Posted on: Friday, January 14, 2005

EDITORIAL
Military shoulders tsunami aid burden

While the American response to the tsunami crisis began with a slow start, that clearly is old news now. The administration settled on a reasonable pledge of cash aid, which was nearly matched by an outpouring from private organizations, charities, businesses and individuals.

And then came the U.S. military.

It's truly heartening to see these massive forces, capable of horrific destruction, being diverted to humanitarian relief on an unprecedented scale.

Adm. Thomas Fargo of the Pacific Command reports that about 14,450 U.S. military personnel are assisting in relief efforts in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The effort includes 25 U.S. Navy ships and a Coast Guard vessel, 45 airplanes and 58 helicopters.

The hospital ship the USNS Mercy is steaming from Pearl Harbor to the region.

Other nations, of course, are also pitching in. Importantly, the world's wealthiest nations have agreed to a moratorium on debt repayment by Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, it's crucial that an effective international coordination scheme be established to prevent confusion, waste and overlap in the delivery of aid. Who gets the credit is not the point. Discussion of how to get the right amount of the right aid to the right places at the right time is what counts.

What's critical now is follow-through. Some of the pledged money must be converted very quickly from promises to cash. But a sustained flow of aid must be maintained over subsequent weeks, months and years as the effort moves from relief to rehabilitation and then reconstruction.

And great vigilance will be needed to make sure the aid moving to tsunami relief isn't simply being diverted away from other pressing needs.

The business of delivering foreign aid occurs for the most part out of the spotlight. As tsunami relief inevitably fades from the front page, the Bush administration must commit to ensuring that delivery of aid is undiminished.