US: By sending ships and helicopters to ferry supplies for tsunami victims in southern Asia, the United States is apparently earning lots of goodwill in the region but at the cost of a heavy strain on the over-stretched US military.
The aid operation is now one of the biggest ever undertaken by US forces in recent decades, and to date involves 13,400 personnel, some 20 ships and 28 planes. The number of US cargo helicopters - in big demand in Iraq and Afghanistan - is being increased from 48 to 90 to bring food and medicines to devastated areas and fly out injured victims.
Four C17 cargo planes and six C5 heavy-lift aircraft are helping in the operation and this number is expected to grow. Admiral Thomas Fargo, the top Pacific US commander said that conflict requirements in Iraq and Afghanistan have not hampered his ability to bring in relief supplies.
Nevertheless the need for helicopters and cargo planes is most urgent in Iraq, as roads there are extremely dangerous for moving troops and supplies by trucks. There has been an increase of 30 per cent in the amount of supplies air-lifted into Baghdad and other Iraqi centres in recent months. Military engineers and civil teams being rushed to the Indian Ocean are also in heavy demand in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Adding to the strains in the US military is a crisis in the Army Reserve which is so hampered by "misguided" army policies that it is "rapidly degenerating into a broken force," according to its commanding officer, Gen James Helmly. In an internal memo leaked to the Baltimore Sun on Wednesday, Gen Helmly said the 200,000-strong reserve has reached the point of being unable to fulfil its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to recruit for future missions.
Almost 52,000 of the part-time soldiers are on active duty, mainly in Iraq where some 50 have been killed, and recruitment is down by 10 per cent. The general warned that the reserve's ability to get recently deployed forces ready for future missions is "eroding daily," as they often have to leave their equipment behind for other troops and private contractors.
Despite the strains on the Pentagon, the strategic benefits of the American response in Asia and the close co-operation between the US and local militaries are freely acknowledged in Washington. It had raised the possibility of a renewed security dialogue in Asia and a revitalisation of strategic partnerships in the region, particularly with Indonesia where contacts have been hampered by the Indonesian army's human rights record.
There has been a positive reaction in the US to stories of US soldiers getting a warm reception from people in Aceh, one of the most conservative regions of the world's largest Islamic country. A report in USA Today newspaper said officials believe they may have stumbled upon potent new weapons in the war against terrorism in the shape of "food, water, clothing, medicine and the millions of dollars pouring from Americans' wallets".
President George Bush said he will personally donate $10,000 to a number of US charities.
Many US officials insist that helping is the right thing to do, but US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said it is in America's national interest to help, and points out that "America is not an anti-Islam, anti-Muslim nation."