Midday Open Thread: The United States, Palestinian Aid and the United Nations

[SeminalBlog]

Ever vigilant in its role as protector of the poor, the tired and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the United States is urging Arab nations to make good on their pledged aid contributions to Palestine.

US officials say that of $717m promised by Arab League members, only $153m of Arab pledges have been delivered, all from three countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Algeria.

Their failure to deliver has tangible consequences:

British aid agencies warned that ordinary life in Gaza was becoming "intolerable".
"Only a trickle of medicine, food, fuel and other goods is being allowed in," warned a statement from agencies including Oxfam and Christian Aid.
"It has made people highly dependent on food aid, and brought the health system and basic services such as water and sanitation near to collapse."

Condoleeza Rice did not single out any nations, but said "clearly when you make a pledge you ought to fulfill it."
That's sage advice, but it reeks of hypocrisy coming from an official of the United States government; in what is perhaps an attempt at manifesting the impotent image the US government paints of the United Nations, it has repeatedly failed to deliver timely payment of its dues.
This too has tangible consequences in the world community, and "reflects on US credibility on everything."

Egypt and other developing countries argue that the American arrears are illegal. "It is not an act of charity," said Ahmed Darwish, an Egyptian diplomat.
US arrears force the United Nations to borrow against peacekeeping funds. "We are deprived of getting reimbursed for doing our part in peacekeeping," said Darwish, whose country is owed $22 million for troops and equipment. The United Nations owes India some $51 million …

If the United States wants to be remain anything more than a self-proclaimed world leader, a change of habits is in order. That's my obvious statement of the day, what's yours?
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[B L Zeebub]

Has Mrs Arafat run out of Gucci shoes again

[Lackluster]

Originally Posted by SeminalBlog

That's my obvious statement of the day, what's yours?

My obvious statement of the day is that there were once close to a million Jews living in Arab lands and now there are scant thousands.

As to how to go about evaluating this fact, here's a little hint. They did not all just go "poof", and disappear spontaneously.