The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #76827 Message #1367191
Posted By: Grab
29-Dec-04 - 08:05 PM
Thread Name: BS: earthquake, related tsunami bring death
Subject: RE: BS: earthquake, related tsunami bring death
Donuel, hopefully that will be immediate funding - if the various agencies need more then I trust it'll be provided (if the various countries in a position to contribute have any conscience). Certainly private individuals are contributing massively, in addition to any government aid.
As far as sums of money go though, check this one out. As far as impressing the Muslim community - yeah right, see what the Muslim community does for its own. This was never about religion, it was about how much people (and their elected representatives) cared about people in other countries, and the elected representatives of some rich countries (the US and UK) were seen to be giving too little on behalf of their citizens. To their credit, most Western nations care deeply about people in trouble, which is why the US was stung into doubling contributions (although I'd be more impressed if they paid their UN money to help regular aid work outside of crises). I think the almost complete lack of assistance from the richest nations in the Middle East displays how little unity there is in the so-called "Muslim community" - and, incidentally, how little the leaders of those countries care about anything that isn't right on their doorstep.
Graham.