Ritual Reality

Forewarned Is Forearmed

December 28, 2004

BANGKOK - With the number of dead and injured from Sunday's tsunami in Asia still unknown, the world's attention has already shifted to what the UN says may be the biggest relief effort ever undertaken.

The death toll in South and Southeast Asia from an earthquake off Indonesia is nearing 24,000. And Indonesia's vice-president said early Tuesday the number of dead in his country alone may eventually top 25,000.

CBS News

The Diego Garcia naval base is located at "7 degrees south latitude off the off the tip on India," according to the official military website. That particular expanse is known as the British Indian Ocean Territory. That curiously dated designation, an anachronism from the Auld Empire, is entirely apt. Not much has changed. The United States Navy operates Diego Garcia by virtue of a lease from the British. The base represents just one example of the "special relationship" between the two imperial powers and it also symbolizes the persistent attitude of colonial militarism.

According to initial reports the naval base, which consists of a coral atoll and peaks at 22 feet above sea level, emerged unscathed from the horrific disaster. When one considers the materiel that regularly moves in and out of its waters, Diego Garcia is probably some of the most expensive real estate, per acre, in the world. Smack dab in the middle of a highly volatile and strategic expanse, it serves as a staging area for several pieces of the most technologically advanced and lethal arsenal in the history of mankind. It isn't much of a stretch to assume that the personnel stationed at the base were alerted of the approaching threat. Meanwhile, dozens of people are feared dead in the African nation of Somalia, which lies some 3,000 miles west of the quake's epicenter and was struck by the 500-mph waves six hours after the seismic event.

Diego Garcia stages support missions for the occupation of Iraq and God Knows What Else. In February 2003 the AFP reported that the U.S. air force "has built climate controlled shelters in Fairford, England and the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to be able put the bombers nearer to Iraq." Climate controlled shelters, mind you. Not the sort of thing you want getting washed into the coral beds by tsunamis.

Dispatches from the areas devestated by this tragedy all stress that no warning system exists that could have prevented the massive loss of life. Even nations who have deployed sensor bouys and other monitoring equipment along their Pacific Rim waters hadn't yet thought to employ the same measures for the Indian Ocean. Nothing was done to mitigate the potential disaster. And the United States, with all its vast resources and technical acumen, is clearly not in the business of protecting anything but its strategic interests. With billions of dollars of equipment at its disposal, the military's response to potential aid is tepid at best:

A Navy official says three P-3 Orion aircraft have been deployed to Thailand. The aircraft are geared for survey work. A spokesman says they don't engage directly in search and rescue operations, but they are an invaluable resource for such missions. Their crews can spot people stranded in the tidal wave area and can even drop life rafts to them.

Navy officials say cargo flights may be initiated later -- to bring in food, water and other supplies. Officials say the State Department is now mulling the possibility of using military transport planes to bring American tourists back home, but no decision has been made yet.

Associated Press

The military is not in the business of mitigating or responding to natural disasters. While the military certainly can and does provide support for relief and recovery efforts, their primary role is killing people. Or liberating people, if you prefer. But the following official Mission Statement for Diego Garcia presents a clear dilemma for anyone who wonders whether we couldn't spare a couple billion dollars, here and there:

One Island

Strategically located in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Operationally invaluable

Environmentally pristine

One Team

US Navy, Air Force, Army, Merchant Seaman, Civilian, Contract employees, and UK military, working in unison to …

Enhance quality of life

Preserve the environment

Ensure mission success

One Mission

Support…

For the strategically essential missions of our deployed units For the readiness of our organic strategic deterrence capabilities. For the needs of our Sailors, soldiers, airmen, Marines, merchant seaman, and civilian contract employees.

US Navy

One island. One team. One mission. Pity, no one has yet formulated the strategic vision that counts every person as an inhabitant of Spaceship Earth. Intelligence agencies receive images of 1-meter resolution from reconnaissance satellites but...

Officials in Thailand and Indonesia conceded that immediate public warnings of gigantic waves could have saved lives. The only known warning issued by Thai authorities reached resort operators when it was too late. The waves hit Sri Lanka and India more than two hours after the quake.

But governments insisted they couldn't have known the true danger because there is no international system in place to track tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, and they could not afford the sophisticated equipment to build one.

Associated Press

Apparently, the trucks, tanks, and planes these same governments have purchased from the USA over the years didn't come equipped with AM radios.