Who are you calling stingy?

Fifteen mil was just our opener. Okay, so it took a little shaming to get us to raise it to $35 mil. Just look here:

The usual U.S. contribution during major disasters is 25 to 33 percent of total international aid, according to J. Brian Atwood, a former USAID administrator. So far, the U.S. contribution is 13 percent of the $270 million in international aid that has been pledged, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Spain has pledged $68 million, almost twice what the United States has contributed so far. Japan has pledged $30 million, Britain $29 million, Australia $27.6 million, Germany $27 million, France $20.5 million and Denmark $15.5 million, the United Nations reported.

WaPo article

As teams assessing the impact of last week's Indian Ocean tsunami report their findings, President Bush has increased U.S. aid to the region to $350 million – 10 times the initial pledge made before the disaster's scope unfolded.

[...]

The United States is leading a core group that also includes India, Australia and Japan in coordinating the international relief efforts.

Defense Link article

Take that.

The United Nations said the death toll from Sunday's colossal sea surge may be approaching 150,000 as the emergency relief operation struggled against debris-clogged harbours, power outages, washed-away roads and shattered towns from Indonesia to Somalia.

[...]

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has rejected suggestions that Washington has been trying to edge out the United Nations as leader of the international relief effort for the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Powell, during a visit to U.N. headquarters for talks with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, also denied that President George W. Bush had just increased U.S. disaster aid to $350 million (180 million pounds) from $35 million because he had been stung by criticism that wealthy nations were stingy.

Reuters article

The disaster has been turned into a debate about America's generosity. Amazing how everything is about us, isn't it?