Logistics Becomes Focus of Aid

From Yahoo

Having pledged $350 million to help tsunami victims in South Asia, the Bush administration is focusing on the logistics of getting clean water, food and other supplies to people rebuilding their lives and burying the scores of thousands who perished.

To help coordinate the relief effort, the United States has set up a support center in Thailand. More than 20 patrol and cargo aircraft have been dispatched to carry disaster supplies, Bush said. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the Maritime Pre-Positioning Squadron from Guam and an amphibious ship carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit soon will be in position to generate clean water and support other relief efforts.

An American military cargo jet on Friday brought blankets, medicine and the first of 80,000 body bags to Banda Aceh, the devastated Indonesian city near the quake epicenter. Nine U.S military C-130 transports took off Friday from Utapao in Thailand to ferry supplies to southern parts of Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, Maj. Larry J. Redmon said in Bangkok.