Posted on 01/04/2005 8:47:20 PM PST by F14 Pilot
At the UN - Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, warned yesterday that much of the US$2-billion promised in aid to tsunami victims is unlikely to materialize.
He said past disasters have shown governments often fail to make good on their pledges.
"If we go by past history, yes, I do have concern ... Mr. Annan told a news conference.
He gave the example of the city of Bam, Iran, which was levelled by an earthquake on Dec. 26, 2003, exactly a year before the tsunami devastated countries around the Indian Ocean.
Foreign governments and organizations promised US$1.1-billion in aid, but by last week, only US$17.5-million had arrived in Iran.
The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last night from Geneva it had received pledges of almost US$1.6-billion for tsunami victims. This includes a verbal pledge of US$500-million made by Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, on the weekend, but not the US$530-million promised by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
But Robert Smith, a spokesman for OCHA, told British newspaper The Guardian: "We should be very cautious about these figures.
"Let's put it this way: Large-scale disasters tend to result in mammoth pledges which ... do not always materialize in their entirety. The figures look much higher than they really are. What will end up on the ground will be much less."
Added fellow staffer Rudolf Muller, "There is definitely double accounting going on."
Mr. Muller added, "A lot of the money will be swallowed up by the military or will have been diverted from existing loans."
As Jan Egeland, told the news conference in New York, "People [in Bam] are frustrated because they still live in temporary shelters.
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
Uh, Iran might be a bad example. From what I understand, the official policy of the theocracy in Iran was to REFUSE to accept the aid offered.
They filled their own pockets with the amount other countries donated!
That is sad!
is kofi trying to pretend that these funds were pledged to go to/through the freekin UN?
methinks he is in denial and desperate for personal and organizational credibility..
Kofi is pi$$ed because it won't be funnelled thru the UN so they can get their cuts and kickbacks.
Uh, Iran might be a bad example.
Iran IS a bad example. If they cut off their aid to the terrorists for a month or two, they wouldn't need any aid at all.
Kofi needn't be concerned about the help that is already there - it's real enough even if it isn't UN. I have to wonder if he's taking into consideration the cost of running a carrier battle group and dawn-to-dusk flight ops, or if that just doesn't count.
"Kofi needn't be concerned about the help that is already there - it's real enough even if it isn't UN. I have to wonder if he's taking into consideration the cost of running a carrier battle group and dawn-to-dusk flight ops, or if that just doesn't count."
You got that right. As far as the coffee man goes. He's just pissed off at how we quickly moved in independent of the UN.
Took charge, interfaced with a few other nations, and made things happen real quick right at the epi-center. He can't stand the grandstanding of GWB to have our Navy and Marines hand out aid directly to all those hurting Muslims in Sumatra. It is burning his mind up! Ha ha. Maybe he will blow a fuse soon!
Well, of course the aid flights don't count: those eeeevil Americans are flying their warplanes 24/7 around that CBG.
Defense is NOT allowed!
Kofi, you might want to check with your son where the rest of the money went ;-)
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