Ethics Watchdog Seeks Info on Foreign Aid Offers

Dec 15 - A government-ethics watchdog has been waiting for answers to questions about the federal government’s decision to decline disaster relief aid from several countries during this year’s particularly destructive hurricane season. First raised in a public-information request in September by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the information sought concerns why aid was turned down, who was behind the decisions and exactly what kind of help was offered remain unanswered more than three months later.

The government’s silence prompted CREW to file a lawsuit, the group announced earlier this week.

In the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina, nations across the globe pledged relief assistance. From tiny, impoverished African and Southeast Asian states and oil-rich Middle Eastern countries to European allies, about half of the world offered the US some sort of aid, much of which was ultimately turned down.

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