focusing on COVID since it's hurting them politically.
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And that matter is the pack of lies being fabricated about the supposed bad faith actions of the WHO. Turns out the only people acting in bad faith are the propagandists propping up the Trump lies about the WHO. The rest of the world is not going along with the lies about the WHO and we are sad to see America behaving so badly.
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Trump is related to the WHO allegedly lying because he is a HUGE proponent of that theory. Duh. This whole story is about Trump.
"I'm not a bad guy. "
Citation needed. Why should I give you the benefit of the doubt? There are plenty of bad guys on the Internet who act exactly like you.
I don't care about "the opposition." Trump supporters are a small, but loud, minority. We don't need to engage with them. It's a waste of time. They are mostly old, and will die soon. Good riddance to racist rubbish. Trump will
This is stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: This is stupid. (Score:3, Insightful)
What influence?
Re: This is stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
The WHO spends most of its time coordinating public health programmes. Having influence over those programmes is a huge amount of soft power.
For example the US might donate medicine to the programme through the WHO. The WHO checks it out to make sure it's not a scam and is being run properly. US medicine becomes available to countries that normally wouldn't be able to afford it or who would go buy generics. Those countries' leaders appreciate the help and see the US in a more favourable light.
Well now China has an opportunity to take over that role. It's already been building a lot of soft power in Africa and South America with aid and assistance with infrastructure projects. And to be fair to them it's often on far better terms than the West offered, we really didn't do ourselves any favours there.
Re: This is stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
The US *also* had influence over the WHO, despite the propaganda that only China has influence. After this withdrawal our influence goes to 0. We Lose! The WHO is vastly more than the few people who made some mistakes early on in the Covid-19 discovery period, whether some people were corrupt or not. But Trump said he was going to withdraw, therefore it must happen because otherwise Trump might have to admit that he made a mistake and spoke hastily. He's taking his ball and going home to complain that no one likes to play with him anymore.
I've got the perfect name! (Score:3)
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I am not sure if you are being serious or not. But what makes you think that a new organization will do any better than the WHO? Who would want to join it? A handful of countries, perhaps, but that doesn't really allow the world-wide surveillance that the WHO could offer (even if imperfect). You do realize that over the last few years we have burned a LOT of diplomatic goodwill. Nobody is going to trust the US for a long, long time to come and so the creation of a new organization led by the US is going to
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This move will only strengthen China in WHO. This is absolutely idiotic and deprives the USA of influence.
I am afraid I have to agree with you here.
The thing is: The schizophrenic folks with power will understand the [serious] outcome of their actions soon. I am sure there are nations that are saying..."Yi...haa!"
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Re: This is stupid. (Score:2, Informative)
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He suddenly has nothing to say when asked https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Staying out of politics is what got the WHO isn't this mess. They were unwilling to question what China was saying because that would be politics. Then they get accused of supporting China anyway.
Also the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is a member of the party that overthrew the Communist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Doesn't sound like a "professional Communist" to me.
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Did you listen to the full statement? It was scenario 2. The WHO always states what data it uses to make these statements.
Re: This is stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
The WHO could perform its stated mission, tell the truth at all times, and refrain from playing politics.
And yet that's what you're criticising them for right now. Can you point to a time where: The Chinese government stated one thing and the WHO said the opposite? Because that would be evidence that the WHO lied or that they were playing politics.
The WHO is forced to only report on official government data from countries around the world. They haven't told a single lie the entire time, they have made a single error which they withdrew within 24 hours. Now the data they are reporting on is built on lies, but if you want them to go against them then you'd actually be actively asking the WHO to start taking political positions. You can't complain about the WHO playing politics and then ask them to play politics.
refuses to acknowledge the existence of Taiwan
Of course. Because acknowledging the existence of Taiwan would be the WHO "playing politics". If you want Taiwan to exist, then the UN need to recognise it. You can't complain about the WHO playing politics and then ask them to play politics.
praises China for lying to save face
They did nothing of the sort. They praised China for China's result as China officially published. The fact that you and I know China is lying doesn't mean the WHO is allowed to acknowledge the underlying data is wrong. that would be the WHO "playing politics". You can't complain about the WHO playing politics and then ask them to play politics.
