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Video: Good Morning America

Interview with DART Team Leader Michael Marx
March 25, 2003

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Transcript:

DIANE SAWYER: We want to turn now to the question of food and whether it's critical right now to get it to the Iraqi people so that they can at least see examples of American generosity as the troops are moving through.

A couple of things coming up - I wanted to go through some of those boxes and see the kind of thing Americans think should be delivered to the Iraqi people. But also, I ahd a chance to talk to Michael Marx - he's the head of DART, which is the Disaster Assistance Response Team. He's going to be heading up the shipment in here, but he's frustrated -- he can't get in because of some of that continued sniper fire that is going on.

So now you're going to hear what he has to say as we talk to him about what Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General had said about the dire situation in cities like Basra - no water, no electricity - and that's where we begin with Michael Marx.

MICHAEL MARX: What we're not seeing is a wide-scale humanitarian crisis, at this point.

SAWYER: You're not? Because we keep hering Basra is out of water, they could be having cholera problems coming up, they've got electricity down, so hospitals are in terrible shape - you're not seeing that and hearing that?

MARX: We're seeing it, but we need to verify-

SAWYER: Start by showing me the kinds of things you've determined that are needed here. Blankets, I see over here?

MARX: Right. We've got blankets-

SAWYER: Let me see what this is like. This is-

MARX: Just a standard humanitarian wool blanket.

SAWYER: Right. And how many of these- do you calculate in advance, they're going to need?

MARX: Well, what we've done is - as part of the overall international humanitarian effort - is provided commodities for a population of up to a million people.

SAWYER: So is that a million blankets?

MARX: Right there? No...

SAWYER: [Laughs]

And this is what?

MARX: This is plastic sheeting, for emergency shelter interventions.

SAWYER: I want to show everybody how thick it is here. This is one-

MARX: This is one roll - it'll create shelter for ten families.

SAWYER: Ten families?

MARX: Ten familes.

SAWYER: A tent - a large tent-like structure, or-

MARX: Actually, a full structure. And as you see, we have the instructions there.

SAWYER: Yeah. I can see it here. But the instructions are in English.

MARX: The instructions are in English. Normally, we don't just give the roll to the vulnerable population, we-

SAWYER: You don't think of needing something as simple - excuse me, I didn't know it was so big - you don't think of needing something as simple as just paper.

At what point would you decide to airdrop?

MARX: We would airdrop in extreme need. To save lives, we would airdrop.

SAWYER: And so far, what you're hearing does not show extreme need?

MARX: So far, we have not seen that level-

SAWYER: How frustrating is it for you to be here with this and not be able to get it in yet?

MARX: Oh, absolutely- it's frustrating for the Disaster Assistance Response Team, it's frustrating for the international humanitarian community. Everybody's ready to go, we're just waiting on the security environment to allow.

SAWYER: And we heard from him that in those boxes - and I had a chance to see - are simple things like tetracycline, that we take for granted - so for granted in the States. But each of those boxes can take care of nearly a thousand people, should there be real need, so as I said before, I like the phrase, "Weapons of Mass Salvation," it could really make a difference, it's just got to get in.

Last updated: Wednesday, 28-Mar-2007 11:22:53 EDT

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