Hurricane Sandy Reilef from a Terrorist?

by Amber Maccione

Most of my family live in the New York/Connecticut area where Hurricane Sandy hit. Luckily, my family faired pretty well with just a week or less of no power and some fallen trees blocking the roadways. But there was great devastation in New Jersey and New York because of Hurricane Sandy. Flooding, beach erosion, lack of power, death - just to name a few were things that came to our nation's attention in the aftermath. Just as in the devastation that took over Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina, now New Jersey and New York are in need of help.

I came across this news article done by ABC News that really caught my attention and got me thinking. The heading was "Terrorist Offers Hurricane Sandy Aid, U.S. Says No Thanks". I had to read the article. As I read the article, I wasn't sure if the U.S. made the right decision to say no.

The terrorist's name is Hafiz Saeed. He has a $10 million bounty on his head, yet has not been captured even though the U.S. knows his location because they are still trying to gather information in order to arrest him. So who is this Hafiz Saeed and why is he seen as a terrorist?

Hafiz Saeed is the founder of a terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba. He also heads the charity associated with this group called Jamaat ud Dawa. And we are all familiar with the protests and riots overseas in regards to the anti-Islamic film called "Innocence of Muslims" - well Saeed helped lead one of those protests. He is an Islamic Military man who was involved with the Mumbai terror attacks and other attacks on India.

Saeed has offered help by wanting to give food, medicine, and doctors to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He feels it is his Islamic duty to help those in need. His charity that would help America is also the charity that helped Sri Lanka and Indonesia after a tsunami devastated the area in 2004.

So was the U.S. wrong in saying that they would not take the help offered by Saeed and his charity when part of nation is in great need? A part of me wants to say yes. Yes, Saeed may be considered a terrorist because of some of his choices and activities, but he has also shown that he has a heart to serve his god and help when there is a need. Another part of me says that the U.S. made the right decision especially since it is known that a lot of terrorist groups hate America and there could be an ulterior motive behind his reason to help, not to mention the money he raised for for his charity could also be from money gotten through his terrorist activities.

So what do you think? Should we taken his offer or was our government right by taking precautions and just saying no thanks?

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