Myanmar Lets In More U.S. Aid, No Experts

(CBS/AP)  Myanmar agreed to accept more U.S. help, opening the door for what could be a massive cyclone relief operation, while the U.N. warned Tuesday that less than a quarter of the victims' needs are being met.

Logistical bottlenecks, poor infrastructure and restrictions imposed by Myanmar's isolationist junta were delaying the desperately needed aid for some 2 million severely affected survivors, even 10 days after the May 3 cyclone.

The government says about 62,000 people are dead or missing but the U.N. has suggested the death toll is likely to be more than 100,000.

While the survivors - mostly poor peasants who grew rice for their livelihood - face disease and starvation, the authoritarian junta continued to bar nearly all foreigners experienced in managing such catastrophes.

Armed police checkpoints were set up outside Yangon, the main city, on the roads to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta, and all foreigners were being sent back by policemen who took down their names and passport numbers.

"No foreigners allowed," a policeman said Tuesday after waving a car back.

Despite the junta's restrictions, countless images of the misery in Irrawaddy have already stirred the world.

The survivors, who have become refugees in their own land, are packed into Buddhist monasteries or camped in the open, drinking dirty water contaminated by dead bodies and animal carcasses. Food and medicines are scarce.

People complain that the junta's soldiers are handing out rotten food while keeping the best for themselves. Thousands of children are orphaned, and are suffering from fever, diarrhea and respiratory infections.

"There is obviously still a lot of frustration that this aid effort hasn't picked up pace and gotten under way as quickly as it should have," said Richard Horsey, the spokesman of the U.N. humanitarian operation in Bangkok, Thailand.

He said the U.N.'s World Food Program is getting in 20 percent of the food aid needed. "That is a characterization of the program as a whole. We are not reaching enough people quickly enough," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also criticized the military leaders for their "unacceptably slow response" to the crisis.

CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk said Ban's comments represented "an unusual scolding to the military junta of Myanmar".

"The Secretary-General reacted passionately to the rebuff of aid, and because there had not been a response to his calls and letters to the government and no Security Council action, Ban used his bully pulpit to try to get the junta to open up to foreign aid," she said.

Hundreds of tons of aid has been flown in from around the world, including by the U.N. but the poorly-equipped Yangon airport is incapable of processing the cargo quickly enough. Logistics of moving the aid out are causing other bottlenecks with the junta insisting on using only the few helicopters it has at its disposal.

After its first aid delivery on Monday, the United States sent in one more cargo plane Tuesday with 19,900 pounds of blankets, water and mosquito netting. A third flight was to take in a 24,750-pound load.

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said the situation remains fluid, but that flights were expected to continue after Tuesday, which appears to broaden the original agreement for three flights on Monday and Tuesday.

Myanmar told the United States on Monday that basic needs of the storm victims are being fulfilled and that "skillful humanitarian workers are not necessary."

Still, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej plans to go to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet with junta officials and urge them to issue more visas to foreign experts, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Patama told reporters.

The first U.N. aid convoy to reach Myanmar overland arrived Monday evening from Thailand with more than 20 tons of tents and plastic sheets.

Andrew Kirkwood of Save the Children, in a conference call with reporters, lauded Myanmar's private sector for "picking up a lot of the slack" by selling aid groups clothing, materials for shelter and other relief supplies at cost price.

Yangon was pounded by heavy rain Monday and more downpours were expected throughout the week, further hindering aid deliveries. For many, the rainwater was the only source of clean drinking water.

Britain's opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron, meanwhile, called for airdropping aid into Myanmar even without the junta's approval.

"The sands of time are running out," he told BBC Radio.

The idea, supported by some other prominent personalities, has been dismissed by the U.S.

Horsey, the U.N. spokesman, said such a move poses both "political" and "practical" challenges.

[algoresarse]

God have mercy on these poor souls...

[obamawhama]

its like saying ''thank you and fu ck you'' at the same time..

who lets these vicious entities get away with this???????????

(UN)

[fush2]

i think that helping these people is a waste of time because of their government..i read in another article that the food that was sent wasnt given to these people..all their getting is some generic junk..all the good things that were sent is either being sold in the black market or the military is eating it...i dont know but their gov is retarded

[jeffrebarlow]

how can we give the government of myanmar a hard time especally after the botched operations perpetrated by the FEMA, i do not blame any country for not want others to stick their fingers in their buisness. would we as americans or our government allow aid from countries like iran, north korea or other communist countrys? i read a report that said our government blocked heating oil imports from a country to ours because of political reasons, there by allowing our people to suffer. lets just put it on the ground and hope that their infrastructure does it''s job.

[petro49l]

Hey ddhinnyc, save your paranoid schizophrenia. Take your Thorazine and forget about it.

[jboxton]

These people look like aliens. Why send aid to them. Let E.T. help them.

[al2008-2009]

I%u2019m appalled at the administration*s lack of response to the global warming hurricanes, and cyclones as well. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these cyclones, and mother earth continues to suffer while the administration refuses to go forward and do what%u2019s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible plans into action? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
.
We the people call upon our leaders to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these cyclones and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.

[libh8er]

honestabe8,

Wm. F. Buckley is too liberal for me. Don''t blame me if you ASSUMED I was a ''conservative''. I am the antithesis of the foaming at the mouth, nose picking, bedwetting liberal.

If legally permissable, I would gladly eradicate them from the face of the earth.

[honestabe8]

LibH8er: People like you are a cancer on America, spewing your vitriol with each post. Go ahead and attack me now, you ********. I am a conservative and hate it that blowhards like you have taken the image of conservatives like william f. buckley jr. and made it like morton downey, jr.

[choiceshaveconsequences]

Judging by the following elements in the story, namely, Myanmar''s private sector "picked up a lot of the slack" by SELLING aid groups clothing, materials for shelter and other relief supplies at cost price...while people complain that the junta''s soldiers are handing out rotten food while keeping the best for themselves. Myanmar''s isolationist junta were delaying the desperately needed aid...the authoritarian junta continued to bar nearly all foreigners experienced in managing such catastrophes.
Armed police checkpoints were set up... all foreigners were being sent back by policemen..."No foreigners allowed!"

Talk about your kamma which is unskillful, actions which are not good, or are evil; specifically, actions which are born from the akusala mula, the roots of unskillfulness, which are greed, hatred and delusion. This junta is punta.