Whoever posted that was wrong. America is the richest nation in the world.
No, for YOUR misguided information, America's initial relief effort was $15 million. This was later raised to $35 million. Please don't make me link a source to prove that, because that would be very humiliating for you. No one likes their pseudo-corrections being corrected, but its especially bad with a neat internet link accompanying it.
I still don't comprehend why you are comparing Australia's contribution to America's.
Bush's $2.4 billion dollars of aid in 2004 went mostly to Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks, George...bomb the shit of a country then make a measly attempt to rebuild it. That's not "aid", that's decency.
As for "assessing" the situation, that hardly takes days and days. There was a tsunami, tens of thousands died, millions homeless. What more assessment was needed? More importantly, why did the US - but not other countries - need to make an assessment? Sounds like this whole "assessment" bs is just a cover for being as stingy as possible. Also, there's still no explanation for why it took three days for Bush to crawl out of his Texas ranch and make a statement on the disaster (other than the fact that Bush doesn't a clue about statesmanship)
Indonesia and Sri Lanka and Thailand, which account for over 110 000 of the 150 000 confirmed dead, have armies which America helps to TRAIn. I don't know where you got the idea that "half these nations" are antagonistic towards the US, but its blatantly absurd. Almost all governments in the South Asian and SE Asian region are pro-US.