Tsunami relief effort helped project U.S. image in Indonesia
Tsunami relief effort helped project U.S. image in Indonesia
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
The commander of the aircraft carrier strike group which led the massive US tsunami relief effort said Saturday the deployment had helped project a more positive American image in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim nation.
Rear Admiral William Douglas Crowder, commander of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, also said working with the Indonesian military during the disaster relief could help rebuild strained ties between the two armed forces in the future.
The aircraft carrier and its battle group, with 6,500 sailors, arrived in Singapore's Changi Naval Base after pulling out of Indonesia's Aceh province Friday as the response to the December 26 tsunami disaster shifted from emergency relief to reconstruction and rehabilitation.
The carrier was due to leave the city-state in three to four days en route to its homeport in Everett, Washington, officials said.
Between 4,000 and 5,000 US troops and 20 helicopters were remaining in Indonesia, including personnel from the US Navy hospital ship Mercy, which arrived in the area this week.
Crowder however said they could be pulled out in weeks as their role diminished following the shift to rebuilding and rehabilitation.
"I don't think (they will be there) a long time," he told reporters allowed into the aircraft carrier here.
Asked if he thought the US deployment succeeded in projecting a positive image of the United States in Indonesia, Crowder said "I do."
He also described working relations with the Indonesian military as "very good" and said there was close coordination on the flight sorties.
"We came and offered the capabilities we had and they accepted those capabilities," he said.
"What does that mean for the long term? I guess that's a political question but whenever military people from different countries get together and have a very difficult task to take on, you can't help but develop a very close relationship, and I think that's what happened with us and the Indonesian military."
The United States imposed a military embargo on Indonesia following alleged human rights violations by its troops in 1999 during an election which saw East Timor gain independence from Jakarta.
Although the embargo was partially lifted to allow the delivery of spare parts for transport aircraft involved in tsunami relief operations, US Congress has continued to resist the full normalization of military ties.
More than 292,000 people were presumed dead in the disaster and millions more uprooted from their homes, with the most damage centered in Indonesia's Aceh province.