“¢bull; The USS Abraham Lincoln, with a crew of 5,300, formed
the core of the largest foreign military deployment in the area and
the most extensive U.S. operation in Southeast Asia since the
Vietnam War. Its departure on Thursday was the single biggest
drawdown of the U.S. relief effort.
“¢bull; In a visit to Indonesia last month, Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz ““ a former ambassador to the country
““ said closer contact with the U.S. military would strengthen
the Indonesian military’s commitment to human rights and let
it better respond to natural disasters. “¢bull; The Dec. 26 death
toll from the South Asian earthquake and resulting tsunami
continues to rise. Indonesian workers cleaning up debris found 897
more bodies, the government said, raising the confirmed death toll
in that country to at least 111,171. That put the overall death
toll between 158,868 and 178,115. The number of missing ranges from
26,404 to 142,107, with most presumed dead.
“¢bull; Underscoring the difficulties in accounting for those
missing after the disaster, the list of missing Swedes was trimmed
to 523 by Sweden’s National Police on Thursday. Three weeks
ago, the figure was 1,900, but most were found either still in
southern Asia or after returning home.
Compiled from Bruin wire services