And by the way isn't even a doctor
Not sure what that has to do with anything. Doctors are rarely in this position. In fact "ambassador" positions are there to only communicate information, not to make decisions on them.
So yeah. Gotta cut off the finger to save the hand.
No, I think educating people including the moron running the USA what the hell the WHO is and what it does is the solution. No need to cut off or save anything.
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Last time I checked, china was running the WHO through Ethiopia. Not to mention their track record sucks when it comes to stopping covid ver 2
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You do realize that the police precincts that people have been protesting against are almost entirely in cities that are controlled by Democrats? Do you also realize that these same precincts typically have a black person as the mayor and police chief?
Many of the police precincts are heavily composed of minorities and some of them like Washington DC are "majority minority" police officers. If there's systemic racism in these systems, it's not racism by conservative republican white people.
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I am... stunned.
Do you seriously believe that people can't be racist regarding their own race??
Re: This is stupid. (Score:2)
Except most of those cities have been dem controlled 40-70 years.
Re: This is stupid. (Score:3)
How people have been treated by police and the criminal justice system for decade after decade after decade, just for starters, is what *is* relevant
No, it isn't. How they are treated today is what's relevant. We can't change the past, stupid; if your complaints aren't about the way things are now, then you're just bitching to hear yourself bitch.
Re:This is stupid. (Score:4, Insightful)
The WHO goes to extreme lengths to avoid getting involved in politics. That means they have to take information and data from China at face value, same as data from anywhere else. They can't investigate, they can't accuse. Their job is coordination and is based on the assumption of good faith by all members and doctors involved.
It's then up to individual governments to decide what they do with that data. If they don't trust China they can ignore the advice the WHO gives based on that data. Many countries did and came out of this a lot better than the US which was still praising China back in January.
In other words Trump is trying to shift blame from himself to the WHO, when in fact the WHO's mandate is specifically to avoid doing what he seemed to expect them to do. If he had doubts he should have asked the CIA to investigate or taken precautions anyway.
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Re: This is stupid. (Score:2)
The WHO and CDC are both equally shitty. They have had 50 years to come up with a bioweapon response plan for a weaponized version of the common cold. What sis they roll out? A 1918 manual saying 6ft and shelter at home. Yea that shit might work for the FLU but not something with 14+ days incubation and a Russian roulette algorithm for who shows symptoms.
EPIC FAIL. Billions of dollars overpaying them. They did not thinktank one goddamn scenario. They litterally dug up a 1918 manual. 6ft?!?! Its 23 feet assh
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It has nothing at all to do with a rhinovirus, and if you've made such a basic mistake as that, you are likely very poorly informed about any of the reality of this situation.
But that can be resolved, just to some research from actual science and medical sites. There are plenty of them out there, but watch out for the wacko sites out there from all sides of the political spectrum.
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This move will only strengthen China in WHO.
China has identical influence over the WHO as any other country, that is to say when the UN wrote the WHO's charter they required the WHO to only report on official data, be that China's or the USA's.
Please learn a bit about the topic you're claiming to know something about.
Re:This is stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
>"We don't need to be paying boatloads of money to an organization that is the political puppet of a nation that's rapidly becoming more of an enemy than an ally."
+100
Stop the funding. If it reforms, we can rejoin. If it dies, something better can be created. If it continues as-is, we have lost nothing.
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Re:This is stupid. (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you know about what the WHO does and how it spends its money?
Actually, I spent multiple semesters at university studying publications from the WHO in a Public Health program. I've read dozens of their published papers, critiqued them, and discussed them with professionals working in academia and in the public health sector around the world.
At the end of my time studying their involvement in world health affairs, I had determined that the WHO is more of a political entity than a scientific entity, and that their "scientific" publications contain little-to-no rigorous analysis of anything whatsoever, while they somehow expect to be taken seriously. It doesn't seem like much has changed in the years since I studied these things.
