Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon has had "very good cooperation and dialogue" with Russians as it coordinated its incoming C-17 flights and arranged for an assessment team to work in Georgia.
The U.N., which is supervising the international relief effort, estimated that 115,000 people have fled the fighting over the past week. Aid agency officials said many have taken refuge in kindergartens and other public buildings where food, water, medicine and toilets are in short supply.
"People fled with nothing but the shirts on their backs," said Chris Skopec, an official with the International Medical Corps, a private agency, who was en route to Georgia yesterday. He expressed a need for blankets, bedding, soap, toothpaste and cooking utensils.
Significant international aid is already pouring into Georgia. The U.N.'s World Food Program has fed 25,000 people, the International Committee of the Red Cross has delivered 100 tons of supplies by air and the Norwegian Red Cross is setting up a 20-bed field hospital.
Aid is also coming from Estonia, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, Sweden, Romania and elsewhere.
Catholic Relief Services, headquartered in Baltimore, has five staff members in Georgia and is supporting a feeding center in Tbilisi and working with other displaced families.
Sonja Khush, director of emergency response for Save the Children, a private aid agency, said that along with relief supplies, she anticipates teaching people how to watch out for unexploded ordnance when they return home.
Save the Children and other agencies generally encourage people to donate money rather than send supplies.
"But the best thing people can do is lobby their governments to put on pressure for an immediate cease-fire and the opening of corridors for delivery of humanitarian supplies," said Skopec.
david.wood@baltsun.com
