Aid Group: 1.5 Million At Risk In Myanmar

Junta's Obstructionist Ways Seen As Threat To Aiding Survivors Of Deadly Cyclone

(CBS/AP)  The tragedy of devastation from last weekend's cyclone in Myanmar is made worse by the ruling junta's apparent disregard for its victims.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey, reporting from neighboring Thailand, said the scale of the disaster and the extent of the need is becoming clearer as pictures finally come out from the worst-hit areas.

The difference between the damage done and the help being sent in are almost unfathomable.

Winds of up to 120 miles and hour and a storm surge fifteen feet high smashed everything in their path in the Irrawaddy River delta, where survivors are now at risk from malaria and dengue fever, both of which are endemic to the area.

Fresh water has been contaminated by decaying corpses and animal carcasses, as well as sea water.

Tragically, this natural disaster is being turned into a man-made one.

Relief workers have a brutal but time-proven formula to judge the effects of delaying aid to victims in circumstances such as this: multiply the number of dead by fifteen. Sarah Ireland of Oxfam said that, without significant intervention at this point, "then we could be looking at one and a half million people in real danger."

Aid that has been allowed in is being used as much for political purposes as it is to help the victims.

Members of the ruling military junta have made a show of handing out donated relief supplies, in some cases even putting their own names on the boxes.

Cynical as that may seem to us, said Pizzey, an eyewitness who must remain anonymous for his own safety saw another side to the disaster:

"There is something that is wonderful and almost frightening, the behavior of the people," he told CBS News. "They are rebuilding now, they don't deal with the dead, they don't deal with the past, they are not looking for help from anybody."

The flow of relief supplies is speeding up, although not at a rate that comes close to being good enough, and hundreds of relief teams who are prepared and able to help are still being kept out in spite of mounting international pressure.

But the relief effort hasn’t been smooth even ignoring the reception by the Myanmar government. A Red Cross boat carrying relief supplies sank Sunday.

The double-decker boat that sank after apparently hitting a submerged tree trunk was carrying supplies for more than 1,000 people and was the first Red Cross shipment to the disaster area, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

It said all four relief workers on board were safe.

"This is a great loss for the Myanmar Red Cross and for the people who need aid so urgently," said Aung Kyaw Htut, the distribution team leader for the Myanmar Red Cross.

The boat was traveling from Yangon to Mawlamyinegyun, a 12-hour journey, when it sank near Bogalay town, which was extensively damaged by the cyclone, the IFRC said.

IFRC's head in Yangon, Michael Annear, described the sinking as "a big blow."

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," he said.

Meanwhile, the government announced the confirmed death toll had jumped to nearly 29,000.

With no access to clean water and sanitation for many of the survivors, that figure can only rise, horrifically.


Piercing The Wall Surrounding A Junta

If the hope had been that the need for international aid would open up Myanmar's isolationist and paranoid military rulers to the generosity of outside world, that hope has so far been dashed," said CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.

Even now, this remains a regime that seems more inclined to look after itself that its people.

A political analyst at the Asia Society told Phillips that the country's military leaders feel they must have total control of the people in order to justify their hold on power, and so what they are most afraid of is any interaction with the outside world that could bring change to their government.

Myanmar's military has jealously held onto power throughout the country's sixty years of independence.

Whenever an opposition movement has threatened, either through elections or, last year, through street protests organized by Buddhist monks, the regime has cracked down ruthlessly.

Long-time opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for most of the past thirty years.

Any outside interference, even disaster relief, seems to be viewed by the junta as the thin edge of a wedge designed to pry power from its hands. Aid agencies have been trying to work through governments in the region that the Junta might be more comfortable dealing with, but there's little to show for these efforts so far.

"I can't even say what messages are getting through to the Burmese military rulers," said Robin Greenwood of Christian Aid. "Are other governments in the region there, the governments they are friendly to, them telling it like it is? Are they getting straight-talking from the Thais or the Chinese or the Indians? I don't know."

The great fear among the aid agencies is that they more they push, the more obstructionist the generals become.

[nonayabiness]

Too many people have died during and since the cyclone and continue to die unnecessarily because of the government''s refusal to grant and allow aid to those suffering.

