ABC's Jon Karl Interviews Adm. Timothy Keating

May 15, 2008— -- Jonathan Karl: Adm. Keating, what do you have right now that you're prepared to move into Myanmar (formerly called Burma) that you have not been able to yet?

Timothy Keating: We've got a half a dozen C-130s, Jonathan. We've got helicopters that are both ashore in Thailand and afloat with the Essex group and ships from other nations, as well, in the Bay of Bengal.

We're moving water. We're moving food. We're moving electrical generators. We're moving pallets of plastic sheeting. So everything we can get our hands on, we're moving now. We'd like to move more. We have more capacity to lift and haul than we're filling.

Karl: Now, I was told that you're only really getting in about 10 percent of what you could be getting in. Is that an accurate read?

Keating: I think we're getting more than that, Jonathan. We've moved a couple hundred thousand pounds -- we have about 200,000 pounds per day capacity. We had five C-130 loads yesterday. We're going to have four or five today. So we're better than 10 percent, but we're well under what we could do at full effort.

Karl: So at full effort, what would you be doing that you're not doing now?

Keating: Probably flying twice to three times as many C-130 sorties. And the area where we're concentrating with our embassy officials in Rangoon is using rotary lift, H-53s and H-46s, to help the Burmese with distribution from the central point in Rangoon out to the outlying areas where the relief is needed most desperately.

Karl: But how is that distribution going? I mean, once you drop that stuff off in Yangon, Rangoon, how do we know where it's going and how effectively it's being distributed to those who really need it?

Keating: We're not really sure how well it's going. Our embassy is in contact with Burmese officials and nongovernmental employees, World Food, U.N., folks like that, who are overseeing the distribution.

There are some challenges attendant to that. It happens in all disasters in which we provide relief. It is not uncommon. In this case, it's a little stickier than others. But I'm pretty sure it'll work through in a day or two.

Karl: But are you frustrated -- I mean, I'm -- some of the folks that I've been talking to are almost -- I don't know if seething is too strong a word but we are extremely frustrated that the Burmese has not allowed more to come in, has not allowed more help into that country.

Keating: Well, we're not seething. We're anxious. We did a little bit of this with Aceh, the tsunami in Indonesia, the cyclone in Bangladesh, relief supplies to China for cold weather, and relief supplies that we're mustering to send them again because of the earthquake.