Redstate

By Uma Richie Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

On June 3 in his Democratic primary victory speech, Barack Obama declared, “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick...”

Apparently not one to settle for “just words,” less than three weeks later Cindy McCain was in Nha Trang, Vietnam inspecting the work of Operation Smile, an organization that provides free corrective surgery for childhood facial deformities such as cleft palate. Although the Associated Press discounted Mrs. McCain’s visit as “showcasing her charity work,” her timing reveals much more than a lightweight photo opportunity.

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Because Operation Smile maintains a permanent mission in Vietnam, Mrs. McCain, a foundation board member, could have visited at any time if she merely wished to bask in the limelight. Instead she arrived in Nha Trang on the same day as the USNS Mercy, the US Navy medical ship onboard which Operation Smile surgeons worked their magic for 90 Vietnamese children. The visit marked the first time since 1975 that the Vietnam government allowed its citizens to board a US military vessel and the first time in the same period that Nha Trang hosted a foreign navy port call. (Photo credit: washingtonpost.com.)

In the greater picture, the USNS Mercy is playing host to Pacific Partnership 2008, a five month US-led humanitarian assistance operation that is providing medical, dental, and engineering support to countries in the Asia Pacific region. Representatives from the US military, international non-governmental organizations such as Operation Smile, and foreign military partners including Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and South Korea are taking part in the operation.

Some may criticize Pacific Partnership’s provision of free medical services to foreign nationals when many Americans are also in need. It cannot be stressed enough that above their inherent goodness, humanitarian assistance operations serve US interests as a form of preventive medicine. Whether natural or manmade, humanitarian crises can precipitate political unrest, instability, and all out violence. A rapid response to a disaster can help maintain peace and security and ultimately prevent the necessity of armed intervention.

Pacific Partnership allows the US military to work with its foreign military and non-governmental partners under routine conditions so that when the unthinkable arises, there are established procedures to follow. As stated by Navy Captain Bill Kearns, commander of the Mercy Pacific Partnership:

I would just want to highlight the importance of the partnership, developing it now doing proactive humanitarian assistance work.  That partnership really pays off when the disaster occurs and we need to come together and we need to understand each other so that we can get the job done and help people.” 

So, In a one-day visit to Nha Trang, Cindy McCain supported a US military operation, witnessed a communist state take a rapprochement step, and gained a firsthand perspective of socialist medical systems. That’s more than I can say for Senator Obama.