U.N. Official Slams US, Say's We Are Stingy!@#$#@!
U.N. official slams U.S. as 'stingy' over aid
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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 were raised.
"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become."
"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
In response to Mr. Egeland's comments, Mr. Duffy pointed out that the United States is "the largest contributor to international relief and aid efforts, not only through the government, but through charitable organizations. The American people are very giving."
Offers of aid have poured in from around the world in the past two days, with the European Union's executive arm releasing $4 million in emergency aid and pledging an additional $27 million. Canada and several European nations — including Spain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium — each pledged about $1 million yesterday.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell hinted that the $15 million U.S. offer was only the first installment of a larger aid package to those countries devastated by 30-foot waves triggered by a massive underwater earthquake.
"We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing," he said. "Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years.
"The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools and other facilities will take time," he added. "So you need a quick infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then you begin planning for the longer haul."
If that planning calls for significant food aid, the United States might have to scramble.
"Even before the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, the demands for food aid were stretching capacity: demands in Sudan, demands in West Africa, demands in other areas hit by drought and fighting," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"So even though we're giving a lot, the demand is very high," he added. "We're going to have to look at, as we move forward, what we can do to meet that demand."
Money and food are not the only types of aid being sent by the Bush administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also is sending a 21-member disaster-relief team to the region.
Also, the Pentagon has dispatched military patrol planes from the Pacific Fleet. President Bush has written letters of condolence to seven of the affected nations — Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, the Maldives and Malaysia.
Besides the United States, the largest single national donor was neighboring Australia, which offered $10 million and transportation aid.
"Australia will and should give more," Prime Minister John Howard said.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made an initial appeal of $6.7 million, which the federation says it will probably increase.
Officials from relief agencies, including the Red Cross and other nongovernmental organizations, met yesterday in Geneva to coordinate their efforts. In New York, diplomats from six of the affected nations met with U.N. officials.
The United Nations and other aid organizations have deployed hundreds of disaster-recovery and humanitarian-response teams to the region, and officials warn that the cost of the disaster could quickly reach "many billions of dollars."
"We may only know the full effect of this emergency weeks from now," Mr. Egeland told reporters yesterday at the United Nations in New York. "The disaster affecting Southeast Asia is not the biggest in recorded history, but the effects could be the biggest because more people live in exposed areas than ever before."
The tsunami-ravaged nations are particularly susceptible to epidemics as authorities struggle with thousands of corpses in unsanitary conditions. International organizations and nations including France, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Hungary and others are sending medical personnel to some or all of the affected countries.
"The principal danger is that of diseases transmitted through water, especially malaria and diarrhea, and infections caught through respiration," said Hakan Sandbladh, a Red Cross official in Geneva.
Groups such as Doctors Without Borders warned that catastrophes tend to help localized illnesses turn into full-blown epidemics.
The destruction of water and sewage pipes, the disruption of vaccination programs and the lack of attention to disease-carrying pests such as rats and mosquitoes exacerbated the risk, they said.
In this situation, the stagnant pools of water created by the tsunami could boost the numbers of mosquitoes and other insects that transmit tropical maladies such as malaria and dengue fever.
"The risk of epidemics is also linked to concentrations of people whose houses have been destroyed," said Pauline Horrill of Doctors Without Borders.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that a tsunami alert system in Hawaii that warns Pacific countries about devastating tidal waves detected the earthquake that led to the destruction across Indian Ocean nations.
But the absence of an alert system in Asia meant the information could not be sent out fast enough.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, established in 1949 after a huge wave killed more than 150 people in Hawaii, issued a bulletin at 3:14 p.m. local time or 8:14 a.m. in the affected area, when it detected an earthquake off Indonesia.
The NOAA's information bulletin said there was a possibility of a tsunami near the earthquake's epicenter, but that no destructive threat existed in the Pacific. The huge tidal waves instead swept across the Indian Ocean, killing people in 10 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
• Betsy Pisik, reporting from the United Nations in New York, contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
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Let me get this right, The United Nations is saying we need to raise our taxes so we can help out more in the disaster relief for the people affected by the Tsunami when we have already sent the USS Lincoln, countless cargo planes filled with disaster relief supplies, food, medicine, etc. JUST WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE? The UN has a hell of alot of nerve to tell us how to run OUR COUNTRY so we can help with every disaster known to man!!! Hey, UN, Take some of that "Oil For Food Program" money you skimmed off us for years and apply that to the relief effort that might help some you Morons! I cant believe you people still occupy real estate in New York considering you are the most worthless waste of it I have ever seen.
