US releases 250,000 dollars for emergency aid in Georgia

[babsbunny]

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_releases_250_000_dollars_for_eme_08112008.html

Published: Monday August 11, 2008



The United States has made available 250,000 dollars in aid for ally Georgia aimed at providing emergency supplies for thousands of people affected by the Georgia-Russia conflict, the State Department said Monday.

The United States began bringing the urgently needed humanitarian aid to Georgia, but "it is expected that supplies (distributed by the US embassy in Tbilisi) will be exhausted by the end of the day" Monday, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

[seemslikeadream]

1. Thank God they weren't hit by a hurricane

[whistle]

2. $250K, that's what it cost for jet fuel for Air Force One to go to Beijing and back on one trip!!!

[knitter4democracy]

3. The IOCC is already in there working to help people.

http://iocc.org/news/8-11-08georgia.aspx

Baltimore, Maryland — In the fourth day of fighting between Russian and Georgian forces, thousands have been displaced from their homes in Georgia and in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The United Nations is reporting that tens of thousands of people have fled South Ossetia, and that the western town of Gori, which has come under heavy artillery fire from Russian forces, is now nearly deserted.

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) has mobilized staff in its Tbilisi and Moscow offices to provide assistance to those who have been affected by this widening conflict. IOCC is working in partnership with the Georgian Orthodox Church to provide food and hygiene supplies to IDPs (internally displaced persons) in the town of Gori and in the capital of Tbilisi. IOCC is also assisting refugees in North Ossetia with medical and food supplies provided in partnership with the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The numbers of those displaced by this conflict will increase every day,” says IOCC Regional Director George Antoun. “Their needs are basic and pressing: food, water, shelter, blankets and medical care,” he continued. IOCC has released funds to assist those who have been affected and is issuing an emergency appeal for additional support.

IOCC’s first humanitarian mission was to Russia in 1992. IOCC began providing emergency humanitarian relief to Georgia in 1994 when more than a quarter of a million people were displaced due to separatist fighting.

If anyone wants to help, there's a link at their site.

[paparush]

4. That doesn't cover Bush's golf tab.

[peacebird]

5. 250k? good grief.... like THAT is going to help.

that won't provide medical care for ONE bombed out city, much less a country....