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Relief Group Collects 25 Tons of Medical Supplies
Aired March 28, 2003 - 15:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well some of the aid planned for the Iraqi people is not yet on its way to the Persian Gulf region. The relief group Operation USA has collect about 25 tons of medical supplies. CNN's Jen Rogers is standing by now with more at the port of Los Angeles. Hello, Jen.
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Judy. Well, indeed, that is the case. Operation USA says they have about $6 to $7 million worth of medical supplies. You can see some right here. They say they are ready to go.
These are some IV starter kits, about 15 boxes shrink-wrapped. All they need to do, get on a plane, get on a ship, they say, get over to Iraq.
They're really focusing on medical supplies here. They have literally thousands of syringes, they have surgical towels here; also more surgical tools. And the organization has been airlifting supplies really since 1979.
So what are all these supplies doing here and why aren't they in Iraq? Well, a couple of reasons. First of all, security. Just as you talked about what's going on in Baghdad right now, I mean security is a real issue for this operation. For their own people, and also for the people they work with locally.
The other main issue is who is going to lead this humanitarian aid effort? Operation USA, along with 12 other nongovernmental agencies, recently wrote a letter to President Bush, asking that the United Nations be the lead agency. The main issue for these nongovernmental agencies out of America is that they're really worried about being seen as too close to the military.
They want to come in under the United Nations. Of course there are a lot of challenges in making this all happen and making it come together. Some issues still remain to be resolved.
That being said, we talked to president here. He said he hopes to have these goods on the ground within one to three weeks. They are negotiating with some airline cargo units and hoping to maybe get that donated. But thinking they're probably going to have to pay.
If they can't get into Iraq, they're going to go into Amman, Jordan and work with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) relief efforts there -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Well I'm sure that whenever they get there it cannot be soon enough. Jen Rogers at the port of Los Angeles. Thank you, Jen, very much.
Well we know that the weather has been a huge factor in the fighting in Iraq, as it is in any war. We're going to check the weather in the war region and the entire area straight ahead.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 28, 2003 - 15:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well some of the aid planned for the Iraqi people is not yet on its way to the Persian Gulf region. The relief group Operation USA has collect about 25 tons of medical supplies. CNN's Jen Rogers is standing by now with more at the port of Los Angeles. Hello, Jen.
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Judy. Well, indeed, that is the case. Operation USA says they have about $6 to $7 million worth of medical supplies. You can see some right here. They say they are ready to go.
These are some IV starter kits, about 15 boxes shrink-wrapped. All they need to do, get on a plane, get on a ship, they say, get over to Iraq.
They're really focusing on medical supplies here. They have literally thousands of syringes, they have surgical towels here; also more surgical tools. And the organization has been airlifting supplies really since 1979.
So what are all these supplies doing here and why aren't they in Iraq? Well, a couple of reasons. First of all, security. Just as you talked about what's going on in Baghdad right now, I mean security is a real issue for this operation. For their own people, and also for the people they work with locally.
The other main issue is who is going to lead this humanitarian aid effort? Operation USA, along with 12 other nongovernmental agencies, recently wrote a letter to President Bush, asking that the United Nations be the lead agency. The main issue for these nongovernmental agencies out of America is that they're really worried about being seen as too close to the military.
They want to come in under the United Nations. Of course there are a lot of challenges in making this all happen and making it come together. Some issues still remain to be resolved.
That being said, we talked to president here. He said he hopes to have these goods on the ground within one to three weeks. They are negotiating with some airline cargo units and hoping to maybe get that donated. But thinking they're probably going to have to pay.
If they can't get into Iraq, they're going to go into Amman, Jordan and work with (UNINTELLIGIBLE) relief efforts there -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Well I'm sure that whenever they get there it cannot be soon enough. Jen Rogers at the port of Los Angeles. Thank you, Jen, very much.
Well we know that the weather has been a huge factor in the fighting in Iraq, as it is in any war. We're going to check the weather in the war region and the entire area straight ahead.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
