Kapak induk Abraham Lincoln, 13,000 personil, 46 helicopter Seahawk yang melakukan 30 sorties tiap hari, 21 kapal, dan 29 pesawat semuanya membawa bantuan, mungkin bagaikan setitik air di samudra mengingat begitu besarnya kerusakan di Aceh.
Salam, RM --------------------------- washingtonpost.com A Clear Line Between Life and Death By Alan Sipress and Glenn Kessler Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, January 5, 2005; Page A01 LAMNO, Indonesia, Jan. 4 -- From the skies above Aceh's devastated western coastline, no sign of civilization remains except for the barren concrete foundations of houses sheared clean and wooden debris scattered like multicolored confetti. But several miles inland, some isolated settlements were spared by the tsunami that devastated the tip of Sumatra island Dec. 26, killing more than 94,000 people in Indonesia alone. Villagers walk along the main roads toward the spots where U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters have been dropping emergency supplies of food and water for the past three days. The line between life and death was evident Tuesday looking down at the countryside from one of the Seahawks. As far as the wall of briny water had advanced, rice fields of the once verdant western coast were transformed into a broad swath of brown sludge. But inches beyond the reach of the wave, the paddies glistened emerald green. The Seahawks, based on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is stationed off Sumatra, are running at least 30 relief missions a day to towns and villages on the west coast. The flights are part of a U.S. military operation throughout the region affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. The effort involves about 13,000 personnel, 21 ships, 46 helicopters and 29 other aircraft. "I think we are bringing more military assets into the region," said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who arrived in Jakarta late Tuesday for a trip to Aceh on Wednesday. "I think there is large quantities of food on the way, fresh water on the way, medical supplies on the way." Powell, accompanied by President Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, stressed humanitarian needs in the region while on a tour of the tsunami-stricken countries. Powell and Bush spent part of Tuesday in Phuket, Thailand, viewing the damage left by the tsunami and inspecting relief efforts. In Indonesia, Powell expressed the hope that U.S. aid could begin to reverse the rise of anti-Americanism in the region by demonstrating that "America is not an anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim nation." Indonesia is the world's largest Islamic nation; about 88 percent of its 238 million people are Muslim. U.N. officials have warned that tens of thousands of people in northern Sumatra have not yet received help following the earthquake and tsunami. More than 139,000 people were killed in the catastrophe, and millions have been left homeless in at least 12 countries, according to relief officials. Powell said scenes of U.S. helicopter pilots delivering aid, coupled with a demonstration of "American generosity" through a range of other humanitarian activities, would reduce the ability of radical groups to recruit terrorists. "It dries up those pools of dissatisfaction which might give rise to terrorist activities," Powell said after meeting with senior Indonesian officials in Jakarta, the capital. He slept Tuesday at the JW Marriott hotel, which was bombed by Muslim extremists in August 2003, killing 12 people. Powell was scheduled to attend an international donors meeting in Jakarta on Thursday. More than $2 billion has been pledged to the recovery effort, including $350 million from the United States, not including the military operation. Rain and flooding in some areas were hampering international relief efforts on Tuesday, but there has been "extraordinary progress" said Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator. Egeland said he had asked the Bush administration to provide a C-17 transport plane that would ferry bulldozers to be used to expand the runway at Banda Aceh. The airport in the provincial capital, a hub for relief aid, was blocked for hours when a Boeing 737 cargo plane carrying supplies hit a water buffalo on the runway. Aceh's west coast was closest to the gargantuan earthquake that triggered the tsunami, and much of the region is cut off because of decimated roads and washed-out bridges. On one Navy helicopter mission over the west coast, a young man walking on a road through the paddies paused at the sound of the approaching Seahawk and stared up. Then he waved. Petty Officer Jason Dexter, 24, of Coronado, Calif., clad in an olive flight suit and white helmet, stuck his gloved hand through the open door of helicopter and waved back. The Seahawk descended with a roar into Lamno, a town of simple wood homes with rusty corrugated metal roofs located about 25 miles over cloud-tipped mountains from Banda Aceh. Most of the structures were still standing. The helicopter set down in a grassy soccer field beside a long, clapboard Islamic school. Several hundred children dashed to the edge of the field, despite a light rain, and pressed forward. Indonesian soldiers in camouflage uniforms and gray-shirted police officers held them back. "All these kids are orphans," said Dexter, whose helicopter had made a delivery of bottled water and instant noodles to Lamno earlier in the day. "Notice there are no parents around." He said he suspected many of the adults had been fishermen or had worked closer to the beach. "The wave came in and the parents are gone," he said. During the earlier aid drop in Lamno and another that morning in the city of Calang, villagers had swarmed the helicopter, desperate for relief and a ride out, Dexter said. He and his companion, Air Crewman Chris Walding, 26, of Corrigan, Tex., had dumped the boxes as fast they could. "We have to close the windows or they'll climb through them," Dexter said. "They'll come right in. They'll climb on the helicopter." For the afternoon delivery to Lamno, however, the Seahawk crew found a location closer to the middle of town where Indonesian security forces were already deployed. The children jumped and waved, arms outstretched. But they kept their distance as Dexter and Walding tossed about 2,000 pounds of boxes out of the chopper in less than five minutes. "The situation here is safe now, and we have enough to eat," said Mukhlis, a grungy 14-year-old in a soiled orange shirt trying to get closer to the helicopter for a look. "But we don't have enough to drink," he added, rubbing his throat. One of the few adults, Jafar, 34, said he believed 10,000 people had died in the area around Lamno. Since the relief deliveries had begun, he said, the residents had received enough to eat. A middle-aged woman dressed in an orange blouse and floral sarong, clutching a few belongings tied up in a cloth, approached a reporter and asked to be taken to Banda Aceh. But the crew was already emptying the helicopter of most of its load and preparing to depart, bound for a refueling stop aboard the Lincoln. Dexter took a camera from his bag and snapped a photograph of the waving children as the Seahawk lifted off the grass. Within moments, he spied a pair of men headed down a road. Dexter said he had witnessed thousands just like them in two days of flying the west coast. "All day we see people walking," he said over the roar of the propellers. "I think they're trying to get to our aid stations." Though another stop had not been planned, the aircraft descended quickly toward an abandoned beach close to the men walking, back below the line of destruction. Along the waterline ran what had been a long line of trees. Each tree was sliced off about five feet up in a macabre harvest. Amputated stumps were silhouetted against a light blue sea. The helicopter crew had set aside three boxes of bottled water in case they spotted more isolated refugees. Dexter hopped out of the Seahawk and placed the boxes on the sand, hoping the people he had seen moments earlier would reach the supplies. As the helicopter ascended, Dexter spotted them. He motioned through the open door that they should continue to the road and the boxes. Then the Seahawk headed out over the tropical sea, over softly capped waves and scattered chunks of wooden debris. Kessler reported from Jakarta. Correspondent Ellen Nakashima in Jakarta and staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations also contributed to this report. The Washington Post ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Add meaning to your holidays. Help save a child's life by supporting St. Jude's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/kGEjbB/7WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
