tsunami disaster relief
On vacation in Iowa, I’ve only caught headlines this past week regarding the tsunamis’ casualties. I’m speechless…
…Except to quote this from Democracy Now!:
On Monday, the Bush administration pledged an initial $15 million for the effort. After a top UN official described the donation as “stingy”, the US pledged another $20 million bringing the total offering to $35 million.
To put the figure in perspective, President Bush plans to spend between $30 and $40 million for his upcoming inauguration celebration.
And the amount pledged to victims of the tsunami is dwarfed by the Bush administration’s war effort in Iraq.
The U.S. has spent an average of $9.5 million every hour on the war and occupation of Iraq. With a current price tag of $147 billion, the U.S. has spent n average of about $228 million a day in Iraq. In other words, the U.S. spends what it promised on the tsunami relief effort in less than four hours in Iraq.
Mercy Corps, headquartered here in Portland, is one of the main relief organizations delivering aid.
Roger Darlington said,
December 31, 2004 @ 10:26 am
The British Government has pledged £50M and so far personal donations in the UK total another £45M. No figure would be enough, but I’m proud that the British Government and the British people are proving to be among the most generous in the world.
Roger Darlington said,
December 31, 2004 @ 11:01 am
I’ve just seen that the American Government has now increased its commitment ten-fold to $350M which is obviously a major improvement. I hope that the American people will be generous too.
Anonymous said,
December 31, 2004 @ 1:50 pm
Well, if the Bush Administration gave too much too soon, the cantankerous liberals would have bitched about that also.
But at least now we get to see the whiners take credit for the US increasing it’s aid.
birty said,
December 31, 2004 @ 2:56 pm
Welcome back, Emily (You’re home, right?).
While I figured that the amount of our aid would increase, I will still take this opportunity, not to “whine” as Dr. Blanky McBlankstick above predicts, but to make a “cantankerous” statement of the obvious variety:
President Bush and his cronies are assclowns.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand this.
Have a Happy New Year, Emily (but not you, Dr. Anonymous McFlagwave).