September 1, 2005

20 countries have offered Katrina aid.

It's reported here that offers of aid have come from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Britain, China, Jamaica, Honduras, Greece, Venezuela, the Organisation of American States, NATO, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, South Korea, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

This, despite President Bush's statement:
"I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it."

Did you notice Venezuela on that list?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the United States, offered to send cheap fuel, humanitarian aid and relief workers to the disaster area.

The State Department did not comment on Venezuela's offer but several officials smiled at the gesture from Mr Chavez, who yesterday called Mr Bush a "cowboy" who failed to manage the disaster.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, a close Chavez ally, led a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of Katrina in parliament on today. The parliament then returned to normal business with a resolution attacking Mr Bush over the Iraq war.

6 comments:

Monty Loree said...

It's nice to see other countries pitching in.

Understanding that the U.S. is a powerful nation with a huge amount of resources, every gift from other nations should be welcomed with open arms.

Refusing gifts may be insulting to the the gift giving nation.

Ann Althouse said...

Niceandfine: LOL. I cut and pasted that list. I guess it was padded! Will correct.

Meade said...

Add Italy and Poland. Thanks.

Robyn said...

We need to accept aid when it is offered. Part of being charitible is accepting it on occasion.

Eli Blake said...

It is ridiculous and arrogant to refuse this aid. What, is our President too proud or something?!

Ask someone in one of the outlying areas who hasn't had drinking water for several days if they would accept it from Mr. Chavez before you go throwing it away. It would be fine to decline the aid if we had the situation well in hand, but as we well know, that isn't the case.

Considering how much Mr. Bush has already ticked off most of the world (he's even managed to lose Canada as an ally), it may be a really long time before we get offered any assistance again.

Sloanasaurus said...

I think it is ridiculous to accept this aid, especially if it is just cash. If it was a specific asset that was really needed that we did not have then it should be accepted. If it's cash, no way! It would be like offering cash aid to Bill Gates.