Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CNN; NPR
May 14, 2008
American Morning (CNN), 6:00 AM
KYRA PHILLIPS: This just coming into CNN right now. We're getting word that the government of Myanmar, that military junta that has been holding back military aid to come in to help those cyclone victims, apparently the government has decided to authorize five more U.S. flights to land there in Myanmar to help aid the survivors of that horrible devastation where thousands of people are on the brink of starvation and disease right now.
The head of those military operations, U.S. Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of Pacific Command. He's the one that has been leading that aid into the area. Just calling into us right now. We got him on the phone.
Admiral, can you bring me up to date on the operations as we get word that the military is actually going to allow more aid in?
ADMIRAL TIMOTHY KEATING [U.S. Pacific Command]: Kyra, you have it just right. We were in discussions with Burmese officials or Myanmar officials as you say on Monday. They have begun to allow a very limited number, but a number of transport flights in, C-130 flights staging out of U-Tapao, Thailand.
We have delivered thus far 170,000 pounds of relief supplies, water, food, shelter, and interestingly some mosquito netting. So the spigot isn't wide open, but it is open gradually there a little bit.
PHILLIPS: Is it -- OK. So you're saying a little bit. You're saying it's getting in there gradually. Is this even close to being enough aid to help save the thousands of people that are on the verge of dying? They're already dying. I mean, we're getting the reports of the bodies floating down the riverbanks.
KEATING: It's not enough, Kyra. We are capable of doing more, and it's not just us and Pacific Command. I met in Bangkok with representatives of the World Food Programme and another meeting with United Nations representatives. Everyone is very anxious to provide relief that is desperately needed. We can move a lot more than we have moved, but at least we're seeing some gradual opening.
PHILLIPS: Have you thought about air drops? In a situation like this where the people are so desperate, you know what you want to do. Have you considered just going for it with air assets and making the drops versus trying to get things in by foot?
KEATING: We talked to our Burmese host about that option, Kyra, of slinging supplies underneath helicopters and bringing them from the USS Essex Group, which is off the southwest coast of Burma. They're in position now with a dozen plus heavy lift capable helicopters, but we're not going to "invade Burmese air space." We will only do this with the approval of Burmese officials, and as I say, it appears that they are allowing limited numbers but increasing numbers.
We flew five sorties today, two on Tuesday, five today Wednesday our time. So we're very, very guardedly optimistic that we will see enough approval for more flights.
PHILLIPS: And that is the good news. Final question, admiral, the fact that you're not going to go against what the military is doing here, is that because you are concerned that things could get worse, that possibly the military could turn against its people there in an even worse way than it already has?
I mean, I have seen the reports, the allegations that they're hoarding the good food and giving these victims the rotten food.
KEATING: Kyra, it's our longstanding assessment that this may not be the most enlightened leadership in the world. So we want to be as non- confrontational as is humanly possible, but at the same time we are -- have expressed our willingness, the willingness of Pacific Command to bring any and all supplies. We don't care what flag or sticker is on the package of water, we just want to get it to the folks that needed and we need the cooperation of the Burmese government to provide that assistance.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know that you will not stand in. You will continue to get that aid in there and do everything possible. Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of Pacific Command there in the region getting continual aid to those cyclone victims in that hard hit area of Myanmar.
Admiral, thanks so much.
Morning Edition (NPR), 7:10 AM
STEVE INSKEEP: When the first American relief plane landed in Myanmar this week, it contained supplies to respond to a cyclone. It also carried an important passenger, the man we’ll talk with next. Admiral Timothy Keating is the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, which makes him the leading American official in a vast region. He wanted to persuade Myanmar’s military rules to allow in more outside aid.
Now, that he’s left Myanmar, Admiral Keating is on the radio with us.
Good morning, sir.
ADMIRAL TIMOTHY KEATING [U.S. Pacific Command]: Steve, good morning. How are you?
INSKEEP: And we’ll mention that you’re in Manila. What was it like when you arrived in Yangon and started meeting Myanmar’s leaders?
KEATING: We flew in on an Air Force C-130 transport plane, Steve, launched out of U-Tapao, Thailand and a couple of other State Department officials were with us in the delegation. The reception we were afforded was warm and cordial and friendly. We then proceeded to a conference room and had a discussion that lasted about an hour.
INSKEEP: Some people will be baffled by the notion that you would have to persuade someone to accept aid after a cyclone.
KEATING: It is not – you’re right, it isn’t necessarily logical, but some might say that’s Burma or Myanmar. All decisions are made at the very, very highest level, all important decisions in the government by the prime minister himself, a senior general, the leader of military junta and the same was true for our offer of aid. They acknowledged our offer, but they said that it would have to made at a higher level.
INSKEEP: Made at a higher level than anybody that you were in the room with?
KEATING: Yeah. The head of the Burmese navy with us, Vice Admiral Se Ken. His English was quite good. He led the Burmese delegation of about eight or ten folks. He listened to us and was courteous and receptive, but could not give us a decision.
