Posted on 01/03/2005 5:07:07 AM PST by flitton
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The head of the US military’s relief operations in Indonesia’s tsunami-hit Aceh province said Monday the devastation was beyond belief, but that the American aid effort was “going great”.
“I’ve been down the coast and it’s just unbelievable what the force of this tsunami has caused to the villages,” Rear Admiral Doug Crowder told reporters at the Indonesian military airbase in the capital of Banda Aceh.
“Some places have been flattened for a mile and a half, (there are) mostly just foundations of homes and businesses left.”
US navy Sea Hawk helicopters have been airlifting supplies into the most isolated areas of Aceh’s west coast since Saturday and evacuating some survivors back to Banda Aceh.
Aceh’s west coast took the full force of the December 26 tsunamis, which killed more than 94,000 people in Indonesia and another 50,000 elsewhere.
Crowder, commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln which is stationed just off Aceh’s coast, said US helicopters had so far delivered 50,000 pounds (22,600 kilograms) of food and water, saying the operation as “going great”.
He said he was also inspired by the reaction of the survivors to the US operation.
“After we finished offloading what we had in that helicopter, one of the individuals, a young man, turned and gave me a wonderful smile and a thumbs up and for me I’ll remember that,” he said.
The head of the United Nation’s relief operations in Indonesia, Michael Elmquist, said on Saturday the US navy’s efforts in the isolated disaster areas were vital, as the near-starving survivors would not receive help otherwise.
“It’s absolutely life saving,” Elmquist, the chief of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Indonesia, told AFP.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Americans are doing that. They are the only ones who have the capacity to reach those parts of the population right now.”
I tought someone has mistakenly typed US instead of UN../sarcasm.
http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/
They're calling for yet another meeting this afternoon; they've flown in more UN big shots to lecture us all on "coordination" and the need to work together, i.e., let the UN take credit. With Kofi about to arrive for a big conference, the UNocrats are scrambling to show something, anything as a UN accomplishment. Don't be surprised if they claim that the USS Abraham Lincoln is under UN control and that President Lincoln was a strong supporter of the UN.
"Hey, we can't start this meeting without Colin...where's Colin Powell?"
"Uh, he's on his way to the tsunami-ravaged area, 'oh most highest one'"...
"DOH!"
Really sorry about that title, could you fix it for me. Thanks.
Interesting site that. I've been dropping in on it lately.
One wonders where the French navy is? Or any other Euroweenie navy? Ooppss...I forgot, the French can't get their row boats that far across the globe.
And the UN is planning meetings for later this week to see if there is anything that they can do other than collect money and bribe each other.
Indeed!
This is a perfect example of why the US is the world's ONLY superpower - we can project power to any place on the planet within hours, not weeks or months. And we're not always there to deliver ordnance on some deserving asshat. That is the other big lesson for the planet - when the US military shows up, it isn't always to kill, but it is always on the side of Good.
Who else can accomplish this? China? Russia? The EU? The UN? NO. NO OTHER ENTITY ON EARTH CAN DO THIS.
IT'S HIGH TIME TO TELL THE UN TO STFU AND GET OUT OF OUR WAY. PERMANENTLY.
Time to start building houses on pillars and hurricane proof? There would be no need for no stinkin' insurance. Insurance money better used in improving construction. Saving lives would be welcome side benefit.
http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/
UPDATE: More on "The UNcredibles": WFP (World Food Program) has "arrived" in the capital with an "assessment and coordination team." The following is no joke; no Diplomad attempt to be funny or clever: The team has spent the day and will likely spend a few more setting up their "coordination and opcenter" at a local five-star hotel. And their number one concern, even before phones, fax and copy machines? Arranging for the hotel to provide 24hr catering service. USAID folks already are cracking jokes about "The UN Sheraton." Meanwhile, our military and civilians, working with the super Aussies, continue to keep the C-130 air bridge of supplies flowing and the choppers flying, and keep on saving lives -- and without 24hr catering services from any five-star hotel . . . . The contrast grows more stark every minute.
# posted by Diplomad @ 9:25 AM Comments (109) |
"Meanwhile, our military and civilians, working with the super Aussies,....)A salute to our Aussie allies.
this caught my eye:
Mr. Egeland: Our main problems now are in northern Sumatra and Aceh. <...> In Aceh, today 50 trucks of relief supplies are arriving. <...> Tomorrow, we will have eight full airplanes arriving. I discussed today with Washington whether we can draw on some assets on their side, after consultations with the Indonesian Government, to set up what we call an “air-freight handling centre” in Aceh. Tomorrow, we will have to set up a camp for relief workers – 90 of them – which is fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything, because they have nowhere to stay and we don't want them to be an additional burden on the people there.
I provided this to some USAID colleagues working in Indonesia and their heads nearly exploded. The first paragraph is quite simply a lie. The UN is taking credit for things that hard-working, street savvy USAID folks have done. It was USAID working with their amazing network of local contacts who scrounged up trucks, drivers, and fuel; organized the convoy and sent it off to deliver critical supplies. A UN “air-freight handling centre” in Aceh? Bull! It's the Aussies and the Yanks who are running the air ops into Aceh. We have people working and sleeping on the tarmac in Aceh, surrounded by bugs, mud, stench and death, who every day bring in the US and Aussie C-130s and the US choppers; unload, load, send them off. We have no fancy aid workers' retreat -- notice the priorities of the UN? People are dying and what's the first thing the UN wants to do? Set up "a camp for relief workers" one that would be "fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything."
The UN is a sham.
Rush Limbough talked about this very same thing during hurricane season.
Im not sure if I have the figures right, but will try:
His home is worth $8,000,000
To insure it against hurricanes was $800,000 / year, plus that was only after a $2,000,000 deductable.
He said it was better to put that kind of money into the construction to make it hurricane-proof.
I love the insider look....
The Reuters report I clicked on had a report that included "after a slow start" about US aid..It is what the Euro /lib world wants to hear..Forget facts and what we are DOING...
We would be doing America and the world a great favor if we got rid of the UN...let it leech off the Euroweenies...and obstruct real peace efforts from their homeland...not ours...
Hey, that's not fair. This French-bashing must stop! Just today they came out with a new aircraft carrier. It's still in dry-dock though . . . and their helicopters only carry two-ounces of supplies at a time.
But they're at least trying . . . in a French sorta-way. So get off their backs!
LOL.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1312517/posts
"Stingy Americans" delivering aide....UN efforts "bogged down" (my title)
me
Pictures
Maybe the UN Rep's on the ground statement about the Americans being the only ones who can pull this off and what lifesavers we are should be transmitted to the ..... UN head in NYC who says we arn't doing enough and are stingy. Seems there is a major communication gap within the UN and the NYC living-life-large-on-our-buck bureuacrats need a little "time in the field".
Like Dafur maybe.
The UN is to world peace and disaster relief as the ACLU is to the founding fathers vision of America and to real freedom....
In the name of peace they both seek to abuse enslave...parasitic organizations that do great damage to the host...
imo
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