Myanmar Turns Away U.S. Cyclone Aid
Junta Claims Assistance Comes "With Strings Attached"; Fears U.S. Wants To Seize Its Oil
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Survivors of Cyclone Nargis rush to get first in line to receive donated goods from a local donor at a monastery outside the capital of Yangon, Myanmar on Monday May 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this photo released by UNICEF, survivors of Cyclone Nargis rest inside their makeshift shelter, at a camp set up by UNICEF, in Myanmar Tuesday, May 20, 2008. (AP Photo/UNICEF)
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Hundreds of children, survivors of Cyclone Nargis, cover their heads from the rain with empty aluminum plates, as they await a plate of rice, a spoonful of curry and a potato from a private donation center in Laputta town, Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar, May 15, 2008. (AP Photo)
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A group of homeless Myanmar cyclone survivors at a monastery being used as a temporary shelter, on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 21, 2008. (AP)
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Myanmar nuns visit their home which was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis, on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 21, 2008. (AP)
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Play CBS Video Video Slow Start On Myanmar Aid Myanmar's military government is slowly allowing relief workers inside the isolated, cyclone-ravaged country. But as Allen Pizzey reports, aid groups say help is not arriving fast enough.
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Photo Essay Left In Cyclone's Wake Countless people in Myanmar left homeless by deadly storm.
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Photo Essay Feeding Myanmar's Hungry With aid slow to arrive, local donors try to fill the void.
The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece for Myanmar's ruling junta, said that such assistance "comes with strings attached" that are "not acceptable to the people of Myanmar." It cited fears that Washington wants to overthrow the country's government and seize its oil.
The United States, as well as France and Great Britain, have naval vessels loaded with humanitarian supplies off the Myanmar coast, and had been waiting for a green light to deliver them. The article did not say whether the French and British supplies would be allowed.
The state media report said that other U.S. aid airlifted into the country was welcome, an apparent reference to ongoing relief flights, which land in the country about five times a day. American officials are required to hand the aid to Myanmar authorities upon landing in Yangon, from which it is a difficult journey to the Irrawaddy delta.
The four U.S. warships were seen as a major potential boost for the relief effort with the capacity to deliver supplies to inaccessible areas of the delta, with 14 helicopters, two landing craft vessels, two high-tech amphibious hovercraft and about 1,000 U.S. Marines.
The report gave no explanation why the regime was willing to accept aid flown on U.S. planes, with U.S. military personnel on board, but would not allow the warships and helicopters to deliver relief supplies.
Myanmar's xenophobic leaders have long feared an invasion by the United States, a concern that some analysts believe prompted the junta's abrupt decision in 2005 to move the country's capital from Yangon to the remote city of Naypyitaw, which is equipped with bunkers.
Despite Wednesday's announcement, the junta appeared to be slowly relenting to foreign pressure to accept more outside help for an estimated 2.5 million survivors faced with hunger, loss of their homes and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was headed to Myanmar, said the world body had received permission from the junta to use nine helicopters to carry aid to stranded victims.
"We have received government permission to operate nine WFP (World Food Program) helicopters, which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible," Ban told reporters in New York on Tuesday before departing for Southeast Asia. His announcement was not immediately confirmed by officials in Myanmar.
"I believe further similar moves will follow, including expediting the visas of (foreign) relief workers seeking to enter the country," Ban said, warning that relief efforts to save survivors of the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis had reached a "critical moment."
"We have a functioning relief program in place but so far have been able to reach only 25 percent of Myanmar's people in need," he said.
So far, the few foreign aid workers allowed inside the country have been banned from the areas of the worst devastation in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta.
At least 78,000 people were killed in the storm and 56,000 remain missing. European Union nations have warned that Myanmar's junta could be committing a crime against humanity by blocking aid intended for hundreds of thousands of survivors.
Ban arrived in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand, on Wednesday and was scheduled to fly to Yangon on Thursday. In Myanmar, he was expected to visit areas devastated by the cyclone and to talk with officials and aid workers.
He was also scheduled to attend a meeting of aid donors in Yangon on Sunday. Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations, claims losses from the disaster exceeded $10 billion.
At U.N. headquarters, Ban welcomed the junta's "recent flexibility" in saying it will allow relief workers from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations - of which Myanmar is a member - to begin distributing aid.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 40 CommentsPosted by kennergirl at 10:23 PM : May 21, 2008
The main difference is that we have what is needed and can (but don''t get it to the people that need it) Take care of our own. It is time to stop helping the world and help our own. When the world comes to its senses then we might open our borders. In all honesty, we don''t need the world. This is simply the truth, if they don''t want us, leave them alone. We will be better for it....
Posted by Petro49L
Then let THEM overthrow the Govt, civil war or rise up and deal with their OWN country, we have ours, let them deal with theirs and change it.
STOP TRYING TO SHOVE HELP DOWN THEIR THROAT! S*C*R*E*W EM''''! PACK IT UP AND BRING IT HOME! I''''LL TAKE SOME OF IT! GEES!
Posted by trenticus
AGREED! this is one of the many reasons we are the most hated nation on the planet, we are busy bodies and nosey bodies, we even try to FORCE unwanted ''help'' on other countries and then slam them in the media when they refuse
CHINA''s economy is BOOMING big time, they are closer- let CHINA freaking provide aid to them!!!
Phux em then, they dont deserve our help, we have PLENTY of our own citizens in THIS country who need and can use that aid, food and supplies, start with those who lost everything from KATRINA.
2) The junta just recently allowed its Asian neighbors to help
3) China is openly accepting aid from the US and its citizens. My company has already raised $55,000.
Hurricane Erin was at its largest size, and closest to NYC, on September 11.
A new study from Dr Wood has just been posted. It''s a must read for all those interested in the "black-op" technology that was used on 9/11.
It''s a shame this technology was weaponized and is being used against us instead of for productive purposes:
9/11 Weather Anomalies and Field Effects
by Dr Judy Wood
former Professor of Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University
http://www.drjudywood.com/articles/erin/
One must wonder... why didn''t the media report Hurricane Erin??
Friendly world so hostile due to his stupidity,
we are now perceived as the Old soviet union once was,
no one trusts us...
Maybe this disaster can give the Burmese people enough insight and spiritual strength to over come the suppressive tyranny they''ve endured for so many years.
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