U.S. sends medical supplies, searchers to Iran quake site

The Associated Press ^ | December 27, 2003 | SCOTT LINDLAW

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The Bush administration began sending 150,000 pounds of medical supplies in a military airlift to quake-ravaged Iran, White House officials said Saturday.

The administration is also dispatching teams of about 200 search-and-rescue, disaster relief coordination and surgical experts from Fairfax County, Va., Los Angeles and Boston, said spokesman Scott McClellan. Disaster-response experts will also be drawn from three federal agencies.

The government and civilian teams will work with the International Red Cross, the Iranian Red Crescent Society and the United Nations to determine needs and distribute the supplies.

Among the medical supplies being shipped to Iran are blood, food and other humanitarian rations, officials said. The Pentagon is supplying at least a half-dozen cargo planes.

The civilian teams include 70 firefighters from California Task Force Two and the 73-member Virginia Task Force One, a team that includes doctors, paramedics, structural engineers, search and rescue specialists and several Fairfax County firefighters.

The two groups are among only three urban search-and-rescue task forces in the United States that are trained and certified for overseas disaster deployment. The other is in Florida.

The U.S. teams' equipment includes special cameras that can fit in tight crevices to search for survivors amid wreckage.

``The United States will continue to work with Iranian authorities and international relief organizations to help the people of Iran during this challenging time,'' McClellan said.

A senior administration official said the shipments of aid did not mark a shift in U.S. policy toward Iran. But the airlift could help thaw relations with Iran, which President Bush branded part of an ``axis of evil'' last year. The United States says Iran sponsors terrorism, is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and has a poor human rights record.

U.S. sanctions prohibit most trade with Iran and most dealings between the countries are conducted through Switzerland, Pakistan or international organizations.

The American response to the quake Friday was much more aggressive than it was to a smaller quake last year, when it used the United Nations to channel $300,000 in humanitarian aid to Iran after a magnitude-6.1 quake killed 245 people in the northwestern part of the country.

Two Americans were among the casualties in the devastating earthquake that rocked southeastern Iran Friday, a State Department official said.

Spokesman Lou Fintor said one American was killed and another was injured in the powerful quake in the ancient city of Bam.

The State Department did not release the names of the two Americans, who were visiting the city's 2,000-year-old citadel at the time.

Fintor said the injured American has been hospitalized in Tehran and is receiving medical care. The injuries are serious but do not appear to be life-threatening, he said.

Iran's Interior Ministry has estimated that about 20,000 people were killed in the earthquake, but rescue officials said the number could be twice as high. More than 30,000 people were injured.

Fintor said relevant agencies starting meeting Friday night to discuss what aid that could be quickly mobilized. He described the initial response from the Iranian government as ``positive.''

Fintor also denied there was any ``political angle'' in the offer of assistance from Washington.

``There is a humanitarian catastrophe in Iran and our only mission is to alleviate the human suffering associated with yesterday's earthquake. These efforts will not alter the tone or intensity of our dialogue with the Iranians on other matters of grave concern,'' he said.

[debg]

Screw the political angle, Iran...let those who are fortunate help the unfortunate.

[truth_seeker]

At America's core would be to do the right thing, because it is the right thing.

Not for political expediency. If there is a political benefit, we deserve it. If not, we still did the right thing.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Always. The fortunate reach out a hand to the less fortunate. Our compassion is what makes our nation so strong. The force of goodness will prevail in the end.

[Prodigal Son]

Bump

[cajungirl]

Kinda makes me so proud to be an American. We are decent, generous with our enemies, helpful and damned rich!! I love us.

[LS]

Which is exactly what Jesus meant when He said to pray for those who curse you, and if they ask for your coat, offer your cloak as well.

Nevertheless, this cannot help but impress those in Iran already favorable to the U.S. (on another thread, Bush was being likened by the students to Cyrus the Great. As a Perian, it doesn't get any better!).

[stlnative]

Fairfax County Urban Search & Rescue Team member Ron Sanders plays with his rescue dog, a Belgian Malinois named Ondo, as they wait at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003. An urban search and rescue team comprised mainly of Fairfax County firefighters left Saturday for Iran to help locate survivors of the earthquake in Iran. (AP Photo/Dee Marvin)


The Fairfax County, Va., Urban Search & Rescue Team tractor-trailer loaded with equipment is rolled into a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003. Virginia Task Force members and four canines were scheduled to depart the base to assist in rescue efforts after Friday's earthquake in Iran. (AP Photo/Dee Marvin)


Injured, but alive : A wounded Iranian boy rides on a bus with his family as they leave the cemetery in Bora to make their way to the southeastern Iranian city of Bam one day after an earthquake hit the city. (AFP/Atta Kenare)


A german shepherd named Drako waits at the passenger terminal at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003, with other members of Virginia Task Force One. The members of the task force are, from left, Ron Sanders, Tim Vengess, Theresa MacPherson and Mark Lukas. The team will assist the rescue efforts in Iran after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Dee Marvin)


Canine rescue worker, Ondo, a 5-year old Belgian Malinois, and his owner-handler, Ron Sanders, of Virginia Task Force One, walk near a C-17 cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003. A team of U.S. physicians and two elite rescue crews, including this one from Virginia, trained to search for survivors amid the wreckage of terrorist attacks and natural disasters were headed to Iran on Saturday to help in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. (AP Photo/Dee Marvin)


Email this slideshow Soldiers carry a wounded woman as aid workers from Germany arrive at the airport in Bam city about 1000 Kms (630 miles ) southeast of Tehran on Saturday Dec. 27, 2003. The provisional death toll in Iran's earthquake is 20,000 with more than 30,000 people injured the Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)


Destroyed buildings are seen in this aerial image in Bam city about 1000 Kms (630 miles ) southeast of Tehran Saturday Dec. 27, 2003. The provisional death toll in Iran's earthquake is 20,000 with more than 30,000 people injured the Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

[hedgetrimmer]

Thanks for posting the pictures.

[stlnative]

same boy as pictured above...


A wounded Iranian boy sits with his father as they ride on a bus leaving the cemetery in Bora. The US is sending more than 200 emergency relief workers to Iran to assist in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Bam(AFP/Atta Kenare)

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Being likened to Cyrus the Great is a wonderful compliment.

But I am still partial to "Avenger of the Bones". :)