[link|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601994.html|http://www.washingto...005090601994.html]

Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 90 countries and international organizations offered to assist in recovery efforts for the flood-stricken region, but nearly all endeavors remained mired yesterday in bureaucratic entanglements, in most cases, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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Members of the Salvadoran special forces prepare radio equipment for transport to New Orleans to help in recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
Members of the Salvadoran special forces prepare radio equipment for transport to New Orleans to help in recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. (By Luis Romero -- Associated Press)
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In Germany, a massive telecommunication system and two technicians await the green light to fly to Louisiana, after its donors spent four days searching for someone willing to accept the gift.

"FEMA? That was a lost case," said Mirit Hemy, an executive with the Netherlands-based New Skies Satellite who made the phone calls. "We got zero help, and we lost one week trying to get hold of them."

In Sweden, a transport plane loaded with a water purification system and a cellular network has been ready to take off for four days, while Swedish officials wait for flight clearance. Nearly a week after they were offered, four Canadian rescue vessels and two helicopters have been accepted but probably won't arrive from Halifax, Nova Scotia, until Saturday. The Canadians' offer of search-and-rescue divers has so far gone begging.

Matching offers of aid -- from Panamanian bananas to British engineers -- with needs in the devastated region is a laborious process in a disaster whose scope is unheard of in recent U.S. history, especially for a country more accustomed to giving than receiving aid.
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Yes this stuff takes time to integrate - but a plane loaded with water purification gear would seem to be a no-brainer.