Transatlantic Focus:
A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter

Relief Effort in South Asia

NATO Launches Emergency Airlift to Pakistan NATO has established air hubs in Germany and Turkey to rush humanitarian supplies and equipment to Pakistan, where a 7.6-magnitude earthquake October 8 is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 people. At least 35 NATO member or partner nations were providing assistance through the military alliance’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, according to its October 17 situation report. “International assistance is still urgently required.” More than 65,000 people need urgent medical attention, and an estimated 3.3 million people need shelter, NATO reported. Hundreds of U.S. military personnel in Europe and Central Asia are assisting in the relief effort. more

Muslim Americans Pledge $20 Million for South Asian Quake Victims Leaders from member organizations of the American Muslim Taskforce for Disaster Relief (AMTFDR) gathered at a press conference October 13 in Washington to announce their pledge to raise $20 million in aid for victims of the South Asian earthquake. more

U. S. Government Humanitarian Assistance to Pakistan The U.S. continues to provide ongoing humanitarian assistance to the people and Government of Pakistan following the earthquake in South Asia on October 8. Following is the most recent Fact Sheet on Pakistan Aid more

U.S. Military Efforts Continue in Pakistan Earthquake Relief  U.S. military units continue to support relief operations in Pakistan following the devastating earthquake that struck South Asia Oct. 8. U.S. Army Europe officials reported that the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade, based in Miesau, Germany, will establish and run a 36-bed medical facility in the stricken region. more

Rice Assures Afghanistan, Pakistan of U.S. Support Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Afghanistan for "inspiring the world with its march toward democracy," then assured the people of Pakistan that the United States will support it not just in its immediate hour of need, but for the long term. Rice spoke to reporters Oct. 12 in both Kabul, Afghanistan, and Islamabad, Pakistan, during a whirlwind trip through the region that also included visits to Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. more

Vote Shows Iraqis Are Committed to Democratic Process, Rice Says The large number of Iraqis who voted on the country's draft constitution signifies that the base of political participation has expanded, and that Iraqis have chosen the democratic process as the way to a better future, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in several television news interviews. more

Bush Congratulates Iraq on Successful Vote on Draft Constitution President Bush congratulated the people of Iraq October 16 for the successful completion of a vote on their draft constitution the previous day. "This is a very positive day for the Iraqis and, as well, for world peace," Bush said in a statement released by the White House. more

Political Process Viewed as Key To Ending Iraq's Violence The U.S. military officer responsible for current military operations in western Iraq says violence there will end when the Iraqis use the political process to make life better. Marine Corps Major General Stephen Johnson -- who serves as commander of 30,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers who make up Multinational Force West -- told reporters based at the Pentagon from his base in Fallujah, Iraq, that the Iraqi political process “is the way to end the violence.”  more

Undersecretary Burns’ Trip to Brussels and the Balkans

Remarks to the Press by Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns on October 11, 2005, after a special North Atlantic Council Meeting  

First, you saw the effort the United States is making to assist Pakistan in the aftermath of this horrible earthquake. There's a NATO meeting at 5:00 p.m. today to see what NATO can do. We have a lot of allies just next door in ISAF and it's certainly the strong hope of the United States that those allies will be able to step up with provision of equipment especially.

Second, we just had a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of political director. We hadn't done this in a number of years, but we decided to go back to it because it seems to us that the U.S. is very much behind this, in support of it, I should say. more

State's Burns Urges Action on Bosnian War Crimes Indictees The United States is calling on the tri-presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as the main political party leaders there, to issue a written statement in November calling on indicted war criminals Radovan Karadic and Ratko Mladic to give themselves up.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters October 12 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, said such a statement could coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in the former Yugoslavia. Those accords were signed November 21, 1995, and ratified December 14, 1995.

Burns also called on Bosnian leaders to “commit themselves to the ambition of further constitutional reform in the spirit of Dayton.” more

Transatlantic Focus: A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter
is published and distributed by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Mission to NATO - Brussels.