Any more questions? Perhaps you'd like to qualify your personal attack with some explanation of the depth of your study into these issues?
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So based on what you are saying:
The USA is giving up an influential interest in an organization which, while mostly political, acts as a clearing house of health related information and a politicized forum for engaging on health issues.
Let's assume your analysis is correct. That still leaves us with the same questions: Why are we leaving"?
Even if it's a fact that the WHO is mostly politicized and useless from a pure science perspective- it does provide a framework for the sharing of globally important infor
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So based on what you are saying ... [WHO] acts as a clearing house of health related information and a politicized forum for engaging on health issues.
You're putting your words in my mouth. Let me clarify: I found no real value in any of their publications. They at best parroted information from other sources with poor attribution, and at worse shared information with no explanation of how they reached their conclusions. How do you think that would go over for any undergraduate research publication?
Why are we leaving?
What benefit do you think we have had from the WHO during this pandemic, exactly? Do you find it very useful when they routinely announce that more people are
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You misunderstood what the WHO is. It doesn't do its own science, it's there to coordinate and disseminate information from members. If you are looking for analysis and rigorous testing you are looking in the wrong place.
If you want the WHO to do that then by all means fund it to set up labs and employ experts to do those studies, but good luck getting countries to cooperate with these investigations. Can you imagine what China would have done if back in December the WHO had demanded full access to patients
Welp (Score:2)
Stupid is as stupid does.
Good! (Score:3, Funny)
You have to laugh at the UN efforts with the biggest abusers running the show. The UN is a bad joke.
Just my 2 cents
Re:Good! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re: Good! (Score:2)
What year was this magical time when the US Government was Honest and Trustworthy and Good and Righteous and Did The Right Thing?
You sound like the white people who want to go back to the Good Old Days of the mythical 1950s.
What mythical time period did you want to relive?
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I'm withdrawing from the US. There are some corrupt people in high places, they claim they just made mistakes but I know they're really working for China and Russia. How dare they say something wrong about covid-19! How dare they ever introduce even a shred of politics or listen to any politicians. I'm taking my taxes back and going home!
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Why be part of an organization and fund them when nothing coming out of the organization can be trusted. Just like the other UN agencies China controls. You have to laugh at the UN efforts with the biggest abusers running the show. The UN is a bad joke.
We are not talking about the U.N. here, but rather the WHO. The WHO is controlled by the Executive Board, and is therefore NOT controlled by the Chinese. In fact, the Chinese do not have a single position on the Executive Board of the WHO. None. How can they control it if they have no power to even control the governance policy?
Election of Members entitled to designate a person to serve on the Executive BoardThe Seventy-thirdWorld Health Assembly, in accordance with the special procedures elected the following as Members entitled to designate a person to serve on the Executive Board: Botswana, Colombia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India, Madagascar, Oman, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Second plenary meeting, 19 May 2020
A73/VR/2
https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/... [who.int]
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WHO != UN and UN Councils or what ever they are called
Still do not see a reason to be in WHO.;)
Election Gimmick (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no actual benefit to the US in withdrawing from the WHO.
But it will give Trump an applause line at his rallies.
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Re:Election Gimmick (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, at this point it's dreary. I'm a gun nut so I read gun boards full of right wing nutjobs and they lap this shit up. "Der, that's muh President!". They think twitter zingers or saying controversial culture war nonsense is a "win" for them. No different from the left wing dipshits who think AOC is amazing because of her twitter zingers. It's all about attitude, not substance.
This is a snoozefest of a plan to further attempt to blame someone, anyone for out inept response to covid. Just like his snoozefest culture war nonsense about football team names and NASCAR is just an attempt to rile up his dreary base.
The man has become something apparently worse than the imbecilic, narcissistic clown he always has been - he's become boring.
off topic but as a lefty let me just say (Score:2)
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Here's the economics you need to know.
