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US diplomat: 100,000 may have died in Myanmar cyclone
From the story...Britain has offered about $9.8 million to help the crisis, and the U.S. offered more than $3 million in aid. President Bush said Washington was prepared to use the U.S. Navy to help search for the dead and missing. However, the Myanmar military, which regularly accuses the United States of trying to subvert its rule, was unlikely to accept U.S. military presence in its territory. The U.S. military started positioning people and equipment as it awaited word from Myanmar's government. An Air Force C-130 cargo plane landed in Thailand and another was on the way, Air Force spokeswoman Megan Orton said Wednesday morning at the Pentagon. "When they accept, or if they accept and we know what supplies they need those planes will be there to transport those," she said. The Navy also has three ships participating in an exercise in the Gulf of Thailand that could help in any relief effort the USS Essex, the USS Juneau and the USS Harper's Ferry but Navy officials said they are still in a holding pattern. The Essex is an amphibious assault ship with 23 helicopters aboard, including 19 that are capable of lifting cargo from ship to shore, as well as more than 1,500 Marines. Because it would take the Essex more than four days to get into position for the relief effort, the Navy is considering sending some of its helicopters ahead, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was still in the planning stages. The aircraft would be able to arrive in a matter of hours, and the Essex could follow, he said. Posted by: tu3031 2008-05-07 |
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