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Aid agencies have said it is money - and not food, clothing, bedding or medicines - that the victims of the Asian tsunami need. They have also been inundated with offers of help from would-be volunteers, many of them qualified tradespeople who want to work on rebuilding shattered communities. Most have had to be turned down, although Oxfam has said it wants 10,000 people to help in its charity stores. And BT is preparing to fly out seven telecommunications engineers to help restore phone services on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Basic goods As pledges from the UK public reached...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The head of the US military’s relief operations in Indonesia’s tsunami-hit Aceh province said Monday the devastation was beyond belief, but that the American aid effort was “going great”. “I’ve been down the coast and it’s just unbelievable what the force of this tsunami has caused to the villages,” Rear Admiral Doug Crowder told reporters at the Indonesian military airbase in the capital of Banda Aceh. “Some places have been flattened for a mile and a half, (there are) mostly just foundations of homes and businesses left.” US navy Sea Hawk helicopters have been airlifting supplies...

Please Read The ENTIRE Article Tsunami: Where US Media Failed by Dr. Michael Saba A friend posed a question to me. He said, “You write about these things all of the time. Does it make sense that the US has allocated $87 billion to spend on Iraq and only $35 million to help the people of South and Southeast Asia devastated by the earthquake and tsunami?” Is the US “the most generous nation in the world” as stated by President Bush or is it one of the most “stingy” countries as mentioned by Jan Egeland, the UN relief coordinator? And...

U.S. military officials in the Pacific continued pouring resources into Southeast Asia on Thursday, preparing for large-scale humanitarian and relief operations in the 11 countries rocked by last weekend’s massive earthquake and ferocious tsunami. Army Lt. Col. Vi Strong, a Pacific Command spokeswoman, said three disaster-relief assessment teams and a forward command element are on the ground in Utapao, Thailand. Aid packages were unloaded Thursday from six C-130s that flew in from Yokota Air Base, Japan. KC-135 aircraft from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, also arrived in Thailand and Sri Lanka, carrying assessment teams and...

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's military emergency response team has been put on 48-hour notice. Members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team are on alert to depart, in case Ottawa decides to send the team to south Asia. Brig.-Gen. Brett Cairns says written orders are being issued to members of the team Friday, and people who are on leave are being recalled. The news came at a news conference where officials also up to 150 Canadians could be presumed missing in the Asian tsunami disaster, mostly in Thailand, a Foreign Affairs official said Friday. But James Fox emphasized the number is...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2004 — Three Marine Corps disaster relief assessment teams are on the ground or about to arrive in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and at least two P-3 aircraft are conducting initial reconnaissance of damaged areas as a wide range of other Defense Department assets works its way to tsunami-stricken regions of the Indian Ocean. U.S. Pacific Command has marshaled assets ranging from carrier strike groups to water purification ships to aircraft to provide emergency support for victims following the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations for the...

As President Bush was calling on Americans Wednesday to get involved in tsunami relief, the staff at Lubbock's Breedlove Dehydrated Foods was putting the finishing touches on possibly the largest disaster relief effort ever staged on the South Plains. The 10-year-old plant — which creates a vegetable-based shelf-stable meal for hunger relief — sent about 30 million meals to North Korea when famine struck that country in 1998-99. According to Breedlove plant manager David Fish, efforts to aid the stricken nations circling the Indian Ocean could surpass that figure. "We were discussing where to set our goal," he said. "Then...

President Bush said Wednesday the United States would spearhead a worldwide effort to provide financial, military and humanitarian assistance to the Asian nations devastated by one of the world's deadliest natural disasters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35249-2004Dec29.html

Feel free to add names. Let's see who is stingy 1) The Billionaire George Soros The billionaire who said he'd spend whatever it takes to beat Bush. Final figure came to about $35 million 2)Peter Bing-Hollywood Mogul Another billionaire. Another big contributor to Kerry. 3)Peter Lewis-U Of Phoenix $10 million to Kerry 4)Hollywierd Crowd Harvey Weinstein (lead fundraiser),Ed Asner, Mike Farell,Sean Penn, Linda Rondstadt, George Clooney,Woody Harrelson,Madonna, BaldwinsJulia Roberts... I'm too tired 5)Kojo Annan 6)Mark Rich 7)Elton John,Dionne Warwick and all of "We Are The World" 8)Paul McCartney 9)Any Atheist Groups 10)Bernie Schwartz Loral Corp 11)Buddhist Temple In LA where...