1. Spend hand over fist.
2. Give investors confidence there will be no tax increases or expensive new regulations, so they can feel confident in investment plans for at least 4 years.
That is all you need to do.
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There appears to be no benefit in being the lead contributor to the WHO, either. Why pay hundreds of millions, when China will lie to the world for free?
That 400 million/year would be better served at an agency under direct federal control, like the CDC.
Under the CDC, that money would be useful for kickstarting the US pharmaceutical and PPE manufacturing industries which is desperately needed.
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>"There is no actual benefit to the US in withdrawing from the WHO."
Yes there is. A savings of hundreds of millions of dollars every year that is apparently just wasted. 3.5 BILLION dollars in the last decade, alone.
26.49 TRILLION dollars in debt and increasing $30,000 per SECOND. https://www.usdebtclock.org/ [usdebtclock.org]
Re: Election Gimmick (Score:2)
Its too early for that. 10yrs ago sure. But the way the media feeds headlines, people wont remember anything further back than 6 weeks.
Don't care for Trump but.. (Score:2)
I doubt this is anything more than just the usual political theater.
Lets see what happens and see if Trump can stick to his guns or if he is just going to backpedal.
Re:Don't care for Trump but.. (Score:4, Insightful)
At this point, Trump has nothing to lose. He will continue to do outrageous things to pander to his base. I'm surprised he hasn't figured out to give more $$ in COVID money to Americans to buy off the election, since he has already learned that spending money (increasing the deficit) has no consequence for him. He already also puts his name on all the stim checks to make people think he is helping them personally...
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I doubt this is anything more than just the usual political theater.
Remember TPP? Remember the Paris Climate Agreement? Remember NAFTA? Remember Obama's Iran Nuclear Agreement?
Right or wrong Trump has a proven history either ending or at least extracting the US from these deals and organizations. Trump previously withdrew the US from UNESCO, UNHRC and the UNRWA. WHO would merely be another feather in his cap.
At what point do stop doubting?
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That things you said does not preclude the fact that it is theater. There are no requirements that Trump succeed for fail in an objective for it to be or not be theater in origin or for what he has done in the past to have matching motivations.
There are lots of events in life where people think something was long gone only to show up in a different form somewhere else. The TPP is not only just TPP, it is also in other forms like say CPTPP, TPSEP, and P4.
I don't put it past Trump to do something that looks
Except... (Score:5, Interesting)
He gave formal notice, as required by Congress, that now starts the one year clock ticking on actual withdrawl. We won't actually withdraw until July 2021. That is, if Mr. 38% approval, presider over the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, builder of only 3 miles of new wall on the US-Mexican border (did Mexico pay for even that bit?), still-waiting-for-Coronavirus-infections-to-go-to-zero (or 132,000 Americans dead and counting), super race-baiter in chief miraculously gets re-elected.
Or, more likely, on January 20th of 2021 (or very soon thereafter), after the swearing in of President Joseph Biden, the process is cancelled.
Maybe he'll call his friends Vladimir, Xi, Reccip, and Fatty Kim the 3rd for advice on rigging elections. Or invade Venezuela! They're part of the U.S. anyway, aren't they?
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Or, more likely, on January 20th of 2021 (or very soon thereafter), after the swearing in of President Joseph Biden, the process is cancelled.
Impossible. Mueller is going to have Trump arrested any day now. The Orange Menace is going to be IMPEACHED for being a Russian agent and sent to PRISON.
Except ... Biden (Score:2)
People will get used to Covid-19 by November, no longer news, and in any case that came from the evil Chinese. And, with a bit of luck there will be a vaccine or cure by then.
Biden will mutter and mumble so much confused nothingness in the presidential debates that people will wonder whether he will live until election day.
If Trump can just keep is mouth shut and his fingers away from Twitter he has a good chance of wining. But that is a big IF.
