Nickatilynx
01-05-2005, 10:50 AM
Powell: Tsunami aid may help fight terror
The Associated Press
January 5, 2005
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Bush administration is hoping that massive U.S. relief aid to tsunami victims will lessen anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world and bolster the fight against terrorism, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.
"It turns out that the majority of those nations affected were Muslim nations," Powell said. "We'd be doing it regardless of religion, but I think ... [U.S. aid] does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world ... an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action."
Humanitarian aid also "dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that might give rise to terrorist activity," he said.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country with 238 million people, had the greatest loss of life in the Dec. 26 disaster that struck 12 countries around the Indian Ocean. The fledgling democracy supports the U.S. war on terrorism, but opinion polls show deep distrust of U.S. foreign policy.
Islamic militants are blamed for three large bombings in the past two years, including one that killed 12 in the Jakarta Marriott, where Powell's entourage is staying during a tour of tsunami damage.
Powell and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, leading the U.S. delegation, met Indonesia's foreign minister and inspected American and international relief efforts in Phuket, Thailand, where thousands died in shattered beach resorts popular with Western tourists.
Powell's airplane flew in slowly, giving him a close view of flattened houses and ruined beaches. He toured an office where American forensic experts were helping Thai officials identify thousands of bodies that washed ashore.
Powell and Jeb Bush briefed President George W. Bush by phone on the initial phase of their trip, informing him that the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Thailand appear to have a "strong capacity" to manage tsunami relief, a White House spokesman said. But Powell reported that the situation was very different in Indonesia, where damage was severe in the Aceh province Powell was to tour Wednesday.
Aceh and the western coast of the island of Sumatra took a double hit from the 9.0 undersea earthquake nearby and the huge tsunami it spawned.
In Washington as the new Congress convened, lawmakers announced plans to introduce a bill that would allow Americans to claim tax deductions when filing their 2004 forms for donations made through Jan. 31 to tsunami relief.
In London, Britain's treasury chief said the United States had endorsed a plan under which the world's richest nations, the so-called Group of Eight, will freeze debt repayments and write off some of the debt of countries devastated by the tsunami.
The Treasury Department declined to comment.
According to Oxfam, an international aid group, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand last year paid $20 billion to service their combined debt burden of $300 billion
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Do you think it does?
A Professor from SFU is on the media here saying the aid has minimal effect on the political perceived hatred of muslims to the West.
He said an individual helped by an American , Canadian , Britsh , whatever relief worker may change the opinion of the individual person assisted but overall the effect of winning the hearts and minds is minimal.
Also...
Canadians and Americans are offering here to adot orphans..HOWEVER adoption is against muslim belief.
The Associated Press
January 5, 2005
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Bush administration is hoping that massive U.S. relief aid to tsunami victims will lessen anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world and bolster the fight against terrorism, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.
"It turns out that the majority of those nations affected were Muslim nations," Powell said. "We'd be doing it regardless of religion, but I think ... [U.S. aid] does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world ... an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action."
Humanitarian aid also "dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that might give rise to terrorist activity," he said.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country with 238 million people, had the greatest loss of life in the Dec. 26 disaster that struck 12 countries around the Indian Ocean. The fledgling democracy supports the U.S. war on terrorism, but opinion polls show deep distrust of U.S. foreign policy.
Islamic militants are blamed for three large bombings in the past two years, including one that killed 12 in the Jakarta Marriott, where Powell's entourage is staying during a tour of tsunami damage.
Powell and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, leading the U.S. delegation, met Indonesia's foreign minister and inspected American and international relief efforts in Phuket, Thailand, where thousands died in shattered beach resorts popular with Western tourists.
Powell's airplane flew in slowly, giving him a close view of flattened houses and ruined beaches. He toured an office where American forensic experts were helping Thai officials identify thousands of bodies that washed ashore.
Powell and Jeb Bush briefed President George W. Bush by phone on the initial phase of their trip, informing him that the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Thailand appear to have a "strong capacity" to manage tsunami relief, a White House spokesman said. But Powell reported that the situation was very different in Indonesia, where damage was severe in the Aceh province Powell was to tour Wednesday.
Aceh and the western coast of the island of Sumatra took a double hit from the 9.0 undersea earthquake nearby and the huge tsunami it spawned.
In Washington as the new Congress convened, lawmakers announced plans to introduce a bill that would allow Americans to claim tax deductions when filing their 2004 forms for donations made through Jan. 31 to tsunami relief.
In London, Britain's treasury chief said the United States had endorsed a plan under which the world's richest nations, the so-called Group of Eight, will freeze debt repayments and write off some of the debt of countries devastated by the tsunami.
The Treasury Department declined to comment.
According to Oxfam, an international aid group, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand last year paid $20 billion to service their combined debt burden of $300 billion
***********************************************
Do you think it does?
A Professor from SFU is on the media here saying the aid has minimal effect on the political perceived hatred of muslims to the West.
He said an individual helped by an American , Canadian , Britsh , whatever relief worker may change the opinion of the individual person assisted but overall the effect of winning the hearts and minds is minimal.
Also...
Canadians and Americans are offering here to adot orphans..HOWEVER adoption is against muslim belief.