INSKEEP: Is there concern that you are somehow going to use U.S. aid to undermine their regime?
KEATING: Exactly. And our assurances were quite to the contrary. We promised prompt aid. We were ready the day before we got there, Steve, that was Monday during which we held these discussions. We said we’d come in and we wouldn’t need any water, we wouldn’t need any fuel. We would just need some space and permission to land and take off.
INSKEEP: And they haven’t said no, but they didn’t tell you yes.
KEATING: They had said yes in an interesting way. We flew a couple of C-130 sorties out of Udapal and we flew, we believe the number is five today. The operation is still ongoing. So in approving our flight plans, they are giving us permission. It is kind of implicit permission, Steve, but we’ve now flown 170,000 pounds of relief supplies into Burma and we have reason to believe that we will be able to fly five more C-130s tomorrow and perhaps some rotary wings, helicopter sorties as well.
INSKEEP: So they have given you blanket permission, but they’re approving things plane by plane, which raises the question of whether you’re able to do enough this way to make a difference for two million people.
KEATING: We think it’s making a difference. We met Monday following our session in Burma with the World Food Programme and then separately with United Nations officials and so the non-governmental organizations are exerting every effort that they can. Other nations are contributing as well. So it’s a multilateral, multinational approach and we think it is having some effect.
INSKEEP: Admiral Keating, some people reading Time magazine here will hear a suggestion that maybe the United States should go in without permission, in effect, invade Myanmar to aid. Is that even a remote possibility?
KEATING: I would say it is not, Steve. We have no intention of proceeding without Burmese permission. That was the reason I and the State Department, our colleagues, went to Burma, and again, they didn’t say no. So I think that the spigot will gradually open, but we have absolutely no intention of forcefully providing relief supplies.
INSKEEP: And I’m just curious. Since we’ve gone back and forth in this conversation. When you spoke with those officials, did you refer to the country as Myanmar, which is what they call it or refer to it as Burma, which is what the United States has said that they want to call it since that had been the name before the military regime took over?
KEATING: Yeah. We chose to use the term Myanmar in discussions with our hosts inside the borders of the country. Outside, I revert to my old ways of calling it Burma, Steve, but we wanted to get a yes out of them, so we chose to use the term they favor.
INSKEEP: Admiral Keating, thanks very much for your time.
KEATING: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: Timothy Keating is the head of the U.S. Pacific Command.
May 14, 2008
American Morning (CNN), 6:00 AM
KYRA PHILLIPS: This just coming into CNN right now. We're getting word that the government of Myanmar, that military junta that has been holding back military aid to come in to help those cyclone victims, apparently the government has decided to authorize five more U.S. flights to land there in Myanmar to help aid the survivors of that horrible devastation where thousands of people are on the brink of starvation and disease right now.
The head of those military operations, U.S. Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of Pacific Command. He's the one that has been leading that aid into the area. Just calling into us right now. We got him on the phone.
Admiral, can you bring me up to date on the operations as we get word that the military is actually going to allow more aid in?
ADMIRAL TIMOTHY KEATING [U.S. Pacific Command]: Kyra, you have it just right. We were in discussions with Burmese officials or Myanmar officials as you say on Monday. They have begun to allow a very limited number, but a number of transport flights in, C-130 flights staging out of U-Tapao, Thailand.
We have delivered thus far 170,000 pounds of relief supplies, water, food, shelter, and interestingly some mosquito netting. So the spigot isn't wide open, but it is open gradually there a little bit.
PHILLIPS: Is it -- OK. So you're saying a little bit. You're saying it's getting in there gradually. Is this even close to being enough aid to help save the thousands of people that are on the verge of dying? They're already dying. I mean, we're getting the reports of the bodies floating down the riverbanks.
KEATING: It's not enough, Kyra. We are capable of doing more, and it's not just us and Pacific Command. I met in Bangkok with representatives of the World Food Programme and another meeting with United Nations representatives. Everyone is very anxious to provide relief that is desperately needed. We can move a lot more than we have moved, but at least we're seeing some gradual opening.
PHILLIPS: Have you thought about air drops? In a situation like this where the people are so desperate, you know what you want to do. Have you considered just going for it with air assets and making the drops versus trying to get things in by foot?
KEATING: We talked to our Burmese host about that option, Kyra, of slinging supplies underneath helicopters and bringing them from the USS Essex Group, which is off the southwest coast of Burma. They're in position now with a dozen plus heavy lift capable helicopters, but we're not going to "invade Burmese air space." We will only do this with the approval of Burmese officials, and as I say, it appears that they are allowing limited numbers but increasing numbers.
We flew five sorties today, two on Tuesday, five today Wednesday our time. So we're very, very guardedly optimistic that we will see enough approval for more flights.