Jackass (Score:3)
So few ppl realize that who is basically fighting diseases all over the undeveloped world and keeps them from spreading. Sadly, because of China's lies, combined with ineptness of Italian government, Spain's government, Sweden's government and finally, Trump, Cumo, and De blasio, SARS-CoV-2 was allowed to propagate all over the world. So, far, China has only really screwed up on Flu, but it is obvious that we need to be a lot more alert and if US is not going to be part of WHO, then we need to create our own. Probably an extension of the CDC. Preferably one without a trump person at the head.
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The US absolutely should step up and provide an alternative. Unfortunately it won't be possible for that alternative to be respected until we have a change of leadership and get the pandemic under control. We've got a long way to go.
Interestingly, this is an opportunity for knowledgeable people in the health community to step up and provide the sorts of information regurgitation--er, I mean knowledge sharing--the WHO has been providing.
The buck stops over there (Score:2)
It's absolutely, positively, always someone else's fault.
March 13, 2020:
"I don't take responsibility at all"
https://youtu.be/wOcY3XlzPzs [youtu.be]
Dumb comments about WHO (Score:4, Interesting)
WHO was on information from China which was initially not as transparant as should.
Donnie just wants to find a convenient scapegoat for his own monumental failing on handling this crisiss. You will see that Fauci will be sacrificed next.
Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
Trump is withdrawing because he has a generally anti-international attitude, and he can use the WHO as a source to further blame his own failures on COVID.
Opposing ideas because Trump endorses them is at least as dumb as supporting ideas because he supports them.
The WHO reported on what China had told them. There's nothing corrupt about that; that's part of the normal process.
Care to explain why this completely apolitical, "we just report the information we have" policy included China's disinformation, but excluded Taiwan raising legitimate concerns?
Not sure how uncritically parotting and adding a stamp of legitimacy to a dictatorial regimes' press releases argues for their unimpeachable innocence. Are you member of any professional organizations which allow you to use their platform to provide disinformation under them name and not face consequence for it? What value is the WHO adding?
The WHO's job isn't questioning what local health officials are saying.
So, why do they, e.g., continue to stand behind their original claim that the virus is not airborne [nytimes.com]? Should they be listening to local health officials? They frankly seem to have a lot of their own views for an organization which allegedly just repeats what they're told.
Meanwhile if there is any serious Chinese corruption or undue influence of the WHO, withdrawing from it means the US has even less ability to combat that influence.
Providing legitimacy to an organization which has become illegitimate is what allowed China to use it effectively as part their political maneuvering to scoop up medical supplies before other countries. China is welcome to rule the WHO with an iron fist. As long as everyone with sense realizes the organization is untrustworthy, it won't be able to do anywhere near the same amount of damage as it has on this occasion.
Withdrawing from the WHO in the literal middle of a pandemic is borderline idiotic.
At the start of the pandemic, possibly. After everyone has had six months to mobilize? What essential, no-one-else-could-possibly-provide-this services do you think the WHO is contributing?
Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
Care to explain why this completely apolitical, "we just report the information we have" policy included China's disinformation, but excluded Taiwan raising legitimate concerns?
Taiwan cannot be a member of the WHO because they do not have a seat at the United Nations.
You seem to misunderstand the role of the WHO in general, when the USA had ebola cases did you expect the WHO to fly into the USA in blue helicopters to oversee and/or take over America's response to the issue? Their role is to help coordinate the responses on global health issues, they are not the health police, they are not looking over the shoulder of every doctor.
Speaking of ebola, the WHO's funding plays a big role in helping stopping outbreaks along with vaccinations of many other communicable diseases. Preventing these problems in countries who cannot afford it significantly helps the USA amongst many other nations.
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Opposing ideas because Trump endorses them is at least as dumb as supporting ideas because he supports them.
Strongly agree. One has seen a lot of that; it is a depressingly common phenomenon, and has for example caused the American left to play down the very real problems represented by China. But that's not what is going on here.
Care to explain why this completely apolitical, "we just report the information we have" policy included China's disinformation, but excluded Taiwan raising legitimate concerns?
