U.S. rebuts over ’stingy’ nations claim

WASHINGTON -
Secretary of State Colin Powell indignantly rejected any suggestion on Tuesday that the U.S. response to the Asian earthquake and tsunami catastrophe had been insufficient, and he signaled that much more American help was on the way.

But when you look at what nations give as a percentage of their Gross National Product, the US is way behind. The most generous nations – Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands – give almost one per cent of their GNP to aid. The US gives 0.1 per cent, coming in at 22nd place, when nations are ranked according to their generosity.

“The United States is not stingy,” Powell said in a CNN interview. “We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.”

The interview was one of several Powell used Tuesday morning to emphasize that $15 million in promised U.S. aid was just a first step, and to rebut comments made Monday by the U.N. humanitarian-aid chief, Jan Egeland, who said rich countries seemed to have forgotten how fortunate they were. < !—more-->

The United States added another $25 million to its tsunami contribution today, bringing the total to AUS$44 million, and its reacted indignantly to the accusation of stinginess, as North America Correspondent Leigh Sales reports.

But when Powell appeared on “The Early Show” on CBS on Tuesday morning, interviewer Harry Smith suggested that the initial pledge of $15 million “doesn’t seem like very much money from the United States of America.”

“Well, it’s a start, Harry,” Powell replied, noting that nine U.S. reconnaissance planes and a dozen transport aircraft loaded with supplies were on their way to the stricken region. The secretary said the $15 million pledge was “an initial infusion of money to join the international relief effort.” “We will do more” .he said

Asked on NBC’s “Today” show whether the American contribution might reach $1 billion, Powell said he could not give a specific figure, but he implied that the final U.S. contribution would far surpass the $15 million initial pledge.

“Clearly, the United States will be a major contributor to this international effort,” Powell said, acknowledging that the overhaul effort would run into the billions.

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Powell said, “We will do more,” adding that he wished Egeland had not said what he did.

But the journey from the $35 million promise to its payment is fraught with bureaucratic twists.

First, the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes foreign aid, will have to ask for more money, since the initial $35 million aid package drained its emergency relief fund, said Andrew Natsios, the agency’s administrator.

“We just spent it,'’ Natsios said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. “We’ll be talking to the (White House) budget office … (about) what to do at this point.'’

Natsios said the Pentagon also is spending tens of millions to mobilize an additional relief operation, with C-130 transport planes winging their way from Dubai to Indonesia with tents, blankets, food and water bags.

As of early Tuesday, dozens of countries and relief groups had pledged $81 million in help for South and East Asia, said the Geneva-based U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“We outmatch the contributions of other nations combined; we’ll continue to do so,'’ Bush spokesman Trent Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where the president is spending a post-Christmas vacation at his ranch.

By that measure, the United States spent almost $15.8 billion for “official development assistance'’ to developing countries in 2003. Next closest was Japan, at $8.9 billion.