Posted on 12/30/2004 2:39:54 AM PST by kattracks
JAKARTA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group was headed for Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province on Thursday and several other U.S. military ships were on course to the Bay of Bengal to help with relief operations, officials said.The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and four other vessels will be stationed off Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island where the death toll from Sunday's earthquake and tsunami has risen past 47,000.
Another group of seven U.S. military ships, including a helicopter carrier, steamed for the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
Lieutenant General James T. Conway, joint chiefs of staff director of operations, told a briefing in Washington late on Wednesday the Lincoln group had 12 helicopters on board, "which we find extremely valuable in these types of scenarios".
Conway, according to a transcript given to Reuters by the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, said a U.S. assessment team was expected in Aceh on Thursday.
Teams had already been dispatched to Thailand and Sri Lanka, also hard hit by the tsunami that has killed more than 87,000 people across the region.
He said the Lincoln carrier strike group had been in Hong Kong when the tsunami struck. It was diverted to the Gulf of Thailand and is now making its way to the Malacca Strait.
The ships associated with the carrier group are expected to take position off the island of Sumatra, Conway said.
He did not say exactly when the ships would arrive. A U.S. defence department official in Jakarta confirmed the carrier fleet was on its way.
SHIPS CAN PRODUCE FRESH WATER
Conway also said the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group of seven vessels, which had been in Guam -- in the Pacific Ocean -- had been diverted to the Bay of Bengal, where it would arrive before Jan. 7.
"It has seven ships associated with the strike group (and) carries 25 helicopters, which will be valuable to us again in disaster relief," he said.
He said five other ships of the squadron located in Guam were moving toward the disaster-hit areas of southern Asia.
"These five ships have fresh-water-producing capability. Each ship can produce 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day, and of course that'll be extremely valuable as we have a number of requests already for fresh-water supply," Conway said.
He said a sixth ship with a field hospital was also headed to the region.
The United States suspended normal military ties with Indonesia in 1999 following allegations of widespread human rights abuses by its military in East Timor after the tiny province voted for independence.
However, ties have begun to recover as Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has become a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror.
Aceh, 1,700 km (1,000 miles) northwest of Jakarta, is under civilian emergency rule as part of efforts to quell a separatist insurgency that began in 1976.
Until Tuesday, it had been closed to foreign aid workers and journalists.
I guess this pretty much proves that we're not stingy. It costs millions just to fire those big ships up. Take care, India!
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. Do you think it would make any difference to these Muslim tsunami victims that Christians (Americans and others) are coming to their aid and not rich Arab Muslims? Red Cross instead of Red Crescent? Dare we pray for converts?
I don't like it. Those ships are for our defense, not for this kind of duty.
aech is where the Islamofascist are killing for control. Now let's see what the little a-hole cowards do now.
Showing power to Islamofascist is never a bad thing. Plus the added bene that we can use our most powerful weapons to help in disasters too.
Megawati is an ALLY? He said the Jews were, "the enemy!"
This gesture seems intended more for show than of any practical use...unless, of course, the Tamil Tigers start acting up again.
The Bonnie Dick, an LPH, was headed from San Diego bound for the Mid-East to drop off marines and supplies. You might recall the infamous Michael Moore-cooperating louse who refused to board for his deployment?
This is *GOOD* for our PR in places which aren't entirely friendly as well as not entirely devoid of threats be it Muslim extremists (Indonesia) or, with India, nuke abilities and its on-going dispute with Pakistan, our "WoT partner."
This isn't Clinton's delivering pizzas debacle.
That was said by a former Malaysian PM.
I agree.
Carolyn
Or the incoming hospital ship not a welcome and helpful resource?
I disagree.
We're not delivering pizzas here... we're saving human being's lives. It would be immoral to not send this kind of critical relief that we can uniquely provide. We're in no danger such that we're needing these ships elsewhere at this time.
19,000 gal per day is "help" for hundreds of millions of people? You do the math.
The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and four other vessels will be stationed off Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island... Another group of seven U.S. military ships, including a helicopter carrier(with 25 helicopters, steamed for the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean...
The stingy ole' US will, of course, be sending the bill for this twelve-ship deployment to a certain Mr. Janny-Boy Egeland.
Each ship can produce 90,000 perday.
OK. usin the correct figures, not yours
"These five ships have fresh-water-producing capability. Each ship can produce 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day, and of course that'll be extremely valuable as we have a number of requests already for fresh-water supply,"5 x 90,000 = 450,000 gallons a day
That'll take care of a million plus people
Megawati is an ALLY? He said the Jews were, ''the enemy!''
Megawatti is a woman & she did not say that. Was another PM, an eighty-some-year-old crackpot & he said it within a couple of months of leaving office.
There's an odd increase in anti-semitism emanating from India these days. It's strange given the traditional emnity with Pakistan and Bangaladesh. The expensive psyop the Arabs are buying are working out better than expected.
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