Because they aren't completely apolitical. Mainland China has spent much of the last forty years systematically isolating Taiwan on the world stage. If those reports had been from anywhere else in East Asia, such as Japan, they would have been likely paid a lot more attention to. No one
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Everything in your comment is wrong. Trump is withdrawing because he has a generally anti-international attitude
Precisely! That's why he's busy re-negotiating every treaty out there, to break our ties to any other country!
Oh wait...
You're missing the point of the re-negotiations. American treaties are traditionally designed to promote "Free Trade", Trump wants the treaties to promote "America First".
The idea of Free Trade treaties is you create and promote a set of international rules, a set of rules that work to the US's advantage. So even though the US might be able to exploit another country more in the short run it's more to the US's benefit to maintain the world order that keeps the US a superpower.
Trump thinks that he can get a
Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean a businessman who has failed several times and would be richer had he invested his inheritance into an index fund?
An actually successful businessman - Bill Gates - pays almost as much into the WHO budget as the USA.
Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:4, Informative)
The USA is five times larger than Germany, but pays only three times more. Fair share my arse. But this is another typical lynnwood comment - uninformed and, frankly, stupid.
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Re:A Businessman Who Knows How to Deal (Score:5, Informative)
Like a good businessman, he evaluated what benefit does the US get for its contribution, and checked to see if any one else was contributing their fair share.
WHO does a lot of useful staff. For example, WHO drives polio eradication campaign that is almost complete now (with only Afghanistan and Pakistan reporting cases). And the US had royally screwed WHO in Afghanistan by using vaccination workers as a cover for CIA to track down Osama.
Once polio is eradicated, the US will be able to save billions of dollars on polio vaccination. With benefits accruing indefinitely.
But of course, the businessman in question is Trump. He or his base has no freaking idea about any of this.
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President Trump saw what funding the US was sending to WHO. Like a good businessman, he evaluated what benefit does the US get for its contribution, and checked to see if any one else was contributing their fair share. After seeing WHO delay COVID-19 related information from China as a seemingly favor to China, the President knew they were not working in our best interests.
Threats to defund only exposed the people behind the corruption.
Withdrawing will expose the remaining corrupt people.
Watch all the people the object, and then follow the money of the louder ones.
If there was any sort of in depth analysis behind the decision I'm sure it would be documented and published for everyone's benefit. Sadly I believe what is of justification has already been given out piecemeal in angry tweets.
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Re:Who's making decision in the White House? (Score:5, Informative)
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I have said before:
Put all prejudice aside.
Imagine a president who is out not for political gain, but for monetary gain. Someone who would be president just to save tax, funnel money to his friends, take bribes, cut taxes for himself, etc.
Now predict what actions such a president would take, how he'd react to certain situations, what he'd try to do, what trail he'd leave behind, what things he wouldn't care about or even bother to touch, what programmes he would cut, what kind of things he'd try to stop co
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Even a broken clock is right twice a day
Once a day if it's a military clock. xD
Your 'confirmation bias' theory only holds up if you can say with 100% certainty that the person you're applying it to disagrees with Trumps' decisions 100% of the time.
For instance: I don't disagree with 100% of decisions and actions Trump has made since taking office -- just the vast majority of them. More like 95% of them.
In this case I'll grudgingly agree that perhaps the U.S. should not be helping fund the W.H.O., because for reasons I can't quite quantify, t
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It's fair to criticize China and the WHO for issues early on, but that absolute
Re: Think about it a little more... (Score:2)
Re: Think about it a little more... (Score:2)
I would say influence. But no actual authority, until a governor does exactly what they say. Then its indirect, but still damning.
Re: Think about it a little more... (Score:2)
https://www.thelancet.com/jour... [thelancet.com]
Re: Think about it a little more... (Score:2)
Umm have you seen the pics in England over the last few days?!? Yea. T minus 30 days and counting. Its FL all over. Wont open gyms but will open bars for the dumbfuck non mask wearing millennials. Yea they are about to get slammed.