How about all the other countries in the WORLD? The European Union that consists of how many countries? Pitched in all together 5 or 7 million more than the little ol United States? GET REAL!!! You at the United Nations need to get off YOUR duff's and help out. You guy's arent doing anything constructive right now, you should be gathering troops, and relief efforts from other countries to help those poor people affected, because by God you sure arent helping us do sh..t!!!
And to top it off, Israel is sending help and the Sri Lankan government said NO!!!
If help is offered, take it. Humanitarian assistance comes before any of your reasons why you dont like Israel, dont be Moron's!!!
Unreal!!!
Drudge has this one.
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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 were raised.
"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become."
"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
In response to Mr. Egeland's comments, Mr. Duffy pointed out that the United States is "the largest contributor to international relief and aid efforts, not only through the government, but through charitable organizations. The American people are very giving."
Offers of aid have poured in from around the world in the past two days, with the European Union's executive arm releasing $4 million in emergency aid and pledging an additional $27 million. Canada and several European nations — including Spain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium — each pledged about $1 million yesterday.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell hinted that the $15 million U.S. offer was only the first installment of a larger aid package to those countries devastated by 30-foot waves triggered by a massive underwater earthquake.
"We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing," he said. "Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years.
"The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools and other facilities will take time," he added. "So you need a quick infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then you begin planning for the longer haul."
If that planning calls for significant food aid, the United States might have to scramble.
"Even before the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, the demands for food aid were stretching capacity: demands in Sudan, demands in West Africa, demands in other areas hit by drought and fighting," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"So even though we're giving a lot, the demand is very high," he added. "We're going to have to look at, as we move forward, what we can do to meet that demand."
Money and food are not the only types of aid being sent by the Bush administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also is sending a 21-member disaster-relief team to the region.
Also, the Pentagon has dispatched military patrol planes from the Pacific Fleet. President Bush has written letters of condolence to seven of the affected nations — Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, the Maldives and Malaysia.
Besides the United States, the largest single national donor was neighboring Australia, which offered $10 million and transportation aid.
"Australia will and should give more," Prime Minister John Howard said.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made an initial appeal of $6.7 million, which the federation says it will probably increase.
Officials from relief agencies, including the Red Cross and other nongovernmental organizations, met yesterday in Geneva to coordinate their efforts. In New York, diplomats from six of the affected nations met with U.N. officials.
The United Nations and other aid organizations have deployed hundreds of disaster-recovery and humanitarian-response teams to the region, and officials warn that the cost of the disaster could quickly reach "many billions of dollars."
"We may only know the full effect of this emergency weeks from now," Mr. Egeland told reporters yesterday at the United Nations in New York. "The disaster affecting Southeast Asia is not the biggest in recorded history, but the effects could be the biggest because more people live in exposed areas than ever before."
The tsunami-ravaged nations are particularly susceptible to epidemics as authorities struggle with thousands of corpses in unsanitary conditions. International organizations and nations including France, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Hungary and others are sending medical personnel to some or all of the affected countries.
"The principal danger is that of diseases transmitted through water, especially malaria and diarrhea, and infections caught through respiration," said Hakan Sandbladh, a Red Cross official in Geneva.
Groups such as Doctors Without Borders warned that catastrophes tend to help localized illnesses turn into full-blown epidemics.
The destruction of water and sewage pipes, the disruption of vaccination programs and the lack of attention to disease-carrying pests such as rats and mosquitoes exacerbated the risk, they said.
In this situation, the stagnant pools of water created by the tsunami could boost the numbers of mosquitoes and other insects that transmit tropical maladies such as malaria and dengue fever.
