Leach praises military for role in tsunami relief

Congressman Jim Leach is praising the U-S officer who issued the command to American military forces deployed to the tsuami zone. “I will tell you the United States Armed Forces looked sensational in response to this tragedy,” Leach says. “The Admiral in charge told me his single instruction…to his troops was to ‘Do good.’ I think it’s one of the most extraordinary commands ever given to a group of sailors and marines.” Leach led a U-S delegation to Indonesia and Sri Lanka last month, and he says the people in those countries have been overwhelmed by the level of international response. “It has taken people in the region totally off-guard — the fact that Americans care, the fact that others in the world care and have looked at this as a symbol of human plight and human vulnerability,” Leach says. With each passing day, it appears the great fear of a massive outbreak of disease in the tsunami-struck areas has been avoided. Leach says one reason for that is the fresh drinking water U-S marines ferried by helicopter into the countries from the U-S-S Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. Leach made his comments on Iowa Public Television.