Katrina-The aid comes from unexpected sources

[NJFFSA16]

War-torn Afghanistan, poverty-stricken Bangladesh among Asian
nations offering Katrina aid
With BC-NA-GEN--US-Hurricane Katrina
By ROHAN SULLIVAN
Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - War-torn Afghanistan, tsunami-struck
Thailand and poverty-stricken, waterlogged Bangladesh were the
latest Asian nations to offer aid and expertise to the United
States to deal with the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
While some of the aid pledges from Asia have been small compared
to the millions of dollars and heavy machinery promised by Europe,
they come from nations with far less to give and are symbolic
recognition of the large role U.S. aid has played in the
development of the region in recent decades.
Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, where millions
of people live on a monsoon- and flood-prone delta, pledged US$1
million (euro797,830) to Hurricane Katrina's victims and offered to
send specialist rescuers to inundated areas, the Foreign Ministry
said.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said the assistance from Bangladesh -
a major recipient of U.S. economic development aid - was "a token
of goodwill and sympathy," spokesman Zahirul Haque said late
Monday.
Thailand's Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkon said his
Southeast Asian country would send 60 doctors and nurses and a
shipment of rice to the United States for hurricane victims.
The assistance is a "gesture from the heart," Kantathi said.
He said Thailand remembers the help it received from the United
States after last year's tsunami that left 228,000 dead or missing
across 11 Indian Ocean countries, including more than 8,000 in
Thailand.
Impoverished Afghanistan, which is still struggling to recover
from two decades of war that ended when U.S.-led forces ousted the
Taliban regime in 2002, has pledged US$100,000 (euro79,700) for
Katrina victims, the government announced.
Neighboring Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the international fight
against terrorism, has offered doctors and paramedics and
Washington had "expressed their appreciation for the offer,"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan said.
Some 2,700 Pakistanis and Pakistani-Americans were in the areas
hit by Katrina, and the Pakistani Embassy in Washington is working
with U.S. authorities to provide them with help, Khan said.
More traditional, wealthier Asia-Pacific allies have also
pledged help for the hurricane relief effort.
On Tuesday, New Zealand promised 2 million New Zealand dollars
(US$1.4 million; euro1.1 million) in aid and offered to send urban
search and rescue specialists and a victim identification team to
hurricane-hit states.
"The scale of this disaster is greater than we thought just a
couple of days ago," Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a
statement.
She said the United States was always quick to help others in
need and "this is a time for its friends, like New Zealand, to
show their support."
Singapore said it had sent a fourth military helicopter based in
Texas to Louisiana to help the hurricane relief efforts, bringing
the number of the country's troops taking part to 45 airmen.
Since the first three CH-47 Chinook helicopters arrived last
week, Singaporeans have flown dozens of missions, evacuating
several hundred people and transporting thousands of tons of
equipment and humanitarian supplies, the Defense Ministry said.
About 100 tons of blankets, diapers, crutches, wheelchairs and
other supplies along with about 40 rescue workers are expected to
leave South Korea within days for the hurricane zone - the first
component of a US$30 million (euro23.92 million) pledge, Korean
officials said.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[doughesson]

All these years of going in and helping out is starting to pay off.
We didn't go to Somalia and lose 18 guys to open roads up to allow food shipments in or to Indonesia and help people learn that their loved ones had perished in a big wave in hopes that we would need their help someday.
We did it because it was right to do,no matter how the plan was executed and ordered up by which Administration was in charge.
It was right and we did it.now,we are seeing how other countries can help US.