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THE COMPASSION OF THE LEFT:The biggest human disaster - perhaps since the flood of Noah's day and it seems a bit of clarity needs to be had on how people are responding to the disaster. The United Nations has called the $35,000,000 in aid that the United States has already shipped has been labeled "stingy". Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary general for international aid is the one who made the comments. He also inferred that the reason why the American government has been so stingy is because the tax rates are too low. He even went so far as to say that...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The international response to a catastrophic tsunami in Asia has been quick and generous, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday, playing down his earlier comments that wealthy nations were stingy. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rowed back from statements he made on Monday after an annoyed Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was "the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world." "The United States is not stingy," Powell told CNN's "American Morning" program. Egeland, a Norwegian, pleaded at a Monday news conference for individuals and governments around the world to respond...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The international response to a catastrophic tsunami in Asia has been quick and generous, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday, playing down his earlier comments that wealthy nations were stingy. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rowed back from statements he made on Monday after an annoyed Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was "the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world." "The United States is not stingy," Powell told CNN's "American Morning" program. Egeland, a Norwegian, pleaded at a Monday news conference for individuals and governments around the world to respond...

U.N. Coordinator Praises Disaster Response Associated Press UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. emergency relief coordinator praised rich nations Tuesday for their generous response to victims of the earthquake and tsunami waves that raced from southeast Asia to east Africa but said much more will be needed to rebuild the shattered nations. Jan Egeland told reporters his complaint Monday that rich nations were "stingy" when it came to helping poorer nations wasn't directed at any country or at the response to this weekend's disaster. "I have been misinterpreted when I yesterday said that my belief that rich countries in general can...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell responded to criticism from a U.N. official Tuesday, saying the United States is "not stingy" when it comes to providing aid to countries in distress. On Monday, Jan Egeland, under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief for the U.N., criticized the United States and other countries, saying the amount of foreign aid they gave was "stingy."

U.S. Vows to Do More to Help Asia Victims By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Secretary of State Colin Powell bristled Tuesday at a United Nations official's suggestion the United States has been "stingy," saying the administration expects to follow its initial $15 million Asian earthquake aid package with billions more dollars. "The United States has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world," Powell said when asked about the comments Monday by Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian aid chief. Initially, the U.S. government pledged $15 million and dispatched...

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...

" The Bush administration yesterday pledged $15 million to Asian nations hit by a tsunami that killed more than 22,500 people, althought the United Nations' humanitarian-aid chief called the donation "stingy."

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.

I was watching CNN's Inside Politics today (no transcript up yet) and they had a panel on - someone from the Washington Post, LA Times (Ron Brownstein) and Time magazine (Karen Tumulty). They were discussing our response to the disaster and the host of the program mentioned that the UN called our response "stingy". Then the panel went on to talk about how we "fumbled" this and were basically AWOL for one day. This just really made my blood boil. What have other countries done? The Brits say over 10,000 of their citizens were on holiday in that area. It's...