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| Afghanistan-Pak-India |
| Bush mobilizes aid for Pakistan after earthquake |
| 2005-10-10 |
| Eager to show it has learned from the slow responses to the Asia-Pacific tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, the White House announced Sunday evening that it would provide an "initial contribution" of $50 million for relief efforts in Pakistan. It also said it would dispatch helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft that are in the area hunting members of Al Qaeda. The announcement came only hours after President Bush spoke to the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and after he held an unusual Sunday afternoon meeting in the Oval Office with a Pakistani diplomat. The speed, a senior administration official said, reflected the estimates of the death toll and the American desire to bolster General Musharraf when his help is badly needed in finding Osama bin Laden and repressing Islamic radicals. "I was just told that this is going to be the worst natural disaster in the nation's history," Mr. Bush said after meeting with Muhammad Sadiq, the No. 2 diplomat in the Pakistani Embassy. "Thousands of people have died, thousands are wounded, and the United States of America wants to help." The response was much quicker than the one in December when the tsunami hit. Mr. Bush was at his ranch then and did not speak publicly about the disaster for several days. The initial American commitments of aid were small, though they were quickly increased, and in the end the administration won praise for helping Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic nation. The administration has also been assailed for its slow response to Hurricane Katrina. An administration official involved in the discussions on Sunday about putting together a package of cash and aid from the military said "it was very much on our minds" that a speedy response was important in Pakistan. Mr. Bush said he had asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to "survey the assets that he may be able to move in the area," and on Sunday evening the White House said eight military helicopters - a mix of Chinooks and Black Hawks - would be sent to deliver emergency relief to remote villages. In his comments to reporters, Mr. Bush identified airlift capacity as the aid General Musharraf had said he needed most. "We're moving choppers," Mr. Bush said. The White House said a C-17 cargo plane carrying blankets, winterized tents and other supplies would arrive in Islamabad, the capital, early Monday. A second will arrive on Tuesday, and other missions will follow, officials said Sunday evening. Five thousand water containers and blankets will also arrive Monday. A seven-member Disaster Assistance Response Team is supposed to arrive early in the week to assess other needs - a step that took significantly longer after the tsunami hit. A 23-member logistical support group was also being dispatched from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, the White House said. American officials have struggled for four years now to find ways to demonstrate support for Pakistan that would help General Musharraf, who has been the target of at least two assassination attempts. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 beaten out of the commentariat Damn superior phraseology today. Stealing that too. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-10-10 16:21 |
| #9 Not one penny from me |
| Posted by: Kelly 2005-10-10 16:17 |
| #8 Expect lotsa gratitude. Headline in the local paper: "Survivors Beg World For Aid" |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-10-10 11:09 |
| #7 OK, just what was the "slow" response to the tsunamis? As I recall, the US had ships -- with real, actual ability to resuce people, provide water and medical resources, etc. -- on the move within hours, while the UN spent weeks organizing meetings and bitching about US, India, and Australia having the gall to move without permission. The Katrina silliness needs to be beaten out of the commentariat; we all know the stupidity there. Damn, I hate the press. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-10 10:40 |
| #6 The Fever Swamps of Conneticut. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-10-10 10:23 |
| #5 Manhattan. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-10-10 10:05 |
| #4 The Florida swamps? |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-10 10:02 |
| #3 Eager to show it has learned from the slow responses to the Asia-Pacific tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, Yeah, that's why he did it. It had absolutely nothing to do with humanitarian goodness of the American people. Where do they find the scum that reports for the NYT? |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-10-10 06:56 |
| #2 Expect lotsa gratitude. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-10-10 04:57 |
| #1 Let us just pray that this horriffic tragedy also crushed OBL and his crew of murdering scum. Perhaps the Lord has done for mankind what a lot of good men have been so far unable to achieve so that some good comes of this. |
| Posted by: Old Marine 2005-10-10 02:01 |