Bush sees tsunami aid as boon for U.S. image
Bush sees tsunami aid as boon for U.S. image
Agencies, Washington
President George W. Bush said in remarks released on Thursday (Friday in Jakarta) that U.S. aid to tsunami victims will help defeat extremists who have convinced Muslims around the world that the United States is the enemy.
In excerpts of an exclusive interview to be broadcast on Friday, Bush also painted a bleak picture of Washington's aggressive global efforts to win over Islamic audiences after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Our public diplomacy efforts ... aren't very robust, and aren't very good, compared to the public diplomacy efforts of those who would like to spread hatred and ... and vilify the United States," he told ABC television.
"But in ... responding to the tsunami many in the Muslim world have seen a great compassion in the American people. Our troops are providing incredibly good service," said the president.
The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunamis have left an estimated 163,000 dead in the Indian Ocean region, with Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- especially hard hit.
"We are saving lives, and flying supplies," to needy areas, said Bush. "I guess is the best way to say it, people are seeing the concrete actions of a compassionate country."
Earlier, after attending a briefing at the Pentagon on relief efforts in the wake of the devastating Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunamis, Bush said US military aid had already paid off.
"There's a lot of talk about how some in the world don't appreciate America. Well, I can assure you that those who have been helped by our military appreciate America," he said.
"Our military is making a significant difference in providing relief and aid and help and compassion for those who have suffered," the president said, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at his side.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, meanwhile, on Thursday played down Indonesia's call for foreign forces helping with tsunami relief efforts to leave Aceh province by the end of March and said U.S. troops had been made welcome.
"The Indonesians have welcomed us with open arms and all of the kinds of concerns about sovereignty and mistrust of foreign militaries ... have been put aside in the wake of this disaster to a degree that, frankly, old Indonesian hands are surprised," said Wolfowitz, a former ambassador to Indonesia.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him to tsunami-hit areas in Asia, Wolfowitz said he expected the U.S. military to have finished helping victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami before the end of March.
"It would certainly be our expectation -- our hope -- that we wouldn't be needed as a military in Indonesia (by the end of March)," Wolfowitz said.
Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on Wednesday for foreign troops helping with relief efforts to leave the stricken area of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, by the end of March.
Since then, Indonesian officials have sought to retract Kalla's statement and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday that no deadline had been set.
Wolfowitz said he understood that it was difficult for any country to have foreign troops on its soil.
"It would be sensitive in the United States, and I can tell you that it is extremely sensitive in Indonesia," he said.
A senior U.S. defense official traveling with Wolfowitz said that the U.S. military mission could be over within weeks and that the United States could be involved in projects such as air traffic control and engineering after the military phase.
Just over 15,000 U.S. Navy, Marine, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard are helping tsunami-affected countries. Most are stationed in vessels offshore.
Indonesia was worst hit by the earthquake off its western tip and subsequent tsunami. At least 110,000 died there and many thousands remain missing.
Wolfowitz is set to visit Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka to see U.S. troops at work and to pass on his condolences to the governments.
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