Powell awed by Aceh ruin<\/p>\n
Agencies, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
As his helicopter swooped low over a razed coast of tsunami-
\nravaged Aceh, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell found himself
\nface-to-face with unimaginable destruction.<\/p>\n
As a former soldier, Powell has been to war and witnessed the
\ndestruction man can inflict on man, but right here, where over
\n94,000 died in the disaster, he saw the power of nature to wipe
\nman from the face of the earth.<\/p>\n
"I have been in war and I have been through a number of
\nhurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have
\nnever seen anything like this," Powell said after a 30-minute
\nflight over parts of devastated Aceh.<\/p>\n
During the tour, sitting at the open-door of a U.S. Seahawk
\nhelicopter with President George W. Bush's brother Jeb Bush by
\nhis side, Powell saw a flattened and broken landscape where once
\nthere were city blocks of houses and thousands of families
\nleading busy lives.<\/p>\n
"I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through
\nfamilies and all of the people who heard this noise coming and
\nthen had their lives snuffed out by this wave," Powell told a
\nbrief news conference in Banda Aceh before flying to Jakarta to
\nattend an emergency one-day tsunami aid conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
An obviously emotional Florida Governor Jeb Bush pledged the
\nU.S. government and its people would help tsunami victims in
\nIndonesia until their lives were rebuilt.<\/p>\n
"Our hearts go out to the people, the families, who have lost
\nloved ones," said Bush.<\/p>\n
As governor of Florida, Jeb Bush has had to deal with several
\nnatural disasters, including last year when his state was hit
\nwith four destructive hurricanes in a six-week period.<\/p>\n
Before touring Banda Aceh's coastal region, Powell and his
\ndelegation met with foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda and
\ninspected American and international relief efforts in Phuket,
\nwhere thousands died in shattered beach resorts popular with
\nWestern tourists.<\/p>\n
Powell told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday night he was
\nconfident his country's relief efforts would boost its battered
\nimage around the globe after a torrid few years that have been
\nfocused on the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n
"I think it does give to the Muslim world and the rest of the
\nworld an opportunity to see American generosity, American values
\nin action," he told a joint news conference with foreign minister
\nHassan Wirayuda.<\/p>\n
The United States has promised US$350 million in aid as part
\nof a global $2.3 billion relief effort, the biggest humanitarian
\noperation since World War II.<\/p>\n
He also promised Washington would send more helicopters -- the
\nworkhorses most needed by aid groups to deliver medicine, food
\nand clean water to isolated survivors.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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