The United States has taken the rare step of accepting help from 12 countries and international organizations in cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf. Most of the countries and groups have offered skimmers, boom, or dispersant chemicals. A chart on the State Department website indicates that help has been accepted from Canada, Mexico, Croatia, Holland, Norway, and Japan.
In addition, two organizations—the International Maritime Organization and the Monitoring and Information Center—will provide technical assistance. The other four nations or agencies haven't been listed. Only one offer has been rejected: Dispersant chemicals offered by France are not approved for use in the US. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)