Posted on 01/06/2005 5:44:18 AM PST by flitton
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An effort by the United States, Japan, India and Australia to coordinate tsunami relief will be disbanded and folded into broader U.N.-led operations, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday.
The group's creation was announced by President Bush just eight days ago as he tried to dispel criticism that the initial U.S. response to the catastrophe was slow. Some analysts saw it as an effort to appear engaged.
But U.S. officials said the group, later expanded to include Canada and the Netherlands, had already served its purpose by jump-starting aid efforts to devastated regions following the Dec. 26 tsunami that barreled into 13 countries around the Indian Ocean and killed close to 150,000.
"The core group helped to catalyze the international response," Powell told a tsunami relief conference in Jakarta. "Having served its purpose, the core group will fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations."
Other diplomats have suggested there was concern that if the huge relief effort breaks down, the United States would prefer not to be in the lead role where it might get the lion's share of blame.
In the wake of the unprecedented disaster, Bush was criticized for taking three days to speak publicly about it and for the initial U.S. financial aid of $15 million.
The U.S. pledge has since been raised to $350 million -- a figure Powell said Washington would consider raising as the needs become clearer. He said the U.S. Congress has shown a willingness to "do more" but, unlike Germany and Australia, he did not unveil any new money ahead of the Jakarta meeting.
"None of us knows" how much more money will be needed, Powell told reporters later. "So I think it's frankly prudent to be careful with respect to these numbers."
He also stressed Washington has sent an aircraft carrier and 18 other ships as well as 40 cargo and patrol aircraft and more than 50 helicopters to the region "at considerable additional expense" to ferry food and water to survivors.
A State Department official said the U.S. military in the region would "coordinate closely" with the U.N. on providing airlift and other logistical help for the relief work but would not be under U.N. command.
The core group has held daily phone meetings with U.N. officials but at the time it was formed analysts wondered whether its work might conflict with the United Nations, which is coordinating aid from some 40 countries. Aldo Borgu, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, said the idea quickly outlived its usefulness. "I think it was a fairly knee-jerk reaction, that the industrialized world should be seen to be helping," Borgu said. "Subsequently it has become redundant." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in Jakarta for the aid conference, expressed gratitude for its work but insisted on the primacy of the United Nations in organizing relief work.
"Without that essential contribution it would have been extremely difficult for us to get to those in need," he said of the military contributions by the United States, and quick relief efforts by India, Singapore and Australia.
Powell agreed the U.N. would have "a lead role" on aid efforts but said others may take the lead elsewhere, suggesting that a U.S. military task force recently set up in Thailand may coordinate work among the many military forces in the area.
Powell said he discussed the issues with Annan in Jakarta and hinted at some impatience to see the U.N. take charge, saying: "We talked about the need for the U.N. agencies -- if they are going to play that coordinating role -- to get on the ground and start playing it."
(Additional reporting by Jerry Norton in JAKARTA and Paul Tait in SYDNEY)
Always has been;
any time the State Department has sold-out U.S. interests, you can bet Colon Powell was behind it.
That's wishful thinking. Its like saying that the GOP pretended that Clinton was in charge Kofi is not humiliated in the least in this situation. This appears that the U.S. submitted to the authority of the UN. That may not be reality, but appearances mean a lot.
Heck, we were up and running before Kofi took his skiis off; he was reduced to "asking" Powell if the UN could be part of "our" coalition.
This is not the general perception. The average world citizen will perceive this as the U.S. being stingy and after being shamed by Kofi and crew, we joined the UN effort in order to save face.
Bush has got to learn, that if you play hard ball, you can't appear to back down. The US would have been better off just withholding any announcement of pledges, waiting until others announced theirs and then pledging a comparable amount.
None of the money or aid is going to help the reputation of the US with the Islamic world or in South East Asia. Even if they do realize that a huge amount of help is coming from the US, you can never buy love. In fact, there is no faster way to lose someone's respect than to buy them something or give them money.
I do not agree.
I thought U.N. efforts were "bogged down". So now we are disbanding a group that got aid to the region in hours so the U.N. will get the credit and won't look as useless and inept as it really is?
"Thank God it was a Republican President that ceded power to the UN. I was always afraid it would be a Democrat. I figure we'll get a better deal." Doe Eyes
Respectfully, could you point out where I've gotten it wrong?
You nailed it...I do agree.
non sequitur...or as Mr. Spock would say, "illogical."
If that's the way you want to weasel out of it, fine by me.
It's an old playground trick...help's a feller locate the cowards in a crowd.
A cookie to Kofi. He knows he can't US bash anymore. He's been bitch-slapped.
Heh Heh...that's awfully big of you.
I can't wait to see the changes that will take place when Condi gets in there. I'm very excited!!!!
That's surprise (rare spelling error).
dammit the f**king UN cannot be trusted!. I wonder how long until we hear about the Tsunami Releif Scandel?
The UN is nothing more than the world's biggest organized crime rganization. Always has been. The UN should have been disbanded LONG ago.
Sad but true.
Oh, they are so cute when they're being so naive. It won't matter what role the U.S. has when the time comes for doling out the blame.
No but it was his idea. ANd GHWB (Bush the 1st) agreed to make the euros happy.
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