Heartless Cheapskates

After the Tsunami catastrophe of Biblical proportions that flooded 10 countries, 150,000 human beings are dead (and we are still unsure of how many more died). The victims were mostly Buddhists and Muslims, but we Americans see only fellow human beings in dire need, and Americans are reaching out. Michael Dell’s foundation donated aid of $3 million and Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to help reilief efforts in countries affected by the deadly earthquake and tsunamis in southern Asia and eastern Africa (she also responded to the 9/11 victims with a contribution of a million dollars). Our government has committed to $350 million and that figure may double before this is under control.

I only wish to point out that Saudi Arabia is a country with 260 billion barrels of oil reserves in the ground, and they have the lowest production costs of any oil producer. Some 40,000 members of the Royal family receive huge stipends; yet this cheap-skate nation, whose brother Muslims died like flies, and countless families are now homeless, facing cholera and other dread diseases, and in spite of all their wealth the Saudi’s gave only a mere pittance of $10 million in aid.

Saudi Arabia:
With one-fourth of the world’s proven oil reserves and some of the lowest production costs, Saudi Arabia is likely to remain the world’s largest net oil exporter for the foreseeable future. During 2003, Saudi Arabia supplied the United States with 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil, or 18%, of U.S. crude oil imports during that period.

source EIA Country analysis briefs:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/saudi.html