Aug 302005
Question — In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, has any foreign government offered aid to the US or the citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama?
Answer — None that I’ve heard of.
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In the days and weeks that followed the disastrous tsunamis in Southeast Asia, the United States rallied with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid.
Yet some still called the US “stingy”.
How many of those nations do you think will be rushing to the aid of the US? I’m guessing “zero”.
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Actually, Robbie, I sent the same question to Fox News yesterday. Instead this morning I read on Drudge that German papers are blaming Bush (as usual) and the U.S. for global warming…they sow what they reap, etc. I am totally infuriated.
The guy who’s training me to drive a school bus made this same point this morning. If a French city was sinking, there’d be no end to the cries for aid.
On the other side, though, I’m not sure if we’ve even bothered to ask for help. (But again, Americans tend to chip in even when unasked.)
NBC reports that at least 12 countries have stepped forward with offers so far, but they didn’t have names.
I’ve been able to track down offers from Israel, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, though only Venezuela seems to have anything concrete at this point.
I am starting to hear reports of offers to foreign aid, too. Thank goodness, because we’re going to need all the help we can get.
Australia immediately offered $10 million, from a population base of 20 million people.
New Orleans almost is a French city. The French have their own regular problems with droughts and fatal heatwaves in the south.
Offers of aid from the US when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit were late.
Here’s one account of aid offered.