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January 05, 2005

band aids & vaccines

A bystander looks on as bodies recovered from under debris are cremated near the sea at Nagapattinam, India, one of the many places hit by the tsunami.
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AP, Gurinder Osa

Whilst The Hindu offers some good advice to the Indian government America is boosting its image amongst Muslims in the south east Asia region. The US is anxious to present a generous and compassionate face.

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Jeff Danziger

Danziger is right. It is a bit of a show.

The Amercians are still touchy about the European stingy criticism. The Bush administration does have a track record of promising a lot in front of the cameras then not delivering when the cameras have move on.

We are still hearing a lot about the emergency aid (band-Aid) and little about development aid (the vaccine.

Where are the contributions from rich Arab gulf states? Why don't they help to ease the debt burden of the countries stricken by the tsunami? Whey are they not advocating a debt moratorium in the first instance to ease the burdens of the past, then a Marshall Plan for the future. Their silence about Aceh is puzzling.

A Marshall Plan. That is something you'd think rich Arab nations in the Middle East would run with as it is about the development of Islamic countries.

So why their silence? It is very noticeable.

Update
Someone else has noticed:

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Signe Wilkinson

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at January 5, 2005 12:24 PM

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