France Doubles Aid for Asian Disaster

[Rose Siding]

PARIS -- One-upping the United States, France nearly doubled its aid pledge for tsunami victims to $57 million Thursday and briefly claimed the role as leading donor nation, following barbs from Washington about French generosity.

But Britain quickly topped France by more than tripling its donation to $95 million and Sweden promised $75.5 million. Spain's Cabinet, meanwhile, approved a $68 million package, although about a fifth was in loans rather than outright grants.
...
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's boast that France vaulted to "the head of all the contributors" appeared to be a response to comments from Andrew Natsios, chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes American government aid.

In a Fox News interview this week, Natsios said France tends not to be a world leader in foreign aid and often packages its help as loans, which he suggested are inappropriate in emergencies.

"The aid program in France is not that big," he said.
...
Ladsous also said France gives more development aid than the United States and all other members of the Group of Eight industrial nations when measured as a proportion of a country's economic output.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-tsunami-france-us,0,3042739.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Walt Starr]

1. Now they are putting Bush to shame

Sad. Very sad.

At least private donations will make up for it. We are a generous people, even if the idiot in chief is a tightass.

[purduejake]

5. We destroy cities to make lives better overseas, not create them.

[jdj]

15. They were kind of slow to GET IT, but it seems they've finally caught on

It's kind of funny, poor Eggelund, he wasn't even talking about natural disasters but yearly aid in general.

I know he's laughing all the way to the supply store about this one, he totally innocently indicted Bush, and now look at all the money he's gotten pledged. He seems amused if bewildered.

But I am embarassed murikans have taken over the media with this misquoted accusation and tried to make a natural tragedy where over 100k died about redneck murikan pride. Yew cain't put down Murika, we'll put ah boot in yo ass!

[Tinoire]

2. France getting a PNAC letter any day now!

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!! JE SUIS SI FIERE DE VOUS!

Merci... Merci de la liberte que vous nous avez donne en versant votre sang sur les cotes de l'Amerique. Merci de TOUT notre coeur!


VIVE LAFAYETTE!!!

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!

:loveya:

[Cocoa]

3. this is getting out of control

time to legislate some worldwide caps on humanitarian aid. /sarcasm

[Rose Siding]

8. It's precious.

In rush our old friends with records to stand upon.

If only the US could remain in the position of needing to prove its superior generosity. The bushies' egos will rise to the irresistable bait. Could get pricey, but considering the expense of being the biggest bully, it's a steal. Win-win.

[Spazito]

4. This is great news!

Many countries are increasing their pledges as the true horror of the catastrophic disaster becomes clearer.

[kostya]

6. Even more sadly, history shows that most of these so-called pledges

never make it to the people who need it. Iranian victims of the earthquake a year ago have gotten a small fraction of the aid promised by other nations. It's a big political show up front, but thanks to TV-induced ADD, no one remembers who was giving what a few months later. - K

[MGKrebs]

10. Nevertheless, there is no alternative.

Since it's not perfect, we should wait until next disaster to give?

edited to de-snarkify.

[kostya]

21. Perhaps I wasn't clear, but I was referring to government-sponsored

aid, not private contributions. There's your alternative. In fact, I gave to Mercy Corps for the tsunami relief effort. They have a 91% efficiency rate. The government on the other hand... - K

[ginnyinWI]

24. UNICEF is good too--93% goes directly to aid. n/t

[Piperay]

7. I don't see that the US had

any call to criticize anyone else's amount when ours is so cheap and cheesy. x(

[Lorien]

11. And what's France's GDP compared to ours?

Those numbers would probably make it even more humiliating.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

14. it's appropriate, however, to judge the nonaction of a f***ed up "LEADER*

Bush Inc shames American EVERY G.D. DAY

[Rose Siding]

16. People in the US should absolutely be judged by the actions of the govt

UNLESS the people are trying vigorously to change them.

"It is never, ever, appropriate to judge the compassion and generosity of the American people by government actions."???

Government of the...what?

[jdj]

17. The assertion was directed AT THE GOVERNMENT not the

citizens. And it was directed at all wealthy nations, not specifically the U.S.

I wonder what percentage of people responding to the comments saw the news conference in which the assertion was made? 3%? 1%?

[TahitiNut]

18. So, the United Methodist Committee on Relief doesn't exist outside the US?

They don't exist in the UK? France? Germany? Funny how their efforts only serve to make the US 'generous' and not the other countries in which they operate. Yup. Funny that. :eyes:

[tabasco]

19. Last time I checked ...

our government is "of the People, by the People, and for the People."

It is eminently fair to judge us by our government's actions. That is, if we are still governed as our Founders intended.

Oh that's right ...we're not.

[Isere]

9. Once again

we are leading...in the wrong direction!

Once again we are ashamed of our own government.

[ginnyinWI]

25. embarrassed,

frustrated, angry, fed-up, humiliated, disgusted.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[IHeart1993]

12. Go France!!!!

:yourock:

[Chicago Democrat]

20. VIVE LA FRANCE!!

YAY!!

[wellst0nev0ter]

22. Man I Would Love To See The Faces On Those FAUX Commentators

especially seeing those shit-eating grins pasted on their face as they "revealed" earlier in the week that France only contributed about $135,000.

[Merlin]

23. As a % of GDP, France is triple US

France allotted .41 percent of its gross national income to development aid in 2003, nearly triple the .15 percent from the United States, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

[nascarblue]

26. What people seem to forget is these countries are the size of 1 state

Take a look at a world map, France, the UK, and Spain are smaller than many single states in the US. Texas, California, Florida, Minnesota, are all bigger than those european countries. You have to do a per capita assessment to really get a proper perspective. Juan Cole did this on his page yesterday.

<snip>
"Let's see, Australia offered US $27 million in aid for victims of the tsunami. Australia's population is about 20 millionIts gross domestic product is about $500 billion per year. Surely anyone can see that Australia's $27 million is far more per person than Bush's $35 million Australia's works out to $1.35 per person. The US contribution as it now stands is about 9 cents per person. . So, yes, the US is giving more in absolute terms. But on a per person basis, it is being far more stingy so far. And Australians are less wealthy than Americans, making on average US $25,000 per year per person, whereas Americans make $38,000 per year per person. So even if Australians and Americans were both giving $1.35 per person, the Australians would be making the bigger sacrifice. But they aren't both giving $1.35; the Bush administration is so far giving an American contribution of nine cents a person.

The apparent inability of the American public to do basic math or to understand the difference between absolute numbers and proportional ones helps account for why Bush's crazy tax cut schemes have been so popular. <snip>.
http://www.juancole.com/2004/12/bush-and-tsunami-transcript-of.html

[DemBones DemBones]

27. Excellent points. Americans need to pay more attention to

geography. And math, as the article points out. Knowing something about different cultures and economies would help, too. Other people pay far more for many expenses (heat, transportation) than we do in the US.

[Vidar]

28. France, Britain & Canada send massive money, we send a couple

of thieves, jeb & colin. How appropriate.

[MissBrooks]

29. Good Going!