This is genocide, folks, caused by nature, continued by man. An INVASION OF AID is necessary by all standing by to do so, as they have been for over a week. Don''t let this fake militia deter you. You are there for humanity. Drop the aid and send all troops in to protect the dying. NOW!!!

[nonayabiness]

ubrew12

I also read your prior post, and I agree completely. Why are we not bold enough to go in a save millions from devastation, while we were ''bold'' enough to ''free the people of Iraq'' under false pretenses.

That''s my point. Myanmar has reportedly like 14 helicopters in the entire country available to defend. I''d be willing to sacrifice a few planes in order to get help to these people with no food and water, if it came to that, but likely not. The junta has very few resources, though exponentially more than its country''s inhabitant, so I suggest an Invasion of Aid....

[nonayabiness]

ubrew12

This is certainly not about a Bush win, sending help to innocent people who need it. This is about an American win, doing what we do. We already know how slow the Bush response was to Katrina. This is not about him, its about the rest of us. Save whatever innocent victims over there that we can. Children and babies are dying every day because of no clean water or food. And their parents. When parents die, children die also.

While I know every American servicemember''s life is precious and should be treated as such, I''d much rather see us take a risk in helping these people get aid than continue to see Americans dying daily in an unjust, immoral, and losing war we call the war with Iraq.

[nonayabiness]

Scre_w the junta, just send in the help!!! Too many people, children and babies HAVE to have died unnecessarily since the cyclone because of the conditions and government resistance. They have like 14 helicopters in the entire country. Geez, allies and friends, send in a brigade of assistance and personnel who are already there on hand and help these poor, defenseless people out.

[ubrew12]

titletrack said: " Ooo scary - what will your role be in the revolution [SistaTee]? "

Reminds me of something Mao Tse Tung said when asked what he thought of the French Revolution (of 1789). He said, ''I''ll tell you when its over''

Its over, Sista Tee. Time to move on and do the best with the capitalism we have (as China has). Bush is a b(stard, but his OUR b(stard. We got to move on.

[titletrack]

May your family experience the coming revolution at the end of a rope.

Posted by SistaTee

Ooo scary - what will your role be in the revolution?

[sistatee-2009]

Prop up the stinking junta with U.S. tax dollars and aid, while New Orleans wallows in an economic abyss with zero help. Thank you President Bush. May your family experience the coming revolution at the end of a rope.

[ubrew12]

Helping the burmese against the wishes of her OWN government: THIS is activist foreign policy, NOT the Bush invasion. THIS is activist foreign policy when it matters. And, best of all, the whole operation would cost 1/100th of the cost of ONE WEEK in Iraq.

War solves nothing. Looking after people when they''re down: solves EVERYTHING. We can''t afford to let this historic opportunity pass. However Bush does down in history, this would immesurably help his legacy. Pure and simple: Win-Win!

[ubrew12]

beehive21 said: "we should take em out,however,let nature run its course."

What does that mean, exactly? Under what circumstances should ''we talk em out'' and under what circumstances should ''nature take her course''?

Regarding Iraq, I said, ''let nature take her course''. Why? Saddam posed no strategic threat to the U.S. Sooner or later, his own people were going to take him out, i.e. nature was going to take its course.

Regarding Myanmar, I''d say ''take em out''. Actually, I don''t think its necessary to ''take em out'', just act like they (the junta) aren''t there (because they aren''t... to us). Drop the supplies we need to drop from the air, in the locations that need them dropped. We''re dropping packeted food, water filters, plastic tarps, and mosquito netting, maybe a few utensils. Thats it: all of it is waterproof, so if it hits the water in the area it''ll float and not be degraded by it. If the junta complains its a double benefit!! We proved they''re *ssho*es AND we stood for their countrymen when they would not. Guarranteed, this would erase the stain on American foreign policy that Bush has created with his stupid Iraq invasion and torture. Side benefit, when the Burmese get healthy again and start asking themselves WHO really stood for them when their own junta wouldn''t, guarranteed they''d take that junta out and go pro-American.

[lovegetpeace]

Hey jamesm12341,
Thank you. So, there is a Double Standard per your no-reason statement. Maybe president Bush should also hold hands with this Military Junta just like with the Dictator of Saudi Arabia.