I had to write something about this after reading all the crap other nations have been saying about our humanitarian contributions. Ok, I understand that we do not give the largest donations when represented as a percentage of GDP, but I'm a little sick and tired of what I will call the "bitch nations" of the world. These are the nations that will do everything they can do to "stick it to" the US at every turn they can and then be the first ones at our doorstep with their hand out for money the first chance they get. I understand that there are not a lot of countries in this current tragedy that fall into the "bitch nations" category, but I'm just speaking in general terms of the UN. So many of them hate america and just love to watch us get egg on our face, all the time enjoying the benefits of having us as the lone economic/military superpower. Is anyone else really tired of these bitches?

I agree. Also, think about private donations from private US citizens and organizations. It will far dwarf what other countries will give.

That $35mil was for immediate aid.

You know it, I know it, everyone knows it, that the $35mil is just a drop in the bucket of how much money we are going to give.

I think that all the media coverage of that flack is because of what the UN relief coordinator said on Sunday (or Monday), which people misinterpreted:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/ ... index.html



But, yeah, we do get a lot of flack that we probably don't deserve. I'm sure a lot of the figures people quote are just money from the government and not from private organizations. People should make sure they're looking the overall donation figures, from state and private institutions. Until I see those, I'm not really going to judge anything.

This is my attempt at contributing to this discussion through my Percocet haze (wisdom teeth extraction couple days ago).

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtm ... ID=7193859

The way reuters explains it, it seems as though we are above and beyond what the UN expects from rich countries in terms of a percentage of GDP they would like to see contributed.

Anyway, I heard on the radio today that Bill Gates alone has already contributed $3 million by himself, and Amazon.com has raised something like that amount in the last 24 hours by online contributions. All the American religious organizations already have set foot in the disaster areas and are busy at work. Let's not forget all the logistic support by the military to get aid to South(East) Asia in the first place. I think America in total hasn't been stingy at all.

I think actions speak larger than words. After all this happened, America wasn't bragging about how they were doing candlelight vigils or dumb news conferences, but actually taking action to do something. Something else that bothers me is that Bush received criticism for not leaving his vacation after the disaster, but how about Kofi Annan? He hasn't said anything until today because he was on vacation too. Bush has already helped put together a coalition consisting of Japan, Australia, etc. to contribute help. And then.... this guy at NY Times goes and writes this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/opini ... f=login&hp What has the big NY Times done, besides stirring up shit with the newspaper, in terms of aid?

/me continues rant.

My mom, who is Thai and reads Thai newspapers, has not read anything that says their country is disappointed in US efforts.

The UN is just in a tissy because the US is going behind their back when it comes to aid. http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3944374 Of course, why wouldn't any one want the UN to be responsible after their shining success with the Oil for Food program and others.

Wow, that Clare Short lady needs to be punched in her boob. We don't have a good record at coordinating with anyone? Yeah, that's why we are always the major contributor and work our asses off during every major disaster that hits. She thinks a bit too highly of the UN and not high enough about everything else. What a bitch.

does 35mil include the 15k marins we sent over to aid in rebuilding...their barracks, food and cost of supplies? NO!

We are the fucking coordinators!!!! Shit.... Canada, or Mexico or whatever can work with us to get their 5 planes in a schedule with our 50. We don't need to work with them.

*Numbers made up

To add to this discussion of talking about private donations here is something I heard on the news only once. Pfizer, creator of Viagra, matched the initial donation of the US shortly after the Tsunami incident. A single US company donated 35mil dollars on their own will. But you hardly heard about that. This is just one company. The "bitch" nations can kiss our asses.

I definately agree. The United States hands out more foriegn aid per year than all the counties combined. Also, I doubt if the other countries are spending lots of money fighting terrorism. Let's face it, America will never be good enough for the international community, unless they need money.

$35 mil on relief
$40 mil on Innaguration Gala

?!?

i cant spell.

Good call phil, but still... reviving old threads?

1. Bad revive
2. We are giving way more than 35million now, but hey, lets toss out some more bad comparisions and make people we don't like look bad

Saying shit like that is just dumb. Now if it were true, yes, good point, but it isn't true. (isn't our financial aid up to $300M now? And that doesn't count the cost of all our ships and planes and people that helped distribute all the food and water and medicine)

oh man, it was late, i didn't even notice this was an old thread. Damn it!

Starkind = blah
no reviving, its over, damn.

lol