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Bush: Nations form Asian relief coalition
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-29 00:15 CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush announced
Wednesday the United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an
international coalition to coordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction
efforts for the Asian region ravaged by a deadly earthquake and tsunamis.
"We will prevail over this destruction," Bush said from his Texas ranch in
his first comments on the disaster Sunday that so far has killed more than
76,000.
Bush said the disaster had "brought loss and grief to the world that is
beyond our comprehension" and he pledged a multifaceted response from the United
States that goes far beyond the $35 million initially pledged.
In the short-term, the help will including damage assessment teams and U.S.
military manpower, including a Marine expeditionary force followed by long-term
rebuilding assistance. He said he'd also examine a suggestion from Germany's
president to consider putting a moratorium on the debt of hard-hit Somalia and
Indonesia.
"We'll look at all requests," Bush said. "We're still in the stage of
immediate help. But slowly but surely, the size of the problem will become
known, particularly when it comes to rebuilding infrastructure and community to
help these affected parts of the world get back up on their feet."
The president called on Americans to donate cash to relief organizations to
augment the response and said he expected several other nations to join the
coalition started by the four countries.
"The United States will continue to stand with the affected governments as
they care for the victims," he said. "We will stand with them as they start to
rebuild their communities. And together the world will cope with their loss."
Bush said he talked to the leaders in the affected region and was working to
target initial relief efforts to the things those leaders most need, pending
damage assessments.
He expressed concern the Asian region wasn't prepared with a warning system
that foretold the massive tsunamis and threw his support behind creation of a
worldwide system. "It makes sense for the world to come together to develop a
warning system to help all nations," he said.
The president also pointedly dismissed a United Nation official's suggestion
that rich nations like the United States have been "stingy" in relief efforts.
"I felt like the person who made that statement was very misguided and ill
informed," Bush said.
U.S. Agency for International Development chief Andrew Natsios told The
Associated Press on Tuesday that the $35 million aid package has drained his
organization's emergency relief fund, forcing it to ask Congress or the White
House for more money.
"We just spent it," Natsios said. "We'll be talking to the (White House)
budget office."
The State Department said Tuesday that 12 Americans had died in the disaster
— seven in Sri Lanka and five in Thailand. Hundreds of Americans remain missing.
Bush said U.S. officials were working hard to locate many more Americans who
remain unaccounted for and to provide assistance to those who were injured or
displaced in the region.
"Our prayers go out to those who have lost so much to this series of
disasters," he said.
The State Department, meanwhile, encouraged all American citizens traveling
in any part of the countries hit by the earthquake to telephone family members
to let them know they are doing.
If the travelers need help they should get in touch with U.S. diplomatic
posts, the department said in a statement.
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