"The risk of epidemics is also linked to concentrations of people whose houses have been destroyed," said Pauline Horrill of Doctors Without Borders.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that a tsunami alert system in Hawaii that warns Pacific countries about devastating tidal waves detected the earthquake that led to the destruction across Indian Ocean nations.
But the absence of an alert system in Asia meant the information could not be sent out fast enough.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, established in 1949 after a huge wave killed more than 150 people in Hawaii, issued a bulletin at 3:14 p.m. local time or 8:14 a.m. in the affected area, when it detected an earthquake off Indonesia.
The NOAA's information bulletin said there was a possibility of a tsunami near the earthquake's epicenter, but that no destructive threat existed in the Pacific. The huge tidal waves instead swept across the Indian Ocean, killing people in 10 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
• Betsy Pisik, reporting from the United Nations in New York, contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me get this right, The United Nations is saying we need to raise our taxes so we can help out more in the disaster relief for the people affected by the Tsunami when we have already sent the USS Lincoln, countless cargo planes filled with disaster relief supplies, food, medicine, etc. JUST WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE? The UN has a hell of alot of nerve to tell us how to run OUR COUNTRY so we can help with every disaster known to man!!! Hey, UN, Take some of that "Oil For Food Program" money you skimmed off us for years and apply that to the relief effort that might help some you Morons! I cant believe you people still occupy real estate in New York considering you are the most worthless waste of it I have ever seen.
How about all the other countries in the WORLD? The European Union that consists of how many countries? Pitched in all together 5 or 7 million more than the little ol United States? GET REAL!!! You at the United Nations need to get off YOUR duff's and help out. You guy's arent doing anything constructive right now, you should be gathering troops, and relief efforts from other countries to help those poor people affected, because by God you sure arent helping us do sh..t!!!
And to top it off, Israel is sending help and the Sri Lankan government said NO!!!
If help is offered, take it. Humanitarian assistance comes before any of your reasons why you dont like Israel, dont be Moron's!!!
Unreal!!!
Drudge has this one.
posted by Marie's Two Cents | 4:28 PM
3 Comments:
Pathetic is the word I would use also. This is probably going to be the biggest Humanitarian effort when its all said and done known to man in our lifetime, and the Sri Lankan Govt. Is being Petty!!! And the UN telling us WE need to raise our taxes to help out PFFT!! I dont believe this sh..t. I wish the UN would leave.
First, if you read you're own post, you'll notice that Egeland isn't slamming the US at all. He's slamming the whole of the developed world.
Second, the US are stingy when it comes to development aid. Very stingy. Check this BBC site if you don't believe me, or read my blog.
And, if nothing changes, you'll be stingy with disaster relief as well.
As of January 5th, the score is:
USA $ 470 million (350 govt, 120 privat) and troops
EU $ 1887 million (and medical teams etc)
Australia $ 765 million (US dollars, govt only)
Japan $ 500 million (govt only)
Jasper:
First of all yes Egeland did slam the US which is customary these days, and insisted that we need to raise our taxes to pay for this disaster among others, that's why I said "Where do they get the nerv". The USA has always been the first to deliver disaster relief during ANY disaster. 350 million is only the beginning of relief from our government. Pivate sector donations will surmount that figure by a huge amount more. We are a very generous people, even though most of Hollywood is crazy, the more clear thinking people there have already begun sending millions, your figures are already wrong. On top of the goverment donation of 350 million (So far) the private sector has donated almost 700 million dollars combined with 350 Gvt. as per a few min ago 12:36 CST here in America. And it keeps on growing. Dont try to add up our figures because they are changing minute by minute.
That is NOT counting the Military effort which is taking place, and the money it costs to keep that effort going. By the way, can you name any one elses Navy out there? How about troops? We have close to 14,000 on the ground right now and growing. Where is your Navy? Where are your troops? How about any other govenment on a fact finding mission other than the US? The fact finding mission is determining how much more aid and assistance will be needed. All this in a week!!!!!!!!! Can your government say the same thing?
And the BBC? Are you serious? That's like asking me to read an article from Al-Jazeera!!!
You must be one of those "Blame America First" Morons.
But frankly my dear I dont give a rats ass what you think of us. We know who we are, and we know what we do, and we dont need Idiots like you telling us how to do it!
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