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