This is an interesting article, but bizarrely off-base in several its assertions. Although Sri Lanka has an important Muslim community, it is far from being a predominantly Muslim country. Off-hand, I think the census figure for Sri Lankan Muslims is about 8 per cent of the population -- and they have nothing to do with the JVP, which is an extremist Sinhalese nationalist group. India, described here as one of the regional "US allies which are not predominantly Muslim," has a far larger Muslim population.
On the other hand, it's nice to see someone explore the flip side of the argument that US tsunami aid took care of our public diplomacy problems in Southeast Asia. The Pew poll that is usually cited in that argument did find the number of Indonesian respondents expressing favorable views of the US going from something like 10 to 30 per cent -- but the figure had been around 75 per cent in 2001 or 2002.
There are excellent reasons for the US to contribute to international relief and development programs, but the belief that there is a close link between US aid and foreign publics' goodwill should not be one of them.
"US Image Problem Persists among Muslims in Asia Despite Tsunami Aid" - AFP (Banda Aceh, Indonesia), 17 Dec 2005
The image of the United States in tsunami-hit parts of Asia may have enjoyed a boost thanks to its massive aid donations, but one year on, residents say US policy speaks louder than dollars.
The US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Washington's pro-Israeli stance, have incensed Muslims across the region, and no amount of aid -- even in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia -- has soothed their anger.
"I don't like the leader of the American people. I don't mind the people, I just don't like their leader," says Yan, a 35-year-old Acehnese dried fish trader who bears deep scars on each arm from injuries sustained in the tsunami.
"We saw how the US is an arrogant nation. They think they are a superpower and the international police, that they rule everything," says the merchant, who lost his parents, grandparents and three brothers in the catastrophe.
"We don't hate the people -- we just don't understand the way the American government thinks."...
Din Syamsuddin, the secretary general of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas -- the highest Islamic authority in the world's most populous Muslim nation -- said the US aid campaign had little changed attitudes in the country.
"I think the Muslim perception is very much dependent on American foreign policy in the Muslim world, not only in Aceh but also in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan," he said.
"Foreign aid to Aceh was not only peculiar to America -- all countries supported Indonesia."
Beyond the region's mainly Muslim countries, US aid work also failed to sway public opinion in Sri Lanka, where 1,500 Marines were deployed to help lead international efforts to clean up the island's tsunami-ravaged coasts.
Sunanda Deshapriya, director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based think tank, said Washington had failed to capitalize on the initial praise it had earned for its relief efforts.
"There was no visible campaign to carry that forward," he told AFP.
As a result, Sri Lanka's leftist parties, including the Marxist JVP, which is part of the ruling coalition, continue to view the United States with suspicion.
Washington is not the bete noire of all countries in the tsunami zone. Its high-profile aid campaign served to strengthen its position in India and Thailand, US allies which are not predominantly Muslim.
The US Navy worked closely with India's fleet on relief operations, and Washington invited India to be part of a core group of four nations coordinating the UN aid effort, a move welcomed in New Delhi.
Relations between the two countries have continued to deepen, as evidenced by the landmark bilateral agreement to cooperate on nuclear technology reached in July.
Thailand also worked side-by-side with the US in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, and the two states are now collaborating to develop a regional tsunami early warning system.
For Washington, Indonesia remains the key stumbling block in the region, a fact not lost on US officials. They sent Bush confidante and State Department imagemaker Karen Hughes to the country on a goodwill tour in October.
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