French Tsunami Relief

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French Tsunami Relief Effort
Shows Small Force - With Its Wine and Painter - Can Make Difference
By Michael Casey Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 29, 2005

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBF54P9K4E.html

ABOARD JEANNE D'ARC (AP) - The naval ship's pantry is stocked with wines, baguettes and pate, and its casual dress code is shorts and sandals. There's even an artist - a painter to keep an illustrated record of the trip.
With a panache all its own, France's military is delivering aid to tsunami-battered Indonesia - and showing how a small force can make a difference.

A month after killer waves struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the French are part of an international relief operation that includes forces from more than a dozen nations, including Japan, Russia and Switzerland.

The 1,000 or so French sailors and soldiers arrived in Aceh province on the island's northern tip two weeks ago. Their 11 helicopters and two C-160 cargo planes are airlifting rice and tents to isolated villages devastated by the Dec. 26 earthquake-generated waves, which killed at least 145,000 people in Asia and Africa.

Foreign Legionnaires are clearing debris left by the waves, rebuilding schools in Maleuboh and occasionally extinguishing fires that flare.

French doctors are treating the sick and vaccinating as many as 10,000 Acehnese children against measles. Many of those children had never been immunized against disease.

"The children are smiling again. This is a good sign," said Maj. Francois Masse, a veteran pilot of French relief work in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chad.

Although media attention has focused on the U.S. contribution, particularly by the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group, aid officials say the French and other forces are playing an equally important role.

"(The French) increase our capacity to move loads into some areas where roads have yet to be reconstructed. Trucks cannot reach these areas," said Daniel Augstburger, head of the U.N.'s relief work on Sumatra's western coast.

That responsibility likely will increase once the Americans leave with their three dozen helicopters.

The French, who also are conducting relief operations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, object to comparisons with the Americans.

"The feeling we had in France was that, as usual, the Americans were rushing in force to Indonesia and boasting about it," said flotilla spokeswoman Cmdr. Anne Cullerre. "For some people, it seemed outrageous." Could this be more obnoxious?

"How can you really boast of doing something from this tragedy? People were saying, 'They are doing it again. They are showing off.'” ." This is the French “flotilla spokeswoman?” What a diplomat!

Vice Adm. Rolin Xavier, who heads the French military effort, dubbed Operation Beryx, said, "We are not in the shadow of the Americans but we work alongside them."

Critics of the U.S. military's work in Indonesia say Washington has seized on the disaster as a pretext for advancing its strategic interests in the archipelago and improving ties with the Indonesian military.

Those ties effectively were cut in 1999 after Indonesian troops and their proxy militias killed 1,500 East Timorese after the half-island territory voted for independence in a U.N.-sponsored independence referendum.

During her recent Senate confirmation hearings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the tsunami provided a "wonderful opportunity" for the United States to reap "great dividends" in the region.

The dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln's strike force has been viewed in some quarters as an effort not only to help survivors, but also to burnish America's image among Islamic communities worldwide by delivering aid to the largest Muslim country in the world.

The French maintain they do not have strategic interests in the region.

The contrast with U.S. forces does not end there. The U.S. military bans alcohol aboard naval vessels and sailors generally wear casual clothes only in their quarters.

But French sailors aboard the Jeanne D'Arc pick from wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks, and their ready-made meals come with pate. On deck, they sunbathe in the muggy heat in shorts and sandals.

However, what really sets the French apart is the paunchy, bearded civilian riding a sloop to the shore. He is artist Michel Bellion, appointed to paint the French military in action in his trademark bold strokes and bright colors.

"I'm here to show the drama," said Bellion, pulling out a sketch book as he accompanied a team of doctors vaccinating children. "For me, it's hell. That is what I want to show. I'm not looking to make it beautiful. I'm trying to show the emotion."

AP-ES-01-29-05 1536EST