" it is truly impossible not to be cynical about the US response ..." ...and do you mean the US response or G. Bush's response? They are NOT exactly the same thing.

as you see, some are NOT cynical. You will have to deal with your own IMOs.

All I said was we need to wait & see. In a disaster of this type, the need will be ongoing, and it looks like most of the world is gearing up to do a fair share.

You may speculate all you wish about the 'immediate' order and magnitude of the US pledges.....As much as I dislike Bush and the current administration, I personally have no knowlege of the discussions and decision making process. It simply makes no difference whether the US said "$35 million" or $10 Billion in that first couple of days, as it will take time and planning to spend ANY allocated amount. It's not like we needed to drop crates of money over Sri Lanka within 48 hours! Once it was clear how extensive the damage was, the dollar amount increased, and YOU do not know whether the US was shamed into a larger committment, or just took the time to be sure what to do....and unless you KNOW the answer, cynical speculating just because the US is a popular target is just tedious! You could have said "I think $35 million will not be enough-I sure hope they decide to up that."

Discuss facts rather than resorting to immediate finger pointing! If months went by and the US had said, "we think we have done enough and we ain't gonna give more!", then maybe a bit of righteous indignation would be relevant.