Aid: a pissing contest?

Gotta love it when aid becomes a pissing contest (1) (2).*

"Nya, nya, nya... we gave more than you. Nya, nya, nya... we gave more than you!"

And it's all so hypocritical. Oh, we all care so much. No one turns an eye to the hundreds of thousands dying every year from malaria (3) or other easily preventable disasters. The Economist wrote recently (no linky as I read it in the actual magazine and since I can't find the article the numbers are approximate) that the world turned down a Mozambique request for $30 million in aid six months prior to forecasted floods in order to mitigate the damage. Once the floods happened they sent $200 million to help with the devastation.

Right!

Additional information on the Mozambique disaster:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1183552.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Mozambique/article/0,2763,191710,00.html

*I wrote this back in January, but did not post as I was hoping to locate the original Economist article. Interestingly, since, both Yahoo and CNN pulled these stories on which nation gave more to tsunami relief.