The U.S. military is mobilizing disaster relief in the Philippines, Indonesia and Samoa. The three natural disasters to hit Asia and the Pacific in the past week (typhoon in the Philippines, earthquake and tsunami in Samoa and earthquake in Indonesia) have provided the U.S. military with a showcase for its capabilities and a public relations bonanza. Without belittling the human tragedy of these events, the urgent need for assistance, or the sacrifice of those involved in the rescue and relief efforts, we must question why is it, with civilian agencies and NGOs that have long responded to disaster response needs, that the U.S. military is the only agency or organization that seems to have the resources to mobilize humanitarian relief on this scale. Ever since the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami, there has been increasing militarization of humanitarian assistance and talk of humanitarian missions as the justification for the U.S. military expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. Undoubtedly, the present crisis will be used to bolster arguments for intensifying and expanding the military reach in the Pacific.
Indonesia is a good example. The U.S. Congress cut off military aid to Indonesia due to the horrendous human rights record of its military. The Indonesian military was responsible for terrible human rights abuses in East Timor, Aceh, Maluku and West Papua. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Senator Inouye inserted a clause in a bill that renewed military training for Indonesian military officers at the Pacific Command’s Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Waikiki. This opened the door for more military cooperation with a country that the U.S. considered a valuable ally in the global war on terror. A couple of years ago, the Hawai’i National Guard, through a Pentagon program called the State Partnership Program, established a formal military partnership with the Indonesian military. In a high profile visit to Indonesia, Governor Lingle signed the agreement, which included among other things cooperation on military training and humanitarian assistance.
It will be worth watching to see how these natural disasters will effect the military’s posture in the region in the future.
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http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091003_military_mobilizes_relief_aid_across_asia_and_the_pacific.html
Military mobilizes relief aid across Asia and the Pacific
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 03, 2009
The USS Denver, equipped with heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters and a contingent of Marines, is moving from the Philippines to Indonesia to be part of the relief effort after an earthquake killed more than 1,000 people.
Adm. Timothy Keating, in charge of all military forces in the Pacific, briefed reporters in a conference call from his Camp Smith headquarters yesterday about military aid for natural disasters in Indonesia, the Philippines and the Samoas.
So far, the Pacific Command redirected about a dozen Special Forces soldiers, who were already going to Indonesia on a scheduled training exercise, to help with an Indonesian Army damage assessment, Keating said. A Navy admiral is being sent to Indonesia to oversee the response efforts, he said.
The United States has provided $300,000 for emergency relief, dispatched a team to assess needs and has set aside an additional $3 million for assistance pending the full assessment.
The Denver had been part of the amphibious ready group, including the dock landing ships USS Harpers Ferry and USS Tortuga, which were diverted from a previous scheduled training mission with the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade to Manila to provide emergency relief assistance following Tropical Storm Ketsana, which struck Sept. 25, said Maj. Brad Gordon, Pacific Command spokesman.
The Harpers Ferry, the Tortuga and the Marines will remain off the northern coast of Luzon because of the threat posed this weekend by a second storm, Typhoon Perma.
Gordon said that there have been 400 medical and dental assistance cases in the Philippines as of yesterday, and more than 4,300 food packages that can each feed four people have been distributed.
As for American Samoa, Gordon said there have been five C-17 Globemaster jet cargo relief flights from Hickam Air Force Base carrying supplies, food, power generation equipment, search and emergency vehicles, and rescue and mortuary affairs teams. Gordon said that several more C-17 relief missions from Hickam to ferry Red Cross relief workers to American Samoa are planned.
Keating said the USS Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Readiness Group is east of Guam ready to respond if Typhoon Melor proves to be a threat in the Northern Mariana Islands.
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