UN emergency relief head Jan Egeland, who previously called the US and other governments ‘stingy’ with respect to assistance in the wake of the Tsunami, invokes the oft-used “misinterpretation” defence.
The United Nations’ emergency relief coordinator said Tuesday that the international response to the tsunami catastrophe in southern Asia has been “very generous” despite earlier comments in which he called some nations “stingy.”“The international assistance that has come and been pledged from the United States, from Europe and from countries in the region has also been very generous,” Jan Egeland said in brief remarks at the world body’s headquarters.“I have been misinterpreted when I yesterday said that my belief that rich countries in general can be more generous. This has nothing to do with any particular country or the response to this emergency. We’re in early days and the response has so far been overwhelmingly positive,” he added.
But of course. If he was indeed misinterpreted, then what did he mean?
Perhaps he meant the US and some other governments are not as generous when it comes to kickbacks.
