Posted on 12/30/2004 5:07:39 AM PST by .cnI redruM
President Bush finally roused himself yesterday from his vacation in Crawford, Tex., to telephone his sympathy to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, and to speak publicly about the devastation of Sunday's tsunamis in Asia. He also hurried to put as much distance as possible between himself and America's initial measly aid offer of $15 million, and he took issue with an earlier statement by the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, who had called the overall aid efforts by rich Western nations "stingy." "The person who made that statement was very misguided and ill informed," the president said.
We beg to differ. Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.
The American aid figure for the current disaster is now $35 million, and we applaud Mr. Bush's turnaround. But $35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket, and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the United States budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310812/posts
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He did not say exactly when the ships would arrive. A U.S. defence department official in Jakarta confirmed the carrier fleet was on its way.
SHIPS CAN PRODUCE FRESH WATER
Conway also said the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group of seven vessels, which had been in Guam -- in the Pacific Ocean -- had been diverted to the Bay of Bengal, where it would arrive before Jan. 7.
"It has seven ships associated with the strike group (and) carries 25 helicopters, which will be valuable to us again in disaster relief," he said.
He said five other ships of the squadron located in Guam were moving toward the disaster-hit areas of southern Asia.
"These five ships have fresh-water-producing capability. Each ship can produce 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day, and of course that'll be extremely valuable as we have a number of requests already for fresh-water supply," Conway said.
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This of course will not be included in the UN total of aid by the US.
i have libs all writing me hate bush blaming bush,we are not giving enough ,this should not be a pissing match ,all one people(then how come sri lanka refused israels aid??..these libs dont stop! i gave and didnt write e mails to all
huh?
It never is. The UN hates our military accept when we bail out their boats.
I'd like to give them something to beg about. They are hateful.
Who needs worldwide help the most, Florida or the many other Caribbean countries that were also hit? I know people who went from up and down the east coast to FL to repair utilities. A lot of smaller countries can't manage.
A ton! Out OPTEMPO costs for the military aid portion of this probably outweighs our entire 'humanitarian aid' portion that the UN will just misuse and embezzle anyhow.
Contrary to what the media would like you to think, our government has not reacted to their hysterics except to say the UN guy was wrong. The increase in aid is in response to the U.S. Agency for International Development and their recommendations and reports. NOT the idiotic simpering clymers at the NYT, I can assure you.
Somebody please explain how we're supposed to be "more generous" with money we don't even have. Are we supposed to borrow more just to go out and give it away? Where do these boneheads think it comes from anyway? Good grief.
There is a tax exemption in Europe (at least in France). Half of what you give is deductible, IIRC.
One of the worlds greatest natural disasters occurs and we are only willing to give 15 million. I mean c'mon. Regardless of your political view everyone here knows 15 mil. for this type of disaster is bubkis.
Now I do think it is rediculous for the NYT to call the US stingy and not compare us with other nations around the world. I also agree that the American people are the greatest contributers privately in the world.
But you have to admit 15 million is a drop in the bucket for a disaster of this magnitude.
You are not wrong, of course. In addition, according to Andrew Natsios, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who appeared with Chris Wallace on Fox yesterday (and he's given daily briefings for the last few days, too), our first donation of $4 million dollars was sent on Sunday (in addition to that day the deployment of a ship, I believe). Last I checked, that was on the very day disaster hit. It was not, as the Slimes insinuates in their malevolent way, a belated decision to send aid. And nobody with a brain and good will thought the initial amounts announced were the end of the discussion.
The Slimes is plain and simply an evil and malignant entity.
You are behind in your facts.
Thanks.
I agree. I was just using the information from this article. Is 35 Million the current figure?
you better get a grip on reality. Read some of the information out there before posting this tripe. Facts are available on this thread. Fiction is what the UN and the MSM is feeding you and you fell for it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310812/posts
The ships associated with the carrier group are expected to take position off the island of Sumatra, Conway said.
He did not say exactly when the ships would arrive. A U.S. defence department official in Jakarta confirmed the carrier fleet was on its way.
SHIPS CAN PRODUCE FRESH WATER
Conway also said the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group of seven vessels, which had been in Guam -- in the Pacific Ocean -- had been diverted to the Bay of Bengal, where it would arrive before Jan. 7.
"It has seven ships associated with the strike group (and) carries 25 helicopters, which will be valuable to us again in disaster relief," he said.
He said five other ships of the squadron located in Guam were moving toward the disaster-hit areas of southern Asia.
"These five ships have fresh-water-producing capability. Each ship can produce 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day, and of course that'll be extremely valuable as we have a number of requests already for fresh-water supply," Conway said.
He said a sixth ship with a field hospital was also headed to the region.
The United States suspended normal military ties with Indonesia in 1999 following allegations of widespread human rights abuses by its military in East Timor....
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