07 October 2001

U.S. Food Airdrops Will Continue As Long As Needed

By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- When two U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo jets dropped 37,500 packets of food and medicine in two areas of Afghanistan October 7, they were making good on President Bush's commitment to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says.

"This is just the first installment of the president's pledge of $320 million of assistance to the people of Afghanistan," he said October 7. The airdrops will assist the Afghan people who are coping with a growing humanitarian crisis, he said.

Air Force General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said October 8 at a Pentagon briefing that the food drops would continue as long as needed and are being dropped in areas of Afghanistan where there are concentrations of Afghan refugees.

The Air Force is prepared to airdrop up to 2 million food packets, but airdrops will also include medicine, blankets and comfort items, the Pentagon said.

The objective is to provide food through all available means into regions where displaced people are at risk, Rumsfeld said. The total includes $25 million that was authorized by the president on September 28 from the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund aimed at helping large numbers of refugees who may cross from Afghanistan into Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The United States also will contribute assistance totaling $295 million to be provided through United Nations assistance agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, non-governmental organizations, and through direct provision of food and relief supplies, the Pentagon said. None of the relief funds will be provided to the Taliban government, the Pentagon said.

The daily ration packets provided through airdrops were designed by the Defense Department for use in emergencies to feed and sustain moderately malnourished people until more traditional feeding systems become available, the Pentagon said.

The rations, which are pre-packaged, ready-to-eat foods, are designed to be nutritious -- providing 2,200 calories daily -- and culturally sensitive, the Pentagon said. "Since their first use in 1993, they have emerged as a significant and lasting contributor to the fight against hunger," the Pentagon said.

The food rations contain two main vegetarian meals based heavily on lentils, beans and rice, and also complementary items like bread, a fruit bar, a fortified biscuit, peanut butter and spices. Beans with tomatoes, beans and rice, and bean salad are entrees among the five available menus, the Pentagon said.

The rations are packaged in bright yellow packets for easy identification on the ground when airdropped. They "float" down to populations, using no parachutes or pallets, Rumsfeld said. They are marked with the words, "A Food Gift From the People of the United States of America," and include directions on how to eat the foods.

The humanitarian food rations are based on the U.S. military's Meals, Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, which are designed for combat troops in the field, the Pentagon said. The humanitarian food aid packets cost $4 to produce and have a shelf life of 18-24 months, the Pentagon said.

The first airdrop of these new humanitarian rations was over Bosnia on November 22, 1993, as part of the humanitarian relief effort Operation Provide Promise, the Air Force said. Since then, 8 million rations have been provided to refugees in Iraq, Cuba, Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti, the Pentagon said.

"This is our way of saying that, while we firmly and strongly oppose the Taliban regime, we are friends of the Afghan people," Bush said. "We will make sure that not only the folks in Afghanistan who need help get help, but we will help those who have fled to neighboring countries to get help as well."