Burma keeps US aid flights on hold
9/5/08
The first UN aid plane arrived in cyclone-ravaged Burma last night, but US and other international efforts were on hold after the country’s military generals rescinded their approval for American planes to enter Burma. The generals had bowed to international pressure, agreeing to allow the US military to fly critical aid to survivors of last Saturday’s cyclone, which has left up to 100,000 feared dead and one million missing. Thailand’s Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niumpradit said yesterday Bangkok had convinced Burma’s secretive junta to accept US assistance using planes that have been in Thai-US military exercises. A US embassy official confirmed the decision, but US ambassador to Thailand Eric John said later the flight was not going ahead.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23669426-2703,00.html
80,000 dead in one Burma district; 8/5/08; See; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23664782-25837,00.html
The generals v the weather
Editorial; 9/5/08
Day by day, Burma’s generals are providing more evidence, if any further was needed, that they are not fit to govern. They are also illustrating perfectly the adage developed by the Nobel Prize winner for economics, Amartya Sen, who grew up in places around the Bay of Bengal, including Mandalay, that famines don’t occur in democratic states because leaders have to be responsive to the demands of citizens. This could be extended to include disease outbreaks, as democracies don’t tend to cover them up until they become epidemics. Burma is now threatened with both hunger and epidemic disease.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/editorial/index.html
Tags: Burma, Environment, Human Rights, UN, USA