President Bush finally roused himself from his vacation in

President Bush finally roused himself from his vacation in
Crawford, Texas, to telephone his sympathy to the leaders of
India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, and to speak publicly
about the devastation of the tsunamis in Asia...and he took issue
with an earlier statement by UN emergency relief coordinator, Jan
Egeland, who had called the overall aid efforts by rich Western
nations "stingy."

We beg to differ. Egeland was right on target. We hope
Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when,
two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's
poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate,
he held a press conference to say that America, the world's
richest nation, would contribute US$15 million. That's less than
half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural
festivities.

The American aid figure for the current disaster is now $35
million, and we applaud Bush's turnaround. But $35 million
remains a miserly drop in the bucket, and is in keeping with the
pitiful amount of the United States budget that we allocate for
nonmilitary foreign aid.

Making things worse, we often pledge more money than we
actually deliver. Victims of the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year
ago are still living in tents because aid, including ours, has
not materialized in the amounts pledged. And back in 2002, Bush
announced his Millennium Challenge account to give African
countries development assistance of up to $5 billion a year, but
the account has yet to disburse a single dollar.

-- The New York Times

Adopting Asia

The total just keeps rising. The numbers of those confirmed
killed by the Asian tsunami increased to well over 120,000 people
and, unfortunately, there is no reason to think that the final
figure has been established.

There is a danger that the various different attempts to
provide aid will become entangled with one another. The desire to
assist is obviously there, but certain bottlenecks in aid
delivery have already become apparent. Although all the countries
affected by the tsunami are described as "developing nations",
some are considerably more developed than others.

That is why there is real merit in the proposal, first aired
by Bill Clinton, in encouraging affluent countries to twin with
or adopt particular nations that will require specific types of
assistance. Britains historic and continued cultural ties to Sri
Lanka, for example, might make for an appropriate partnership.
Australia and the United States have a series of links with
Indonesia. Japan might concentrate on Thailand.

Adoption can go further. Local councils in Britain could raise
cash for local government units in the region. Clubs or
charitable concerns could seek similar fraternities to provide
support for. Those in charge of the national lottery should look
at the plan set out by Clarence Barrett on the letters page today
or put forward another scheme. This disaster has prompted the
desire to help the destitute. An imaginative response will turn
the will into a way.

-- The Times, London

Recovering from tsunamis

The immediate priorities in responding to the tsunami disaster
is clear: The missing have to be accounted for and resources have
to be marshaled to help the millions who survived the disaster.

Assistance will be required to help the victims rebuild their
lives, for most of them live in developing countries. Developed
countries have offered aid, as have international agencies, and
it is to be hoped that such aid will remain forthcoming even
after the immediate disaster relief is over.

The Singapore Government has offered aid, and we urge all
Singaporeans to open their hearts - and their wallets - to the
victims of this natural disaster, the worst to hit the region in
decades. Geography sheltered Singapore island from the tsunamis'
devastation, but humanity links its people to the rest in the
region.

In the long term, the region must develop an effective early-
warning system to deal with tsunamis. One of the most poignant
remarks heard in the past two days came from the director of the
United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
who said his office tried to send out a warning soon after the
earthquake off Sumatra's northern tip occurred, but they did not
'have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of
the world'.

This cannot be allowed to happen again. Surely the region can
cooperate to avoid disasters that, inevitably, do not recognize
national boundaries.

-- The Straits Times, Singapore

Time for the UN to lead

As the scope of the catastrophe on coasts from Indonesia to
India becomes clearer, so does a solution on how the relief
effort must be handled -- this is a job for the UN.

As an independent body, the UN is well positioned to take on
the awful but essential task of deciding what will happen, where
and when in the reconstruction effort, and of ensuring assistance
reaches the people it is intended for.

But the UN has a regrettable recent record in helping
humanity. Too often, as in the Darfur region of Sudan, refugees
have been left to rot while member nations played politics in the
councils of the world body.

But this time the UN must be seen to succeed, and to do so
fast. Its officers have to be seen on the ground, helping the
locals to run the recovery program. And Secretary-General Kofi
Annan must represent the overall international assistance effort.
This time, surely, the UN must succeed -- the whole world is
watching.

-- The Australian, Sydney