Jeff, you are of course correct in that the dead are dead and there's not much that is going to change that. It seems that your post is missing the point, though, which is not so much about the dead, but about the living. They still have the capacity to suffer and it seems like a good thing to hold out a hand right now to try and reduce that suffering. Statistics about the dead are a way of measuring the magnitude of the disaster, but the real number that matters is the number of survivors who continue to suffer in the aftermath and who, with a little aid, can survive the critical period, get their lives back together, rebuild their communities, raise their children and the new orphans, etc.