Global relief effort for the victims of the tsunami disaster has grown dramatically in the last one week with pledges expected to exceed $2 billion. The speed and detail in which the international media reported the unfolding death and destruction has been partly responsible for the outpouring of relief.

“Secretary of State Colin L. Powell candidly acknowledged the hope that the United States’ military help and its $350 million contribution might improve America’s image in the Islamic world,” The New York Times reported. Indonesia, where two-thirds of the 150,000 tsunami deaths occurred, is the world’s most populous Islamic country with 238 million people, 88 percent of whom are Muslims. “We’d be doing it regardless of religion. But I think it does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action,” Powell said. Jan Egeland, the United Nations emergency coordinator, acknowledged that there were many obstacles in the relief effort because of rains and logistical break-down but said the global response was “phenomenal.”

(Compiled from news dispatches by M. Chooki)