Haitian disaster provides needed perspective

The recession, health care reform -- even the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pale in comparison to the widespread death and destruction suffered by the people of Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake.

Perhaps it's good we Americans have a chance to stop thinking about our troubles, serious as they are, and concentrate instead on helping the people of a nearby nation struggling for life itself.

Bodies piled in the street, mothers desperate for food and help for their children, trapped people still crying for help from beneath the rubble.

Life was hard even during "good" times in Haiti, with years of corrupt government leaving its people in squalor and poverty. But the magnitude 7 earthquake multiplied the suffering exponentially, killing United Nations and government officials who otherwise would have at least been able to coordinate rescue efforts.

For now, rescue is nearly impossible, medical aid nonexistant and foreign aid only beginning to trickle in.

The American Red Cross is in the forefront, as usual, pledging an initial $1 million to the effort and offering an innovative way to helping out. Cell phone owners can donate $10 simply by texting "Haiti" to 90999 through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department.

We're sure we'll have many more opportunities to help, and we urge readers to do what they can.

The recovery in Haiti will take many years, but we hope it will offer a chance for real, positive political reform of that impoverished country as it gives U.S. citizens a needed new perspective.