Posted on 12/30/2004 10:25:29 AM PST by ejdrapes
PARIS — One-upping the United States, France said Thursday it is the No. 1 donor for the Asian disaster — pledging 42 million euro ($57 million) — following barbs from Washington about the extent of French generosity. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's boast that France was vaulting to "the head of all the contributors" appeared to respond to comments from Andrew Natsios ,chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes American aid. In a FOX News interview this week, Natsios said France tends not to be a world leader in foreign aid and often packages its help as loans, which he suggested were inappropriate in emergencies. "The aid program in France is not that big," he said. "They do not tend to be dominant figures in the aid. The British are, the European Union is, the Japanese are, we are, the Canadians are." In Paris, France's Foreign Ministry shot down those aspersions. Spokesman Herve Ladsous said French aid for tsunami victims "is clearly donations and not loans." He also said France gives more development aid than all other members of the Group of Eight industrial nations — which includes the United States — when measured as a proportion of its economic output.France: We're the No. 1 Aid Donor
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
U.K. Pledges $95 Million to Aid Asia
Associated Press
LONDON — The British Government more than tripled its relief donation to victims of the Asian tidal wave Thursday, bringing its overall contribution to $95 million.
The Department for International Development said the government would add an extra 35 million pounds (US$67 million; euro49 million) to its already pledged 15 million pounds (US$29 million; euro21 million).[snip]
Ebay should preside over the bidding war....
That's cash only, we're also sending the not so cheap Marines.
All they are doing is giving back some of the oil for food money they stole.
i can just imaging France whispering to Kofi, "psst, Kofibuddy, could you spare a few mil from your swiss accounts to cover this for us?"
I read the headline wrong at first...thought it said "France: We're the No. 1 AIDS Donor." Made more sense that way. Oh well.
Note: France is giving loans. No just outright giving. They are giving LOANS.
I can imagine it. "TITLE OF THE MOST GENEROUS NATION FREE SHIP" by seller kannan_03.
That's due to the fact that France's "economic output" sucks really bad!
They're going nuts at DU about this whole thing.
I can't complain about an auction for who will donate the most. It's better for all concerned. As long as they cough it up quickly...It's needed NOW!
Sounds to me like they are finding a way to drain the oil-for-food bank account they had to kill the trail.
Viva La FUrance
"Pledging" money and actually "handing it over" are two different things.
I suspect they won't actually give more than the $135,000 they originally offered.
They suck.
The French words for "Aid Donor" and "Surrender Monkey" must be quite similar.
I'm going to "Pledge" $200 Million.
It's in the mail.
In Paris, France's Foreign Ministry shot down those aspersions. Spokesman Herve Ladsous said French aid for tsunami victims "is clearly donations and not loans."
AID, I don't know. AIDS, probably.
THe UN is subverted by the Bush administration (you have just GOT to admire Bush for his magnificent cowboy streak) and the other countries start COMPETING to give more foreign aide than the US.
How cool is that?
Go France! Now if you could just get your aircraft carrier there, I might be impressed. Just maybe. Don't count on it though.
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