Hurricane Katrina: Not a time for arrogance

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Despite differences with Washington, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, UAE, and Azerbaijan were among dozens of countries that offered financial aid and other assistance to help ease the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, AP reported. This is not a time to be proud, but this is a time to accept other countries help to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Even Japan said it would send $200,000 to the American Red Cross for its relief operations, as well as providing up to $300,000 worth of tents, blankets, power generators, portable water tanks and other equipment. The Americans need the help, and accepting the offers made by those countries could ease the U.S. burden and speed getting needed assistance to Katrina's victims. Watching coverage of the devastation and tragedy, the need to bring help to those victims and get it there fast becomes crystal clear.

Last month, the American President George W. Bush resisted British Prime Minister Tony Blair's request of assisting Africa, though Bush took steps to double U.S. aid to more than $8.6 billion by 2010.
The United States lags behind other rich nations in the amount of aid it’s giving to African nations, the world's poorest countries.
Also accepting those countries’ aid will help create a stronger bond among nations and improve the U.S. tarnished image among several countries especially in the Middle East and the Muslim World.

Despite the U.S.’s strong economy, Washington is not universally recognized as providing the level of aid expected of rich nations to victims of disasters.According to analysts, even if the aid offered to the U.S. doesn't provide a lasting change, it at least demonstrates that the world nations can set aside differences in times of disaster. The aid also came from nations with whom the U.S. has disputes over certain political matters such as Iraq war, like France and Germany. It's not just governments that are responding, individuals, too, offered help.


http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=9614