Relief agencies decry military role in Georgia

Non-governmental relief agencies working in Georgia are furious that President Bush has put the Pentagon in charge of the operation, charging that the “militarization” of the humanitarian operation puts them at risk.

“We are concerned about blurring the lines between who is an aid worker and who is a soldier,” said Anne Richard, a vice president of the New York-based International Rescue Committee, a non-governmental organization working in Georgia and elsewhere.

“If we are mistaken for soldiers, in very dangerous situations we can become targets,” said Richard.

Just two weeks ago, three women working in Afghanistan for the International Rescue Committee were traveling in a clearly marked IRC vehicle when they were attacked and killed by insurgents.

The U.S. military has provided helicopters and heavy-lift cargo planes to support civilian relief efforts in previous humanitarian crises, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. In such cases it is often the United Nations or the U.S. Agency for International Development that leads the effort.

But Bush, acting on Aug. 13 as he sought diplomatic footing against Russia's military confrontation with Georgia, declared that he was putting the Defense Department in charge of the humanitarian relief mission.

The president's order set in motion a stream of military cargo aircraft flights and two ships, a Navy destroyer and a Coast Guard cutter, which delivered military humanitarian supplies to Georgia this week. More

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