Letters to the Editor, January 10, 2005

Tsunami Relief Donations: US

The Australian Government has promised a A$1 billion donation/aid package whilst the Australian people and businesses have donated a further A$120 million - and rising. This makes Australia - a population of 20million - the single largest donour to date. On top of that, the Australian military and aid organisations are also on the ground helping out.

Question begging for an answer is this. If Australia can give so much, why has the USA given so little? I think President Bush's $10,000 personal donation is an insult [when you see movie stars donating millions]. It's not as if President Bush is poor, nor the USA.

With a population of over 250 million and an economy second-to-none, one would think that the USA would be donating a lot more. I think it is time the USA took a good hard look at itself and the image it is portraying.

James Bailey

The Myth of American Generosity

I find Mike Whitney's article interesting. I'm a little confused though. Does he want us to send the money or not?

Because, if it were up to me, I wouldn't send them a nickle. Because, if it happened to us, those people wouldn't be sending any money this way. They'd be sending suicide bombers. Thery'd be like, "Hey we've got them on the ropes....lets get them! Now is our chance!"

I found one Indonesian victim's comments to a reporter interesting. He said "Where is the United States? Tell the world!" I find that funny because #1, what the heck does the United States have to do with Indonesia and #2 why should the U.S. send any money there? You know, these people spend every day of their lives cursing the U.S. but when something happens it's like, hey, where are they?

And then there are the stories of that state things like 5 million are now without clean drinking water. Well, how many people didn't have clean drinking water before? 4.9 million?

I actually think the amount of dead has been vastly overstated. The bigger the body count the bigger the cheques coming their way.

Jason McCrea

Tsunami Relief Donations: Oil-Exporting Arab States

Dear Sir,

Those of us in the southern hemisphere have heard barely a murmur from you people in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Dec 26 tsunami, let alone a promise of aid donations to your fellow Muslims.

Islamic states should be ashamed that Western Christian and Asian Buddhist countries are the ones who have come to the aid of devastated Muslim communities with extraordinarily generous humanitarian assistance.

Oil-wealthy Arab states are niggardly by comparison.

Explain to me why such giving isn't matched?

Editor: Read the following few articles published at aljazeerah.info, which are by no means representing an exclusive list of donations:

Saudi Aid Given to All Survivors

Saudis outdo government, giving 82 million dollars to tsunami victims

Kuwait to reschedule debt owed by tsunami-hit nations

Islamic Development Bank pledges 500 million dollars for tsunami victims

Oman to Send $3m Worth of Relief Goods