UN calls US aid for disaster stingy...

[insein]

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041228-122330-7268r.htm

U.N. official slams U.S. as 'stingy' over aid


By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The Bush administration yesterday pledged $15 million to Asian nations hit by a tsunami that has killed more than 22,500 people, although the United Nations' humanitarian-aid chief called the donation "stingy."
"The United States, at the president's direction, will be a leading partner in one of the most significant relief, rescue and recovery challenges that the world has ever known," said White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy.
But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.







"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become."
"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
In response to Mr. Egeland's comments, Mr. Duffy pointed out that the United States is "the largest contributor to international relief and aid efforts, not only through the government, but through charitable organizations. The American people are very giving."
Offers of aid have poured in from around the world in the past two days, with the European Union's executive arm releasing $4 million in emergency aid and pledging an additional $27 million. Canada and several European nations — including Spain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium — each pledged about $1 million yesterday.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell hinted that the $15 million U.S. offer was only the first installment of a larger aid package to those countries devastated by 30-foot waves triggered by a massive underwater earthquake.
"We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing," he said. "Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years.
"The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools and other facilities will take time," he added. "So you need a quick infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then you begin planning for the longer haul."
If that planning calls for significant food aid, the United States might have to scramble.
"Even before the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, the demands for food aid were stretching capacity: demands in Sudan, demands in West Africa, demands in other areas hit by drought and fighting," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"So even though we're giving a lot, the demand is very high," he added. "We're going to have to look at, as we move forward, what we can do to meet that demand."
Money and food are not the only types of aid being sent by the Bush administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also is sending a 21-member disaster-relief team to the region.
Also, the Pentagon has dispatched military patrol planes from the Pacific Fleet. President Bush has written letters of condolence to seven of the affected nations — Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, the Maldives and Malaysia.
Besides the United States, the largest single national donor was neighboring Australia, which offered $10 million and transportation aid.
"Australia will and should give more," Prime Minister John Howard said.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made an initial appeal of $6.7 million, which the federation says it will probably increase.
Officials from relief agencies, including the Red Cross and other nongovernmental organizations, met yesterday in Geneva to coordinate their efforts. In New York, diplomats from six of the affected nations met with U.N. officials.
The United Nations and other aid organizations have deployed hundreds of disaster-recovery and humanitarian-response teams to the region, and officials warn that the cost of the disaster could quickly reach "many billions of dollars."
"We may only know the full effect of this emergency weeks from now," Mr. Egeland told reporters yesterday at the United Nations in New York. "The disaster affecting Southeast Asia is not the biggest in recorded history, but the effects could be the biggest because more people live in exposed areas than ever before."
The tsunami-ravaged nations are particularly susceptible to epidemics as authorities struggle with thousands of corpses in unsanitary conditions. International organizations and nations including France, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Hungary and others are sending medical personnel to some or all of the affected countries.
"The principal danger is that of diseases transmitted through water, especially malaria and diarrhea, and infections caught through respiration," said Hakan Sandbladh, a Red Cross official in Geneva.
Groups such as Doctors Without Borders warned that catastrophes tend to help localized illnesses turn into full-blown epidemics.
The destruction of water and sewage pipes, the disruption of vaccination programs and the lack of attention to disease-carrying pests such as rats and mosquitoes exacerbated the risk, they said.
In this situation, the stagnant pools of water created by the tsunami could boost the numbers of mosquitoes and other insects that transmit tropical maladies such as malaria and dengue fever.
"The risk of epidemics is also linked to concentrations of people whose houses have been destroyed," said Pauline Horrill of Doctors Without Borders.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that a tsunami alert system in Hawaii that warns Pacific countries about devastating tidal waves detected the earthquake that led to the destruction across Indian Ocean nations.
But the absence of an alert system in Asia meant the information could not be sent out fast enough.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, established in 1949 after a huge wave killed more than 150 people in Hawaii, issued a bulletin at 3:14 p.m. local time or 8:14 a.m. in the affected area, when it detected an earthquake off Indonesia.
The NOAA's information bulletin said there was a possibility of a tsunami near the earthquake's epicenter, but that no destructive threat existed in the Pacific. The huge tidal waves instead swept across the Indian Ocean, killing people in 10 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.

 

[dilloduck]

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041228-122330-7268r.htm

LOL--maybe the UN could return some of the money they stole from the Iraqis---there's words for guys like this but I'm not gonna use em here.

 

[CSM]

Isn't it interesting that the largest donor...the US... is labelled as stingy even though it is giving over twice as much as the great European Union. I wonder just how much this Norwegian's homeland is donating????

And iisn't it just wonderful that this foriegner speaks for us US taxpayers???

 

[dilloduck]

Isn't it interesting that the largest donor...the US... is labelled as stingy even though it is giving over twice as much as the great European Union. I wonder just how much this Norwegian's homeland is donating????

And iisn't it just wonderful that this foriegner speaks for us US taxpayers???

How about taking up a collection and sending this guy home to Oslo or Gerburenfeisterupwazoogefilt--which ever is worse.

 

[CSM]

The UN is one of the leading anti US organizations in the world and this guy personifies the very subtle but very real effort of the UN to destroy the United States. In my opinion, this is just one more reason to get that infernal organization off US soil....I'm sure France would love to have them in Paris....minus the US membership and financial support of course!

