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.