PHILLIPS: And that is the good news. Final question, admiral, the fact that you're not going to go against what the military is doing here, is that because you are concerned that things could get worse, that possibly the military could turn against its people there in an even worse way than it already has?
I mean, I have seen the reports, the allegations that they're hoarding the good food and giving these victims the rotten food.
KEATING: Kyra, it's our longstanding assessment that this may not be the most enlightened leadership in the world. So we want to be as non- confrontational as is humanly possible, but at the same time we are -- have expressed our willingness, the willingness of Pacific Command to bring any and all supplies. We don't care what flag or sticker is on the package of water, we just want to get it to the folks that needed and we need the cooperation of the Burmese government to provide that assistance.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know that you will not stand in. You will continue to get that aid in there and do everything possible. Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of Pacific Command there in the region getting continual aid to those cyclone victims in that hard hit area of Myanmar.
Admiral, thanks so much.
Morning Edition (NPR), 7:10 AM
STEVE INSKEEP: When the first American relief plane landed in Myanmar this week, it contained supplies to respond to a cyclone. It also carried an important passenger, the man we’ll talk with next. Admiral Timothy Keating is the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, which makes him the leading American official in a vast region. He wanted to persuade Myanmar’s military rules to allow in more outside aid.
Now, that he’s left Myanmar, Admiral Keating is on the radio with us.
Good morning, sir.
ADMIRAL TIMOTHY KEATING [U.S. Pacific Command]: Steve, good morning. How are you?
INSKEEP: And we’ll mention that you’re in Manila. What was it like when you arrived in Yangon and started meeting Myanmar’s leaders?
KEATING: We flew in on an Air Force C-130 transport plane, Steve, launched out of U-Tapao, Thailand and a couple of other State Department officials were with us in the delegation. The reception we were afforded was warm and cordial and friendly. We then proceeded to a conference room and had a discussion that lasted about an hour.
INSKEEP: Some people will be baffled by the notion that you would have to persuade someone to accept aid after a cyclone.
KEATING: It is not – you’re right, it isn’t necessarily logical, but some might say that’s Burma or Myanmar. All decisions are made at the very, very highest level, all important decisions in the government by the prime minister himself, a senior general, the leader of military junta and the same was true for our offer of aid. They acknowledged our offer, but they said that it would have to made at a higher level.
INSKEEP: Made at a higher level than anybody that you were in the room with?
KEATING: Yeah. The head of the Burmese navy with us, Vice Admiral Se Ken. His English was quite good. He led the Burmese delegation of about eight or ten folks. He listened to us and was courteous and receptive, but could not give us a decision.
INSKEEP: Is there concern that you are somehow going to use U.S. aid to undermine their regime?
KEATING: Exactly. And our assurances were quite to the contrary. We promised prompt aid. We were ready the day before we got there, Steve, that was Monday during which we held these discussions. We said we’d come in and we wouldn’t need any water, we wouldn’t need any fuel. We would just need some space and permission to land and take off.
INSKEEP: And they haven’t said no, but they didn’t tell you yes.
KEATING: They had said yes in an interesting way. We flew a couple of C-130 sorties out of Udapal and we flew, we believe the number is five today. The operation is still ongoing. So in approving our flight plans, they are giving us permission. It is kind of implicit permission, Steve, but we’ve now flown 170,000 pounds of relief supplies into Burma and we have reason to believe that we will be able to fly five more C-130s tomorrow and perhaps some rotary wings, helicopter sorties as well.
INSKEEP: So they have given you blanket permission, but they’re approving things plane by plane, which raises the question of whether you’re able to do enough this way to make a difference for two million people.
KEATING: We think it’s making a difference. We met Monday following our session in Burma with the World Food Programme and then separately with United Nations officials and so the non-governmental organizations are exerting every effort that they can. Other nations are contributing as well. So it’s a multilateral, multinational approach and we think it is having some effect.
INSKEEP: Admiral Keating, some people reading Time magazine here will hear a suggestion that maybe the United States should go in without permission, in effect, invade Myanmar to aid. Is that even a remote possibility?
KEATING: I would say it is not, Steve. We have no intention of proceeding without Burmese permission. That was the reason I and the State Department, our colleagues, went to Burma, and again, they didn’t say no. So I think that the spigot will gradually open, but we have absolutely no intention of forcefully providing relief supplies.
INSKEEP: And I’m just curious. Since we’ve gone back and forth in this conversation. When you spoke with those officials, did you refer to the country as Myanmar, which is what they call it or refer to it as Burma, which is what the United States has said that they want to call it since that had been the name before the military regime took over?
KEATING: Yeah. We chose to use the term Myanmar in discussions with our hosts inside the borders of the country. Outside, I revert to my old ways of calling it Burma, Steve, but we wanted to get a yes out of them, so we chose to use the term they favor.
INSKEEP: Admiral Keating, thanks very much for your time.
KEATING: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: Timothy Keating is the head of the U.S. Pacific Command.