 

[krisy]

This just erks me. I agree that this U.N official has no business volunteering our tax dollars. I don't have any problem with us giving as much as possible,but this guy isn't the one listening to anyone whine while the deficit grows bigger and bigger. Another case of everyone can rip on the U.S.,and now they need our help and we should give it immediately because they demand it. I do hope we give lots of aid,but I know it won't matter to anyone,we will just keep getting picked on because it's not enough,or it wasn't fast enough,or whatever they decide is wrong with it.

 

[onedomino]

The UN is one of the leading anti US organizations in the world and this guy personifies the very subtle but very real effort of the UN to destroy the United States. In my opinion, this is just one more reason to get that infernal organization off US soil....I'm sure France would love to have them in Paris....minus the US membership and financial support of course!

CSM, it would greatly improve the odor of NYC to boot out the UN diplo-terrorists. But remember the old saying, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." On the other hand, it would make sense for the UN to move to Frogistan, the world capital of insincerity and treachery.

 

[CSM]

CSM, it would greatly improve the odor of NYC to boot out the UN diplo-terrorists. But remember the old saying, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." On the other hand, it would make sense for the UN to move to Frogistan, the world capital of insincerity and treachery.

Keep your enemies close indeed...until you can slip a dagger between their ribs!

 

[MtnBiker]

These bastards are trying to set the stage to have the UN directly tax the US citizens.

 

[dilloduck]

These bastards are trying to set the stage to have the UN directly tax the US citizens.

They already have the indirect taxation part down pretty good. :bangheads

 

[krisy]

These bastards are trying to set the stage to have the UN directly tax the US citizens.

They can't do that....can they?!!!!

 

[CSM]

I just have to wonder where the heck the foriegn aid is for the poor poverty stricken children in the United States is going to come flowing in...after all, according to some on this board it is one in every four children that lives in squalor.

Where is the military aid for our poor underequipped military? Where are the military advisors from France, the nation with the best military in the world, according to some who post on this board?

Where are the streams of medical doctors setting up aid stations in the United States? According to some who post on this board, the United States doesn't provide enough medical services to cover our aged and our young or even our handicapped.

Where are the hordes of educators flowing into the country to help educate and enlighten the poor, stupid US citizenry? According to some, US citizens are so ignorant that they elected a man as president equivalent to Hitler.

Where are the legions of foriegn workers to help build housing for this nation's homeless? According to some who post on this board the number of homeless in this country has risen to astronomic porportions.

Where are the UN peacekeepers prowling our cities to help stem the violence and prevent the flow of guns into this country? According to some who post on this board, the level of violence and murder in this country far surpasses that of any othe rnation.

Where the heck is the billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of aid workers this country needs (as asserted by the liberals, Democrats, and Europeanists, not to mention the UN)?

 

[5stringJeff]

I wonder how much China, the great Asian economic power, is sending...

 

[Johnney]

so why does this asshole think he needs to be the one to decide how much aide we send? then calling us stingy when we dont send what he thinks? its getting pretty retarded now days. other countries dontsee us as an allies, they see us as a bank account of which when they stub their toes they can come and get some cash. and this will be our downfall. we give too much bullshit aide to too many countries but our own.

 

[krisy]

Just saw this guy on the news....he's backtracking. He now says he has been misinterpreted. He says the west has been vewr generous. I think he's afraid he'll piss off the U.S. and we won't give any more money. We all know we are better than that though. What a prick!!

 

[Mr. P]

Just saw this guy on the news....he's backtracking. He now says he has been misinterpreted. He says the west has been vewr generous. I think he's afraid he'll piss off the U.S. and we won't give any more money. We all know we are better than that though. What a prick!!

A typical anti-USA socialist MORON!!

On the tax thing Krisy, The UN is pushing a world tax along with the world court which
all fits nicely into a one world government.

 

[krisy]

A typical anti-USA socialist MORON!!

On the tax thing Krisy, The UN is pushing a world tax along with the world court which
all fits nicely into a one world government.

Sorry about that typing!!! I try to check it,but sometimes I forget. That word is supposed to be very-hehe!!

On the one world goverment,all have to say is :bangheads

 

[Mr. P]

Sorry about that typing!!! I try to check it,but sometimes I forget. That word is supposed to be very-hehe!!

On the one world goverment,all have to say is :bangheads

He's still a typical anti-USA socialist MORON!!

 

[Johnney]

A typical anti-USA socialist MORON!!

On the tax thing Krisy, The UN is pushing a world tax along with the world court which
all fits nicely into a one world government.

of course they are. if they US says kiss my ass and leaves the UN jsut htink of all the money they wouldnt be getting from us anymore.
what was thename of the org. they were going to boot us out of then changed their minds when we were going to still pay our dues? thought that was pretty amusing there. "you cant play with us anymore, but you still have to pay us for the priviledge"

whatever

 

[Mr. P]

of course they are. if they US says kiss my ass and leaves the UN jsut htink of all the money they wouldnt be getting from us anymore.
what was thename of the org. they were going to boot us out of then changed their minds when we were going to still pay our dues? thought that was pretty amusing there. "you cant play with us anymore, but you still have to pay us for the priviledge"

whatever

I think that was the Human Rights council..not sure though.