Rumsfeld says Hurricane relief efforts not diminishing US war efforts
WASHINGTON (AP) – The US military’s growing contribution to hurricane relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi will not diminish its capability to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said yesterday.
“Let me be clear: We have the forces, the capability and the intention to fully prosecute the global war on terror while responding to this unprecedented humanitarian crisis here at home. We can and will do both,” Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference.
There are still more than 300,000 Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel available to help if needed, he added.
Rumsfeld was asked about criticism from some who say the commitment of large numbers of troops to the Iraq conflict, including National Guard soldiers from Louisiana and Mississippi, hindered the military’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
“Anyone who’s saying that doesn’t understand the situation,” he replied.
Appearing with Rumsfeld, Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 58,000 active duty and National Guard personnel are in the region in support of civilian emergency response agencies.
Of those, about 41,000 are National Guard troops from all 50 states, Myers said. The other 17,000 are active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel. The Navy has 21 ships assisting the effort.
The Pentagon has about 140,000 troops in Iraq and about 20,000 in Afghanistan.
Both Rumsfeld and Myers defended the speed with which the military responded to requests for help in the hurricane-damaged areas. Myers said that in some cases the military was prepared to provide more resources than were needed.
Earlier yesterday, the commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division said that paratroopers plan to use small boats, including inflatable Zodiac craft, to launch a new search-and-rescue effort in flooded areas of central New Orleans.
In a telephone interview from his operations centre at New Orleans International Airport, Major General William B Caldwell IV said his soldiers’ top priority is finding, recovering and evacuating people who want to get out of the flooded city.
