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Bush clinton tour tsunami ravaged areas { February 19 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37398-2005Feb19.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37398-2005Feb19.html
Bush, Clinton Tour Tsunami-Ravaged Areas
By Christopher Torchia
The Associated Press
Saturday, February 19, 2005; 8:11 AM
BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand -- School children waving American flags welcomed former presidents Bush and Clinton to their dusty fishing village that was devastated by the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami, as the two former leaders began a tour of the region on Saturday.
Bush and Clinton stood in intense tropical heat as two children who lost family members in the tsunami presented them with drawings of the disaster, one showing a giant wave and a rescue helicopter and the other depicting floodwaters sweeping away people, cars and boats.
The two former presidents were asked by the current President Bush, the elder Bush's son, to lead the U.S. effort to provide private aid to the hundreds of thousands of tsunami victims.
"I don't think there's ever been a tragedy that affected the heartbeat of the American people as much as this tsunami has done," the senior Bush said in the shattered village of Ban Nam Khem. "I don't think you can put a limit on it. It's so devastating. They're still finding wreckage, still actually some bodies being recovered."
After arriving on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Saturday, the two men made their way by U.S. military helicopter and then motorcade to Ban Nam Khem. The former political adversaries said their old differences were irrelevant to the task of providing relief.
"On issues about which there can be no debate, there should be no problems," Clinton said as Bush stood nearby. Clinton said estimates show that one-third of American households have made contributions to tsunami relief.
"When it comes to helping people, politics is aside," Bush said. "I've enjoyed working with President Clinton. We were political adversaries. The current president and he don't always see eye to eye on issues. But that is not what's important here."
A crowd of several hundred villagers greeted them from behind barriers, and a group of Thai school children in red caps and white shirts waved paper American flags.
One banner in the crowd read: "Bill, let's talk please."
A military commander told the two former leaders that 2,000 people - about a third of those killed by the tsunami in Thailand - died in the village and surrounding area, which is about 400 miles southwest of Bangkok. Many of those killed in Thailand were foreign tourists staying in the resort area of Khao Lak.
Clinton praised Thailand's response to the calamity and said he and Bush hoped they could learn more about how to help.
The presidents also plan to visit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The official tsunami death toll ranges from 169,070 to 178,118. The number of missing is believed to be as high as 128,426, with most presumed dead.
Clinton attributed the global outpouring of support to the "staggering" scale of the disaster, and he also praised the news media for focusing attention on the tragedy.
"The international media has done the best job covering this story that I have ever seen, describing the loss, describing the nature of the problem, describing what's being done about it," he said. "We don't want to let it go too far from the headlines so that people forget about it."
Elsewhere, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement that the government had received new information "concerning possible terrorist planning for attacks against foreigners involved in relief efforts in Aceh or other areas of northern Sumatra" in Indonesia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Saturday revised its travel advice for Indonesia, warning that Australians could endanger themselves by traveling to northern Sumatra island.
© 2005 The Associated Press
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