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A Thai air base that accommodated U.S. bomber planes during the Vietnam War is being used by the American military again as the hub of its tsunami relief effort in the Indian Ocean. U.S. officials said Thursday that transport planes and personnel already are flying into and out of Utapao, about 90 miles south of Bangkok. A U.S. embassy spokesman said P-3 Orion surveillance planes were already flying search and rescue missions over Thailand and the first supply planes arrived in Thailand overnight. The Pentagon has said C-130 cargo planes would haul relief supplies to Thailand...

As the Asian quake and tsunami death toll topped 100,000 and is rising, President Bush said the United States' initial grant of $35 million in SE Asia was 'only the beginning of our aid.' He said the United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an international coalition to coordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction efforts for the Asian region. Aid agencies today warned disease will also cause massive casualties among the survivors as the biggest relief effort in history began. The president took issue with Jan Egeland, the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator who called the US "stingy" in regard...

I know many Freepers are partial to efficiency and mission of The Salvation Army. They have a South Asia Disaster Relief Fund. Not soliciting, just providing an easy, direct link. https://secure3.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=IHQ-Asia_Fund&t=US_USC*USE*USS*USW

U.N. unqualified for relief effort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: December 29, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Did I hear correctly? Is the United States turning over millions of dollars to the United Nations and its agencies to relieve the immense suffering of millions victimized by the 9.0 South Asia earthquake and resultant tsunami? How is this possible given the latest scandalous news about the United Nations? Forget the "oil-for-food" scandal in which U.N. officials and their designates received millions in payoffs. Forget the lack of accountability this global agency has demonstrated over the years. Forget the way the United Nations...

As famine swept through Russia in 1921, claiming five million innocent peasants’ lives, President Herbert Hoover sent $24 million of food and medical aid to the recently formed Bolshevik government. When asked why he was helping the Russian Communists, Hoover replied, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!” Sunday’s devastating tsunami has given the United States another opportunity to showcase its immense compassion and limitless humanitarian instincts. And, as with every such act of national charity, our altruistic efforts have been rewarded with a fit of ingratitude from the Hate America Left.  As of this...

CRAWFORD, Tex., Sept. 28 -- President Bush's campaign called on 6 million supporters nationwide Tuesday to "set partisanship aside" and contribute to hurricane relief in Florida as he and Democratic challenger John F. Kerry prepared to fly into the storm-ravaged swing state for the fall's first presidential debate. Aides said Bush-Cheney Chairman Marc Racicot's e-mailed appeal for American Red Cross donations had nothing to do with politics even though it coincides with the arrivals of the two candidates in the Miami area on Wednesday for their opening debate at 9 p.m. Thursday. As Bush flies in, he will take a...

Supporting the warfighter is "job No. 1" for U.S. Transportation Command, the TRANSCOM deputy commander said here today. The command's mission, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gary H. Hughey said, is to provide responsive, reliable and synchronized transportation support. The focus "as it should be, is on the warfighting combatant commanders," he added. TRANSCOM has the "unique capability to project a force anywhere in the world at the time of our choosing," said the general. "It enables this nation to take the fight to our enemies wherever they plot, plan or hide." Hughey said it also allows the United States to...

<p>The Southern California wildfires on Friday brought together Gov. Gray Davis and Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, who toured a one-stop disaster relief center for people burned out of their homes.</p> <p>Davis said for the next two weeks he will work with Schwarzenegger to work toward a "seamless transition" and to help fire victims.</p>