Katrina: Random Thoughts.. (II)
Thought 2: Donations from Arab countries in aid for Katrina victims (at leas those that I was able to get my hands on) as follows:
Saudi Arabia $1,500,000,000 plus other aid
Kuwait $500,000,000 plus other aid
Qatar $100,000,000 plus other aid
UAE $100,000,000 plus other aid
Oman $150,000,000 plus other aid
Egypt $30,000,000 plus other aid
Jordan $5,000,000 plus other aid
Syria $5,000,000
Lebanon $2,000,000
Libya $100,000,000
Tunisia $10,000,000
Algeria $30,000,000
Morocco $5,000,000
Bahrain $5,000,000
It’s jut amazing how the international community has responded to aid the US, who would have guessed that countries like Cuba and Venezuela would take the lead in pledging money/oil and other aid to help the Americans recover from Katrina; or Arab countries like Syria and Libya would put all political conflicts aside and put up some cash to the needy. Not only that, but the list of donators went on to include Sri Lanka which is still struggling to recover from a tsunami of its own, even Iran, who the US has been threatening for months over their nuclear power plant, offered donations of several hundred thousand barrels of oil and millions in money.. I seriously didn’t expect such responds..
Thought 3: The 22-member Arab League called on Arab nations to provide relief to the U.S. Its secretary-general, Amr Moussa, sent a cable of :
“deep condolences and regret to the U.S. administration over the effect of Hurricane Katrina.” Via WTOP Radio Network
I wonder why none of the Arab Leaders sent a cable of “deep condolences and regret” to Ibrahim AlJafaari (The Prime Minister of Iraq) over the dreadful incident of AlKhademia where the lives of more than 1,000 Iraqis were lost in a shocking accident, why would Spain and other countries send thier condolences while the Arab/Muslim countries not say a word?!
Thought 4: The enormous aid package that the US Congress was planning to send to the Gulf States hit by Hurricane Katrina would come at the expense of part of the aid package promised to Israel in the wake of the disengagement, Army Radio reported. Via Jerusalem Post.
A hurricane changing the way politics work; what could possibly be next?
This is pretty impressive, but not when you consider the fact that none of the countries above donated that much when Iran was suffering from one of the worst earthquakes of the decade.
Kuwait offered $10 million to aid December’s tsunami victims. Why does America deserve 490,000,000 million more? I’m not saying that helping out with an outrageous amount is a bad thing, I’m merely pointing out that America is at least stable enough to handle New Orlean’s reconstruction, but countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka aren’t. They deserve much more than what they got.
How stupid is this.. Iraq isn’t too far away now, is it? Walla haram…
And get this.. countries that want to get on america’s good side are in too .. Iran, Lybia, and syria? WTF is all this about? Aren’t you the defenders of Islam/Arab nationalism? How about a fraction of that goes to a committee that helps rehabilitate the victims of the bridge incident?
If Saudi spent that much on its poverty, domestic violence will decrease by at least 50%
es:
Actually Kuwait offered more than $70 million to aid the victims of tsunami -not that it would change a thing of what you mentioned- but as Joker mentioned.. I’d be fooling myself if I thought that the aid pledged was indeed for the victims and without political hidden intentions behind it whatsoever… A lot of factors come in to this as well, the recent oil price boom, the role of the US in the Gulf War in 1990 and mainly the strong Kuwaiti US ties in terms of trade and investments…
On Saudi; I was just watching a documentary on TV the other day that claimed that up to 12% of the entire Saudi population live below the poverty line; but let’s not forget the recent hike in public sector salaries of more than $22 billion mainly spent on housing, health and education related projects..
Joker:
Personally speaking; I would understand why no Arab nation would pledge financial aid to Iraq. It really is difficult to miss out the relationship the new Iraqi authorities have with the US, (the Shia, non Arab) Iran or even the Sunni Insurgency. And to be honest, after reading about Yasser Arafat’s 1 billion dollar investment portfolio.. I will personally have second thoughts every time I even think of donating to an Arab organization…
I think it is great that other countries are helping the US through such an awful disaster. I have posted links on my site so people can find out how they can help. http://www.dianesdiary.blogspot.com
Great post!
“I will personally have second thoughts every time I even think of donating to an Arab organization…”
That’s the saddest part. If we don’t donate, we feel helpless, and if we donate, we feel fooled. An article in the Economics last summer was analyzing where the money for Iran’s disaster went – Apparently, more than 60% of the donations did not even reach Iran.
As last weekend’s train was passing by Switzerland and France, I saw a few people point out Fathi Arafat’s house, or rather, palace. Is this what people donate to? Arafat also bought a 5-star hotel WITH its employees for his wife and kid in either Switzerland or France. It’s really sickening.
[...] Arab states sent deep condolences and regret to the U.S. administration over the effect of Hurricane Katrina. moodz wonders why none of the Arab Leaders sent a cable of “deep condolences and regret” to Ibrahim AlJafaari (The Prime Minister of Iraq) over the dreadful incident of AlKhademia where the lives of more than 1,000 Iraqis were lost in a shocking accident, why would Spain and other countries send their condolences while the Arab/Muslim countries not say a word?! [...]
Most countries don’t even fulfil their pledges of money. They bugger off when it comes to showing their wallet when the bill arrives. Excerpt from Economist article:
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3555114
Show me the money
Of course, donors and creditors do not always live up to their responsibilities either. At a conference last week, the United Nations reminded governments of past promises left unfulfilled. About $1 billion was pledged to Iran after an earthquake destroyed the city of Bam in 2003. But only $17.5m of that promise trickled through to the Iranian government (though that was partly because some aid agencies got tired of dealing with Iran’s maddening bureaucracy and pulled out).
I’m sure they’ll pay up when it comes to the US though.
Wohoooo we finally got a donation for the Iraqi bridge victims :
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/Music/2005/9/89251.htm
Arnt we so great at fundraising for our worthy causes…
Anon:
Hold your horses there cowboy, before Mr.Kazim there donates his $75Gs (BD 28,000); the goverment of Bahrain did chip in (by god knows how much), Kuwait pleaded more than $10 Million ,that is not counting all those individual contributions pouring from as far as Canada and NewZeland.
I am not arguing as to the amount of the contribution nor the size of the tragedy, but some did bother enough to help financialy, what worries me are the majority of the arab/muslim goverments who failed to even send thier condolences to the families of the victims or the Iraqi goverment.
Thanks to CNN for the true news. Keep it coming
I hope to God you’re being sarcastic, Margaet (Did you mean Margaret?)
CNN is news for the ghetto.
Question: Where did you get the list of countries? I’m working on a project about countries that aided the US during hurricane katrina. E-mail me at the address above.
~Sam
About Me
- Mohammed AlMaskati
East Riffa, Bahrain
I support a ONE Bahrain!
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