Kuwait Gets American Red Cross Aid

Elizabeth Dole, president of the American Red Cross, turned over to Kuwait on Thursday the first planeload of food, including baby formula, tents and other relief supplies that are part of a $1-million package.

“Anywhere there are innocent victims of war, there you will find the Red Cross and the generosity of the American people,” Dole, a former U.S. secretary of labor, said during a ceremony at Kuwait International Airport.

A second planeload of supplies will be sent to Kuwait in about two weeks as part of a joint effort by the Red Cross, World Vision, Operation U.S.A. and American Near East Refugee Aid, she said.

Ibrahim Behbehani, acting general secretary of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, said some of the supplies including food for children would be turned over to neighborhood cooperatives in Kuwait city.

He said about that half of the supplies would go directly to the Abdali camp near the Iraqi border which holds 800 to 1,000 refugees.

Asked about Iraqi refugees in the camp, Dole said the Red Cross’ job was to provide aid but ultimately it would be the responsibility of governments in the region to decide their fate. Many of the Iraqis, fleeing their own country, were turned back from Kuwait.

Dole flew over scores of oil well fires in northern Kuwait set by Iraqi forces and said she was shocked at the sight.

“It literally makes you want to weep,” she said. “It makes you see that the war is not over.”