JANUARY 2005
In this section:
Asian Tidal Wave Kills 150,000
Ukraine Elects
Iraq To Vote in January
Asian Tidal Wave Kills 150,000
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U.S. Navy personnel load a helicopter with relief supplies
in Indonesia.
AP/World Wide Photos |
A post-Christmas earthquake and tidal wave killed at least
150,000, injured 500,000, and left millions homeless in Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, setting off an immediate USAID
relief effort.
Within hours of the tidal waves, the Agency set up and dispatched
a 21-member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to quickly
assess needs and help with sanitation, health, and other kinds
of relief supplies. The DART soon added 20 search and rescue
specialists from Los Angeles and Fairfax, Va. county fire
departments.
The Agency also drew upon pre-positioned supplies of food
and shelter in the Philippines and Dubai.
The damage from the tsunamis may have the biggest impact
of any natural disaster in five decades, said Jan Egeland,
head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.
“Many billions of dollars” and years of effort
will be needed to bury the dead, battle disease, and rebuild
the damage, he said.
President Bush said the United States would give $350 million
in humanitarian aid and dispatched U.S. navy ships from Guam,
Diego Garcia, and Hong Kong, including an aircraft carrier
whose helicopters provided the first food and water to isolated
Western Sumatra, where perhaps 100,000 were killed by the
giant waves of the tsunami.
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A young Indonesian boy watches the humanitarian relief
efforts at Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda
Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, Jan. 5, 2005.
AJacob J. Kirk, U.S. Navy |
Total aid from donor governments reached $2 billion within
a week, led by Japan, which pledged $500 million. More aid
was given by private citizens to CARE, World Vision, and other
relief groups.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, President Bush’s
brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, and Administrator Natsios
traveled together to the affected countries January 2 to express
concern, view the damage, and check on relief.
“We have water cans, bladders, and things of that nature,
Assistant Administrator Ed Fox told a State Department news
conference. “The first important thing will be to help
in the removal of debris and disaster and to help the people,
not only those tragically killed, but the million or more
who are also going to be displaced and will need shelter and
food and clothing.”
U.S. help began with $400,000 released to aid agencies by
U.S. embassies in the principal affected countries: Sri Lanka,
Indonesia, Thailand, India, and the Maldives; a large commitment
to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent; and other
aid totaling about $15 million.
“We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing…
Lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects
will be there for years,” Powell said.
“The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools
and other facilities, will take time. So you need a quick
infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who
have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then
you begin planning for the longer haul.”
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An Indonesian family waits for food and humanitarian
relief at Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda
Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, Jan. 5, 2005
Jacob J. Kirk, U.S. Navy |
Ukraine Elects
KIEV—After massive demonstrations against an
election deemed unfair by international observers, Ukrainians
voted again Dec. 26, and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko
defeated Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych 52–44, according
to the Central Election Commission.
USAID supplied $14 million to assist the elections and the
broader democratic process in Ukraine, including sending 19
staffers and $3.6 million to observe and monitor the second
election, held after the Supreme Court rejected the Nov. 21
vote.
The Agency is forbidden to take sides or support political
parties that do not support peaceful, democratic means to
obtain power; human rights; rule of law; and freedom of religion,
press, speech, and association.
“Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, along with Georgia’s
‘Rose’ revolution [against President Eduard Schevardnadze],
this is one of the most important developments in Europe,”
said Kent Hill, Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia.
Yanukovych, supported in the first election by the incumbent
President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin,
appealed the results to the Supreme Court, which could take
two weeks to respond.
However, there was little outpouring of support for him—such
as the hundreds of thousands who camped in the Kiev city center
for weeks in freezing temperatures to support Yushchenko after
the first election.
U.S. aid included educational, professional, and technical
assistance, and did not provide cash or funding to any candidate.
Most aid is provided through U.S. nongovernmental organizations,
such as the International Republican Institute and the National
Democratic Institute.
These groups offer training to election officials; voter
education drives; help setting up polling places; and training
of journalists, judges, and poll watchers.
Yushchenko is considered more pro-Western than his opponent,
who relied heavily on support in the Russian-speaking south
and east, a rustbelt of old Soviet heavy industry.
He is expected to try to bring the nation of 48 million closer
to the EU.
The Council of Europe, a major international human rights
group, called on Yanukovych to accept defeat.
Iraq To Vote in January
BAGHDAD—Iraq prepared for its first democratic
election in modern history Jan. 30, supported by $86 million
in U.S. assistance for voter registration, education, and
monitoring.
“This is an emotional turning point for the country,”
Administrator Andrew S. Natsios told The Washington Times
newspaper during a visit to Baghdad Dec 11. “It will
give legitimacy to the new government.”
Natsios predicted that a majority of Sunnis would take part
in the vote in spite of a threatened boycott.
USAID provided $40 million to help Iraq’s Independent
Election Commission organize the elections and another grant
worth up to $50 million to educate voters about the election
and encourage them to vote.
The Iraq interim government has committed about $100 million
to the election and hired 350,000 election workers. A U.N.
fund has raised around $80 million more.
Registration of the estimated 15 million eligible voters
was built on the public distribution system used under the
Saddam regime for food rationing, said Adam Schmidt of the
Democracy and Governance office.
Each head of household received a form with the November
food distribution asking for verification of the list of names
and birthdates in the family. Only if something was not accurate
would they need to submit a correction.
Support for voting is strongest in the long-neglected Shiite
and Kurdish regions of the south and north, but, even in Sunni
areas of the troubled center and west, some mainly Sunni political
parties met a Dec. 15 deadline to register.
December 15 also marked the start of the political campaign,
which may be waged largely through the media to reduce the
security risks of large public gatherings.
Voters will elect a 275-seat Transitional National Assembly,
which will appoint a new government and draw up a constitution.
Each vote will go for one of more than 100 coalitions, parties,
or individuals on the ballot. Seats will be allocated according
to the proportion of votes on a nationwide basis.
The main contenders include:
- The United Iraqi Alliance, backed by top Shiite cleric,
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. It includes Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim,
head of Iraq’s largest Shi’ite party, the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq; the Dawa party;
and Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress.
- The Kurdish Coalition of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
- Prominent individuals or their parties, such as Prime
Minster Iyad Allawi, President Ghazi al-Yawer, and former
Iraqi Governing Council chairman Adnan Pachachi.
Voters also will elect provincial governments and, in the north,
a Kurdish Regional Assembly.
USAID programs are being carried out by NGOs such as the
International Republican Institute, the National Democratic
Institute, and IFES—formerly the International Foundation
for Election Systems.
Despite U.S. and U.N. aid, the election is being carried out
entirely by Iraqis.
“There is no field-level international presence—it’s
an Iraqi process,” said Schmidt. “The Independent
Commission is in charge. International assistance is only
at the central level.
“This is untested; never in postconflict situations
has there been such devolution” of authority to run an
election, Schmidt added.
More than 7,000 voting centers will attempt to swiftly funnel
voters through the process to avoid forming long queues that
could become targets for groups that have vowed to sabotage
the elections.
In December, such groups attacked some election staff and
destroyed voting registration forms in mainly Sunni areas,
where opposition to the elections and to the U.S. presence
has been the strongest.
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