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Ex-rivals unite in tsunami relief effort

BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand - Former President Bill Clinton's voice trembled with emotion as he and George Bush put aside their once-bitter political rivalry Saturday in the intense heat of a Thai fishing village where children gave the American politicians drawings of giant waves sweeping away their relatives.

Schoolchildren in red caps and white shirts waving paper American flags were among hundreds who greeted the former leaders in the shattered village of Ban Nam Khem, where Bush and Clinton saw the tsunami's devastation at the start of their relief mission to the hardest hit countries. About 2,000 people, a third of those killed by the tsunami in Thailand, died in and around the village.

Clinton's voice trembled as he spoke about the trauma suffered by children in the village after two presented the visitors with framed pictures tied in ribbons, one showing a giant wave and a rescue helicopter and the other showing floodwaters sweeping away people, cars and boats.

"I thought about all of our religious traditions and how they all teach us how we are not really in control - but we don't really believe it until something like this happens, and it reminds us all to be a little more humble and grateful for every day," Clinton said.

President Bush asked his father and Clinton to lead the U.S. effort to provide private aid to hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami. They also plan to visit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

After arriving on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Saturday, the two men made their way by U.S. military helicopter and motorcade to Ban Nam Khem, about 400 miles southwest of Bangkok. They later visited a memorial wall honoring foreign tourists who died, and they dined with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"I don't think there's ever been a tragedy that affected the heartbeat of the American people as much as this tsunami has done," said the senior Bush. "I don't think you can put a limit on it. It's so devastating."

Though Clinton denied Bush a second term in the White House, the former adversaries said their old differences were irrelevant to the task at hand. "On issues about which there can be no debate, there should be no problems," Clinton said.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]