Stingy? Stingy is Iran, Saudi Arabia
The pervasive tone of negativity in this morning's MSM reports on the tsunami make me glad I'm a former journalist.
All but lost in the overwhelming "too little, too late" coverage is this item, which was buried in a table prepared by AP of aid pledged by various countries (here, scroll way down): Iran has pledged only $627,000 in tsunami aid.
The tsunami disaster is largely an Islamic disaster, yet the oil-rich mullahs who rule one of the world's most repressive Islamic nations (and there's so much competition for that title!) are tossing mere pocket change into the relief effort.
Kos, where is your outrage? A couple days ago, you said, "This unimaginable, horrible catastrophe, had the potential to demonstrate the "compassionate" side of the United States and reap goodwill in the Muslim world (much like Clinton's Kosovo liberation did for some time.)Instead, we just handed Osama Bin Laden a PR bonanza. And you better believe Muslim charities -- many run by radicals like Hamas -- will fill the void and fan the flames of discontent."
Well? Have anything to say to Iran? Or Saudi Arabia, for that matter? For all their wealth and all their support of Islam, the Saudis have only contributed $10 million.
All this underscores the obvious: Foreign aid may build good will among the sympathetic, but it buys nothing from the hostile. Kos is wrong in thinking that aid levels are a political measure; they are simply a measure of goodness.
All but lost in the overwhelming "too little, too late" coverage is this item, which was buried in a table prepared by AP of aid pledged by various countries (here, scroll way down): Iran has pledged only $627,000 in tsunami aid.
The tsunami disaster is largely an Islamic disaster, yet the oil-rich mullahs who rule one of the world's most repressive Islamic nations (and there's so much competition for that title!) are tossing mere pocket change into the relief effort.
Kos, where is your outrage? A couple days ago, you said, "This unimaginable, horrible catastrophe, had the potential to demonstrate the "compassionate" side of the United States and reap goodwill in the Muslim world (much like Clinton's Kosovo liberation did for some time.)Instead, we just handed Osama Bin Laden a PR bonanza. And you better believe Muslim charities -- many run by radicals like Hamas -- will fill the void and fan the flames of discontent."
Well? Have anything to say to Iran? Or Saudi Arabia, for that matter? For all their wealth and all their support of Islam, the Saudis have only contributed $10 million.
All this underscores the obvious: Foreign aid may build good will among the sympathetic, but it buys nothing from the hostile. Kos is wrong in thinking that aid levels are a political measure; they are simply a measure of goodness.
posted by Laer at 11:41 AM
<< Home