U.S. Aid To China Quake Victims Stingy Compared With Other Nations

By MARC MCDONALD

Scores of nations around the world have generously pitched in to offer aid to Sichuan province in China, which suffered a horrific earthquake on May 12 that has claimed at least 20,000 lives.

India offered $5 million in aid. Japan offered $4.8 million. Norway has pledged $3.92 million for disaster relief. And Taiwan has promised $66 million in relief aid.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush has announced that the U.S. government is contributing a mere $500,000 in earthquake relief.

To put this into perspective, the U.S. spends around $500,000 every two minutes in the Iraq War.