UN Condemns Stingy Pakistan Flood Relief Aid From Muslim Nations

Recall back in late 2004 a smug, sanctimonious UN official named Jan Egeland harshly criticized U.S. aid relief for the tsunami victims in Indonesia and Thailand.

Such figures were what prompted Jan Egeland - the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator and former head of the Norwegian Red Cross - to challenge the giving of rich nations.

"We were more generous when we were less rich, many of the rich countries," Egeland said. "And it is beyond me, why are we so stingy, really.... Even Christmas time should remind many Western countries at least how rich we have become."

This knee-jerk reaction came only a couple of days after the devastating floods.

So I find it curious now that in the wake of the flooding in Pakistan, why is aid so slow coming in from Muslim nations? You would think now considering we're basking in the joys of Ramadan the spirit of giving would be that much greater.

The United Nations began an appeal on Aug. 11 for $460 million to provide immediate aid to flood victims. By Wednesday, nations, organizations and individuals had sent $231 million, and had pledged an additional $40 million.

The United States was by far the largest single donor, with $82 million, according to United Nations figures, with Australia the next largest donor at $26.6 million. The United States said its total contributions amounted to $90 million, including helicopters, boats and temporary bridges, according to the State Department.

Not all the aid was flowing through the United Nations. Britain, for example, has sent more than $40 million, and the European Union said it would double its aid to more than $90 million.

Although the disaster has fallen in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when charity is considered a duty, Muslim states have donated virtually nothing via the United Nations and relatively small sums on their own. Turkey was the largest such donor, with more than $11 million, and Kuwait donated $5 million, United Nations figures show. Saudi Arabia has pledged more than $80 million, but United Nations records indicate none of it has been delivered.

They're probably diverting it to the Victory Mosque at Ground Zero.

So we see already a combined $130 million from the U.S. and Great Britain yet almost nothing from their Muslim brothers. Wait, make that $130,000, 010, thanks to this enormously generous contribution from Hillary Clinton.

Egeland, naturally, gives zero thanks to our generosity yet spares the skinflints any direct criticism.

The vast majority of funding for the U.N.-led relief operation so far has come from traditional donors -- principally the United States, Australia, Denmark and Britain. Many of Pakistan's regional allies and neighbors, including China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as other developing countries, have sent only a trickle of aid in the crucial first weeks of the crisis.

"It's been abysmal, it's been terrible. There is no relationship between the number of people in acute need of help and what has actually been provided in this first month," said Jan Egeland, a former U.N. relief coordinator who managed the international response to the tsunami in South Asia in 2004. "We got more in a single day just after the tsunami than Pakistan got in a month."

Seems all that outreach of Obama's to the Muslim world isn't exactly paying dividends.

"It is really sad that even our brother Islamic countries provide very little aid in this hardest time," Mohammad Usman, 58, said recently as he sat outside his badly damaged home in the northwestern town of Charsadda. "We expected more, but what we are hearing is nothing."

The United Nations has been struggling for years to convince Islamic countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and other wealthy gulf states, to direct relief money through U.N. programs in order to ensure a coordinated response. Some of the U.N. appeals have paid off. Kuwait, for instance, recently committed to put 10 percent of its giving to international organizations. But much of the Islamic world remains reluctant.

But we're not supposed to criticize them since that would be bigoted or something.

Imagine if we'd given virtually nothing and Muslim nations the bulk of relief aid. Would the UN spare the criticism of us? Why are they so quiet now?