giving, p.s.

just as a postscript to my previous post, i've just read killing vs helping, an excellent essay by george monbiot on the aid given by the u.s.a. and britain to the tsunami relief effort compared to their spending on the iraq war:

"The US Government has so far pledged $US350million to the victims of the tsunami, and the British Government $US96 million. The US has spent $US148billion on the Iraq war and Britain $US11.5billion. The war has been running for 656 days. This means that the money pledged for the tsunami disaster by the US is the equivalent of 1 days' spending in Iraq. The money Britain has given equates to 5 days of the British involvement in the war."

(originally published in the guardian on tuesday, reprinted in today's smh)