US Massing Largest Ever Pacific Relief Effort

[kpete]

Source: Military News

The U.S. Marine commander on the ground in the Philippines called Tuesday for more ships, supplies and troops to cope with the vast devastation caused by super Typhoon Haiyan in what was shaping up as the biggest relief effort ever undertaken by the U.S. military in the Pacific.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington and its battle group were expected to arrive in Philippine waters Wednesday. However, Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said his more immediate need was for amphibious ships and the tracked vehicles, landing craft and added Marines they bring with them.

"They are the Swiss army knife of the U.S. military," Kennedy said of the capabilities of the amphibious ships, which also have helicopter landing pads, medical staff and facilities for providing potable water.

In addition to help from the U.S., "the rest of the world needs to get mobilized, the rest of the donor community," Kennedy told NBC News. "A week from now will be too late."

Read more: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/12/us-massing-largest-ever-pacific-relief-effort.html?comp=7000023317828&rank=1

[TwilightGardener]

1. Complaints about cost and "we're broke let's spend money here" soon to be forthcoming, I'm sure.

[starroute]

7. As long as it comes out of the military budget, it'll never be noticed

Good practice for the Marines, good PR in an area where the US is struggling to maintain its image, and it all comes out of the bloated Pentagon budget which is mainly invisible anyway. What's not to like?

[awoke_in_2003]

11. Not from me...

when it come to moving large amounts of aid, this is something the military has the infrastructure for. I have no problems with this.

[madokie]

2. F'ing A

[Sedona]

3. Thanks Obama!

[Dawson Leery]

6. Quite the opposite response of the Bush administration.

[upi402]

4. TV News will beat up Obama for whatever we do

I wonder if Obama EVER calls Clinton about that Telecommunications Act and says, "THANKS A LOT !!!!!"

[awoke_in_2003]

12. LBJ once said if he walked across the Potomac...

the headlines would read "LBJ can't swim"

[okaawhatever]

5. I read somewhere recently that the country that has the highest opinion of the US was the

Philippines. let's not screw that up, okay? They're nice people who desperately need help, certainly the super powers and other nations can come together and help.

[raging moderate]

8. Please help now, everybody!

Send money somehow!

I have read several accounts of how the Filipino people worked together to save a lot of Americans from the Japanese Army during World War II. They hid them, fed them, rushed them into remote jungle villages, smuggled them around, etc. They were magnificent!

[madrchsod]

9. from what i've seen on al jazeera

this storm surpassed the devastation of tsunami in japan.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Not to detract from the Philippine typhoon, but

The Japanese tsunami killed more than 15,000 people, with a few thousand more still unaccounted for. The tsunami wiped out tens of thousands of homes, businesses, and facilities along a 300-mile stretch of coastline. It also resulted in arguably the world's worst nuclear disaster, which may take decades to clean up. Total monetary damage so far has been estimated to be as much as 250 billion dollars.

[Bonobo]

14. Closer to 20,000 than 15,000.

And all people can talk about outside of Japan is Fukushima.

It pisses me off.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. 15,854 is the official death toll

In Japan, they count victims of natural disasters whose bodies have not been found as "yukue-fumeisha" rather than as "shisha", I guess because they always hold out hope that some of the missing may someday be found alive. But yes, the actual death toll is, indeed, closer to 20,000.

[ancianita]

10. All righty, then. Logistics, money and manpower put to good use, for a change.