'To the rescue'

From the Boston Globe (Important portion in red):
"While immediate aid was a priority, the military also was planning for the longer term, as indicated by the Pentagon's decision Monday to send the USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed hospital ship that is based in San Diego and will take an estimated 33 days to reach south Asia. The ship has 10 operating rooms.
For the United States, a superpower sometimes depicted abroad as a warmonger, the tsunami disaster is an opportunity to show that the U.S. military's global reach can deliver significant humanitarian help."

This is extremely important for our image, and I am glad that this administration was willing to pony up more money. It would have looked bad if the Inauguration Ball (40 million) cost more than the original promise (35 million), and manpower is huge. Gotta give those guys in DC credit for once. Click on the post heading for the whole article.