Intensive-care nurses at Cincinnati Children's used to watch helplessly as 60 kids a year developed this deadly infection.

FORBES: Special Surgery

Some dashed to the headland, only to watch helplessly as a wooden boat carrying as many as 100 asylum-seekers smashed against rocks.

ECONOMIST: A tragic sinking revives a debate about boat people

With no legally recognized status, people were forced to watch helplessly as the care of a partner was turned over to family members and city agencies who did not or could not recognize their bond.

CNN: Same-sex couples take long road to the altar

During his tenure at Space Command, he witnessed visitors to its headquarters expressing incredulity that the United States could only watch helplessly if a missile were launched at this country, even if by accident.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | Rummy��s Back: Choice of Gen. Myers Evidence Affirms that Rumsfeld is a SecDef for our Time

Second, they can helplessly watch polarisation within Pakistan get worse, possibly leading to a coup or regime change.

BBC: RELATED BBC SITES

Did the Federal Reserve watch helplessly as Lehman failed because, as its officials have repeatedly asserted, they had no legal authority to stop it?

FORBES: Bernanke: Lehman's Failure a Fait Accompli