Muslim world falls short on tsunami aid: Wolfowitz

Muslim world falls short on tsunami aid: Wolfowitz

Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters/Washington

Parts of the Islamic world are "big on talking about jihad" but have fallen short in aiding Muslim victims of the South Asian tsunami, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Thursday (Friday morning in Jakarta).

Speaking to a Senate hearing about the international response to the massive earthquake and flood that left some 300,000 people dead or missing, Wolfowitz also said the European military response could have been greater.

"There's been very little generosity so far from parts of the Muslim world that are big on talking about jihad and other things, but when 200,000 people -- all of them Muslim in the case of Indonesia -- died in this catastrophe, there's not much help forthcoming," Wolfowitz said.

Jihad is a broad term in Islam and generally means a struggle for the benefit of the Islamic community. It can be anything from an internal struggle to be a better Muslim, to a violent conflict in defense of the faith.

"I hope those people might think a little bit about what they've done and what they haven't done," Wolfowitz said. He did not specify who he meant.

Wolfowitz has been a hawk in the administration of President George W. Bush on issues including the Iraq war, which triggered widespread anti-U.S. anger in the Muslim world and set Washington at odds with many traditional European allies.

The government of Kuwait has pledged US$100 million in tsunami aid; Saudi Arabia has pledged $30 million, with an additional $100 million in private donations; Qatar pledged $25 million; United Arab Emirates $20 million; Bahrain $2 million.

The Bush administration has pledged $950 million. The money must be approved by Congress, but the U.S. military has been in the region since the early days of the relief effort.

Another $600 million has come from U.S. private donations.

Wolfowitz was asked whether the trans-Atlantic NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) alliance was considering changes to respond better to crises like the tsunami. "I wish I could say I've seen an impact, but I think we're dealing with a problem with our NATO allies," he replied. "Their defense budgets just keep declining and very few of them have the capacity to do even things that they've been trying to do already."

While he said he did not want to diminish European efforts, he noted that France had sent an aircraft carrier to the Indian Ocean, but "it was three or four weeks after we got there."

Wolfowitz, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia who visited the disaster zone in January, praised Canada, Germany, Britain and unspecified countries in the region for their aid efforts, noting that India had taken a leading role.