US/K aid is a joke ... it wouldn't feed the people of Basra for 1 day

Thursday March 27, 2003 11:52

by kokomero

500 tons = 500,000kg assuming 333g of food or other material per person this would barely feed the people of Basra for one day. The aid by sea is a farce, the US/K forces are shipping huge quantities of food and material to their troops every day by road from Kuwait. Given the 150,000 troops they are probably moving in tens of thousands of food and war material per day! The 500 tons of aid is a pittance and a joke and is pure propaganda! Why don't they ship material in by road if they are serious about relief! I suggest they are not and this is a ruse to starve the Iraqis out on the quiet while depicting themselves as saviours and availing of photo opportunities along the way.

Aid ship delay after mines found

The aid is a gift from the people of Kuwait
The first ship bringing humanitarian aid to Iraq has been delayed for a further 24 hours because of the discovery of two mines in the waterway.
The British ship, Sir Galahad, is carrying 500 tons of emergency food, blankets, clothing and fresh water.

It was due to dock in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on Thursday, paving the way for more supplies to follow.

But the British Royal Navy has confirmed it has been delayed after the discovery of two mines, found outside the areas of water already "swept" by clearance teams.

Air Marshal Brian Burridge, Commander of the British Forces in the Gulf, said the mines had now been detonated.

It is the second time the ship has been delayed after its original arrival scheduled for Wednesday was hampered by bad weather.

The locals clambered aboard and began throwing the supplies out of the back

BBC foreign affairs correspondent Mike Williams

BBC foreign affairs correspondent Mike Williams told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It was too dangerous to fly helicopters out to the ship carrying one of the essential elements of this operation - the journalists.

"I can't stress enough how keen the military is to show this humanitarian effort.

"It is part of an important message to the people of Iraq."

Air Marshal Burridge said: "Make no mistake, the threat [of mines] is real."

"This proves Saddam's regime has attempted to stop essential stores and humanitarian supplies from being delivered to his own people," he said, adding that it also showed the Iraqi leader's "total disregard" for civilian shipping.

'Drop in the ocean'

Specialised Royal Navy vessels are being used to detect mines, as are specially trained marine life, including dolphins.

Divers from both the British Royal Navy and the Australian Navy were also involved, said Air Marshal Burridge.

Among the Sir Galahad's supplies are water, sugar, lentils, chick peas, rice, tea and milk powder.

Also on board are medical supplies, 2,400 blankets and 8,200 packs of "dislocated civilian" rations.

Dolphins used in search for mines

Securing the port of Umm Qasr

Once the food is unloaded at Umm Qasr, it will be moved forward to "safe" areas of Iraq.

But the BBC's Matthew Price, on board the HMS Ark Royal in the Gulf, said Sir Galahad's aid was a "drop in the ocean".

It will bring so-called "bolt food" - rice, lentils, chickpeas and water, as well as medical packs.

Before the war, the United Nations estimated 60% of Iraq's 27 million people were dependent on food aid.

It is now feared the country needs the largest humanitarian operation in history.

Chaos

Chaotic scenes greeted lorries distributing food parcels in Iraq on Wednesday.

Mike Williams told Today a seven-vehicle convoy from the Kuwaiti Red Crescent had been escorted in by the UK military but was hijacked and looted just a few hundred metres over the border.

"The locals clambered aboard and began throwing the supplies out of the back."

Patrick Nicholson, of aid agency Cafod, told the programme he was appalled.

A previous Sir Galahad served in the Falklands War

"It was everything you shouldn't do in delivering aid - parcels being thrown off the back of trucks, the strongest getting all the aid and the weakest and most vulnerable, the women and children who have been suffering for the past 12 years, getting nothing."

Humanitarian concerns are mounting in the southern city of Basra, where people have been without electricity and water since Friday.

Mr Nicholson told Today the 1.5 million population was "starting to drink from the river, from open sewers".

"They are going to have dysentery, diarrhoea, possibly cholera."

The Sir Galahad is a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship from Marchwood port near Southampton.

A previous Sir Galahad was bombed in 1982 in the Falklands.