The Myanmar cyclone

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Could be as many as 100,000 dead, maybe more, and this is what their terrible military government is doing to solve the problem:

 

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A U.N. official says the World Food Program is suspending cyclone aid to Myanmar because its government seized supplies flown into the country.

 

He says the WFP has no choice but to suspend the shipments until the matter is resolved.

 

WFP spokesman Paul Risley said Friday that all "the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated." The shipment included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.

 

Risley said it is not clear why the material was seized.

 

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)—The United Nations blasted Myanmar's military government Friday, saying its refusal to let in foreign aid workers to help victims of a devastating cyclone was "unprecedented" in the history of humanitarian work.

 

While the junta dithered and appeared overwhelmed by last Saturday's disaster, more than 1 million homeless people waited for food, shelter and medicine. Many crammed into Buddhist monasteries or just camped out in the open.

 

Entire villages were submerged in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, with bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents' arms. At least 62,000 people are dead or missing, state media reported, and aid groups warned that thousands of children may have been orphaned and the area is on the verge of a medical disaster.

 

On Friday, Japan said it will give aid worth $10 million through the U.N. to Myanmar, adding to the massive amounts of aid that has been pledged by foreign governments.

 

But while accepting international aid, the isolationist regime of this Southeast Asian nation has refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster and manage the logistics.

 

"The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts," said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in Bangkok. "It's astonishing."

 

He said the WFP submitted 10 visa applications around the world, including six in Bangkok, but none has been approved.

 

"We strongly urge the government of Myanmar to process these visa applications as quickly as possible, including work over the weekend," he said.

 

The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance—which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies—but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.

 

One relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday because it carried a search-and-rescue team and media representatives who had not received permission to enter the country, the junta said. It did not give details, but said the plane had flown in from Qatar, apparently referring to a U.N. flight.

 

The announcement came as critical aid and experts to go with it were poised in neighboring Thailand and elsewhere to rush into Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations.

 

"Believe me the government will not allow outsiders to go into the devastated area. The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw, one of many residents angry at the regime for doing little to help them recover from the storm's destruction.

 

Among those waiting in Thailand were members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a green light to enter Myanmar, also known as Burma.

 

Myanmar allowed the first major international aid shipment Thursday—four U.N. planes carrying high-energy biscuits, including one which was apparently turned back. On Friday, state-owned television showed a cargo plane from Italy with water containers, food and plastic sheets at Yangon international airport.

 

It is not clear how much of the aid is reaching the Irrawaddy delta. The U.N. estimates 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" and voiced "significant concern" about the disposal of dead bodies.

 

A Norway-based opposition news network, the Democratic Voice of Burma, provided graphic details of misery. In the village of Kongyangon, someone had written in Burmese, "We are all in trouble. Please come help us" on black asphalt, a video from the opposition group showed. A few feet away was another plea: "We're hungry," the words too small to be seen by air rescuers.

 

According to state media, 22,997 people died and 42,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country's Irrawaddy delta on Saturday. Shari Villarosa, who heads the United States Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses.

 

Grim assessments about what lies ahead continued: The aid group Action Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.

 

"If the harvest has been destroyed this will have a devastating impact on food security in Myanmar," the group said.

 

Anders Ladegaard, secretary-general of the Danish Red Cross, called the relief operation "a nightmare."

 

"There are problems to the aid inside (Myanmar) and there are problems to get the aid out to the delta area. There are almost no boats and no helicopters," Ladegaard said by satellite telephone to Danish broadcaster DR.

 

In Yangon itself, the price of increasingly scarce water shot up by more than 500 percent, and rice and oil jumped by 60 percent over the last three days, the group said.

 

Hardships in the country's largest city have prompted some embassies, including that of the U.S., to send diplomats' families out of the country.

 

Although the military regime had begun allowing in the first major international aid shipments, it snubbed a U.S. offer to help cyclone victims.

 

By doing so, the junta refused to take advantage of Washington's enormous ability to deliver aid quickly, which was evident during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

 

With roads in the Irrawaddy delta washed out and the infrastructure in shambles, large swaths of the region are accessible only by air, something few other countries are equipped to handle as well as the U.S.

 

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told reporters Friday that he will try to go to Myanmar on Sunday to persuade the junta to accept U.S. help.

 

But the junta told Samak his Myanmar counterpart is too busy to meet with him, said a Thai army general, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

 

But a Taiwanese Buddhist leader who just returned from Yangon said Friday that Myanmar had mobilized soldiers and civilians to transport aid to cyclone victims.

 

"They try to handle the relief work by themselves as much as possible because they don't have the time to deal with external criticism," Master Hsin Tao said.

