Blasts in Mumbai

[Dreadnought]

Whoa, Afghanistan contributed? That was very generous of Taiwan!

Yeap, and the City of Kandahar donated USD 50,000/-. That was the announcement. No idea if they followed through with it.

[gilleshk]

I can see the US cutting funding since the Pak govt. appeared to have helped shield Bin Laden!

Here's a thought--the US does spend a lot on foreign aid. Does China have a foreign aid program?

US aid spending per capita is about 61$, military spending per capita is over 2000$
If Bill Gates leave a 5$ tip on a 500$ meal and I give 5$ on a 20$ meal. Are we both generous people? The US does give away the most money(often with religious strings attached) but comes way down the list when you compare it to either the population or the GDP.

However, there is no doubt about who spends the most money on military regardless of how you calculate it. More than the rest of the world combined as a matter of fact... Now, would it be more effective to fight terrorism with economic aid than with bombs and tanks. This we'll never know...

People can make up their own mind about whether the US is "generous" or not...

[daveross]

What religious strings are attached to US aid? Serious question because that would be a violation of the US Constitution.

[PDLM]

"Religiously-inspired" might be a better phrase. For example, the Bush government withdrew various bits of funding to overseas groups that even discussed abortion as an option in family planning.

[gilleshk]

Fortunately Obama has taken steps in the right direction for now...

Obama Reverses Rules on U.S. Abortion Aid - NYTimes.com