The way I see it is the government of a country has an obligation to help its citizens, but other countries certainly don't.
If the private citizens of other countries want to help that's fine, but it's also voluntary.
If a foreign government (in this case the US) starts providing assistance then it's forcing its citizens to participate, which isn't it's job. In fact it's probably getting in the way of the (far more efficient) private companies and charities helping out.
That may seem harsh (it isn't, most assistance still comes from private citizens as it should) but while disasters like this are pretty clear cut do you really want the government able to spend money like water because it determines something is a 'disaster'?
If the private citizens of other countries want to help that's fine, but it's also voluntary.
If a foreign government (in this case the US) starts providing assistance then it's forcing its citizens to participate, which isn't it's job. In fact it's probably getting in the way of the (far more efficient) private companies and charities helping out.
That may seem harsh (it isn't, most assistance still comes from private citizens as it should) but while disasters like this are pretty clear cut do you really want the government able to spend money like water because it determines something is a 'disaster'?