[CanadianChris 0]

I heard this morning that there's a widespread cholera outbreak because people are being forced to drink water that's been contaminated by all the dead bodies. Just unimaginably bad.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I work with a lot of Burmese immigrants. The most common feelings between them that has been expressed to me are disgust and a complete lack of surprise. Most of them are from an area not annihilated, or only have distant family there.

[EricMM 0]

Get them to make you some food.

 

SOOOO GOOOOOD

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Amusingly, Laura Bush has been very critical of their governments response to this disaster.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Oh I'm all over the Burmese food. My pal San Yu, who has an English vocabulary of maybe 85 words, let me in on some badass pork and mutton curries that stink like death while cooking but taste delicious.

 

His favorite english words are "Bullshit" and "Drink." He's a comical drunkard who says all english words in a sort of surprised tone, but communicates almost exclusively through pantomime and his own language.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080510/ap_on_...myanmar_cyclone

 

This is turning into another example of why calls for aid to foreign countries are often a joke. This joke of a regime is turning the aid being sent there into a propaganda effort. The UN will probably do little to actually change the situation. Why should we Americans care about people in a foreign country, if there own leaders care even less?

[Ginger Snaps 0]

Amusingly, Laura Bush has been very critical of their governments response to this disaster.

 

Unlike Katrina, this really is 100% the fault of the federal (Burmese) government.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Why should we Americans care about people in a foreign country, if there own leaders care even less?

 

Yeah, seriously. Fuck those dumb foreigners. Maybe if they wanted our help they shouldn't have decided to live under an oppressive, unelected military junta. Feh.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Why should we Americans care about people in a foreign country, if there own leaders care even less?

 

Yeah, seriously. Fuck those dumb foreigners. Maybe if they wanted our help they shouldn't have decided to live under an oppressive, unelected military junta. Feh.

 

No, not fuck the people...fuck their government. We should just tell the UN, "We're done giving our money to countries that are too incompetent to handle it. You guys can take care of this one."

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I am just glad Rambo made it back to Arizona before this hit!

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I have to agree with Invader that it's a huge waste of taxpayer money to give supplies to a nation's government when that government is far too incompetent/corrupt to do anything with it. I know that the people need help and they should get it but when aid gets seized and then turned into a propaganda effort by the government its time to say "no more." I'll give props to the Bush administration for refusing to give aid without U.S. supervision and for some who complained early on that Bush was being overly harsh in not granting aid it appears as if he made the right call since the junta is seizing it and acting like it's theirs. If there is a time for the Burmese people to get angry and push for REAL change then now is the time. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen because the government has the support of the army who they lavish massive gifts on and whoever has the guns has the power.

 

The most outrageous thing to me about this situation is that the government STILL held their referendum on the new constitution which codifies further military rule in the country. How governments like these can do things like this and feel good about themselves blows my mind.

[Zorin Industries 0]

If there is a time for the Burmese people to get angry and push for REAL change then now is the time.

 

Isn't that what happened a few months ago, and then pretty much the entire world community pretty much ignored it due to the Burmese government being well in with the Chinese?

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Yea, hence why I said in my post that that it's not going to happen. The only hope of big change happening is if the rank and file in the military see what a mess the top brass has made of this disaster and choose to do something about it. However, I think they stand to lose to much if power is returned to a civilian administration for the first time since 1962 so I'm not hopeful at the prospects for change there.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Heard a report on the radio this morning that the army there is distributing spoiled food to the people and keeping the good food to feed themselves. So basically we're going to be sending more stuff over their to feed their army. Isn't that wonderful?

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Can't say I'm too surprised. This cyclone could have a damaging impact on world food prices, especially for rice, since Myanmar/Burma was supposed to give Sri Lanka/Bangladesh some of its surplus this season that has now turned into a large deficit that will have to be made up from the WFP. The major travesty of the whole situation is at a time when world food prices are exploding and developing nations cannot afford to buy it, the UN is spending its time supplying aid to a government that will not adequately distribute said aid instead of actually making sure it goes to the countries that will most effectively/honestly use it. In my opinion, no aid should have been given to this government based on its past history until they were willing to allow monitors in to distribute it. Too many times we've given aid like this with no strings attached and it gets filtered into the wrong channel and never reaches the people it should.

 

It would also not amaze me if this government was only supplying food to places where Burmans live and not handing it out in areas of the country that are held by other ethnic groups such as the Karen, Shan, Chin, Karenni, and Arakkan which have always had their differences with the central government there.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

The Myanmar Cyclone would be a good name for, say, a middleweight boxer to come out of Burma.

[Guest Desensitized]

I'd go with U Percut.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Choke yourself.