Bush says world should condemn Myanmar's handling of cyclone

Tuesday 13th May, 06:25 AM JST

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rtrhead1 at 05:48 PM JST - 13th May

No, that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. And I'll use small words to explain it to you. Our gov't botched (messed up) in the aftermath of Katrina, through incompitence (they were inept, or, in simple words, morons). Myanmar's gov't, on the other hand, is actively refusing to accept aid from the US, one of the countries in this world who could do the most good for the people of that country. They are ACTIVELY REFUSING AID BECAUSE THEY SAY THEY DON'T "TRUST" US. Is that a good reason to let possible 100's of thousands of people die? You tell me, is that something a human being would do to 1 other human, let alone thousands?
USNinJapan2 at 05:50 PM JST - 13th May

Grow up people. There's a world of difference between the US Government's response to Katrina and Myanmar's military junta's response (or lack there of) to this cyclone. The Bush Administration's response to Katrina may have been far from perfect but you simply cannot equate it with the junta's obstinate refusal to accept foreign assistance when it's clearly not capable of adequately assisting its own citizens.

Moderator: Readers, we have already said that references to Katrina are not relevant. Posts that refer to Katrina will of course be removed.
northlondon at 05:56 PM JST - 13th May

USNavy,

You need to cool your boots a little. I am aware that Americans provide a lot of charity relief around the world. But I am talking about George Bush and his political move with Burma buddy. We're not all fools you know.

Not all of us here are stupid enough to believe George Bush's quotes and the US government is more than powerful enough to have dealt with the Burmese military issue years ago.
nucular at 06:38 PM JST - 13th May

Gordy Brown speaketh:

"It is completely unacceptable that the Burmese government should block the international aid. They should immediately remove the restrictions," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/un-warns-burmese-junta/2008/05/10/1210131319947.html
SezWho2 at 06:48 PM JST - 13th May

Hmmmm....

It seems to me that a call for condemnation will do strikingly little good. It might even strengthen the military leaders resistance to foreign assistance.

Better than condemnation would be patient urging that military leaders in Myanmar accept the aid and demonstration that the offers of aid are designed to help the people of Myanmar and not to subvert the government. The military leaders also might be more pliable if we would have the courtesy to refer to the country as Myanmar instead of Burma.

On the other hand, calls for condemnation seem to be what we do these days in lieu of practicing actual diplomacy.
northlondon at 06:55 PM JST - 13th May

nucular,

Some of us feel that Bush's offer of relief aid to Burma after the cyclone, has certain 'political implications' and that is the only reason for that offer.
Betzee at 09:23 PM JST - 13th May

The government, which recently relocated its capital from Rangoon to a sattelite city which lacks state of the art communication equipment, is willfully interferring with relief efforts (as opposed to handling them incompetently).

On the other hand, it's really not much of a surprise to those who've followed Burmese/Myanmar government interaction with the outside world. Specifically, in the late 1990s Unocal contracted to build a natural gas pipeline there. The Burmese miltary was to provide security. This became known as "profits at gunpoint" when it was revealed soldiers had raped and killed villagers whom they encountered in the course of protecting the property of foreign investors. Unocal was subsequently sued in an American court and the victims' settlement was a landmark legal victory for corporate social responsibility.

What to do here? Condemnation, a cost-free response, will do little to help the victims. There are alternative networks of relief which have sprung up through which one can offer assistance.
Betzee at 10:28 PM JST - 13th May

Some people are referring to the Burmese government as "communist," in fact it's a military junta and a particularly nasty one at that, forcing its own citizens into slave labor (as in the case of Unocal's pipeline) and drug running from the Golden Triangle. The military seized power in 1974 and suspended the constitution so it is not accountable to any internal body.
sailwind at 10:39 PM JST - 13th May

Good on President Bush for calling this one like it is.
Alphaape at 12:55 AM JST - 14th May

In the grand scheme of things Bush's condemnation of the junta of Burma is just that. Not political motivation to spread American ideals, but just plain and simple wanting to help people in need. I said it before when this disaster first occured, if the US is slow to respond, then the world will blame Bush and his lack of concern for the people. He condemns the gov't of Burma, and now some say that he is ramping up to initiate some sort of move against them.

All the while, people are dying in Burma not from the lack of aid from the world, it is sitting right on the borders, but from the inept and petty leaders of the country. I bet every top official in the junta has a stockpile of relief aid for their personal use, while thousands are dying.
adaydream at 02:31 AM JST - 14th May

I'm glad that george bush is making sounds of disgust where it comes to the dictators of Myanmar. I'm glad that he's speaking out, but gawd, after that he's been anything but a leader who actually listened to the world, but a leader who did what he wanted to do.

I think that Laura Bush ought to speak out again. I think that she's got more creditability to get positive attention from the world as a whole. She has a compassion that resignates. george bush has no creditability.
Badsey at 05:45 AM JST - 14th May

Condemning is not really helping much. Much better: allow US a transport lane and US willdrop relief supplies as deemed necessary.

It's not really that hard to help, but you need to choose your words wisely or better to say nothing at all.
Jyan_Bon at 07:38 AM JST - 14th May

Have you seen how China's leaders responded to the earth quake victims of Chungdu? 1500 helicopters and 500,000 soldiers were deployed to help the victims within hours after the earthquake.China's P.M himself got to the epicentre in 90 minutes.Hundreds of "round the clock health centres" were opened immediately............. But in Myanmar, 10 days after the cyclone, thousands of bloated dead bodies still litered on the river banks. Millions are facing deadly diseases without food, clean water and shelter. Only a quarter of the victims received 10% of international aid. And yet the generals are stopping the foreign aid workers and local donors from reaching the victims.Foreigners are repeatedly asked to leave the effected areas after 2 days. No cameras are allowed in these places. High energy biscuits donated by WFP are impounded by the army and replaced them with local biscuit.An Australian diplomat was furious when he found that high quality rice donated by Australian gov. turned into yellow, wet, cheap quality when distributed. He even took the sample back to Yangon to file complaint... NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE INTL. WORKERS ARE KEPT AWAY!!!
WhiteHawk at 07:53 AM JST - 14th May

Badsey:

Condemning is not really helping much. Much better: allow US a transport lane and US willdrop relief supplies as deemed necessary. It's not really that hard to help, but you need to choose your words wisely or better to say nothing at all.

Haven't you been paying attention? The generals that run Burma Myanmar, whatever) won't allow such aid. So yeah, it really is that hard for Bush to help.

But calling the generals "out on the carpet" and not letting their live-action propaganda campaign be accepted on face value might get them to step aside.

Forcing the issue by invading with loads of aid supplies and bypassing the military government might not be heralded as a diplomatic break-through, but it would save lives, no?
Betzee at 08:15 AM JST - 14th May

This regime is really among the worst of the worst. Protesters are routinely shot by the police (we have the photographs), though there may be fewer protests in Rangoon now the government has moved into the jungle (accessible by invitation only).

What can be done? While the Unocal settlement I noted above was an undeniable victory for the victims and the families, it had the effect of causing the government to seek replacement services from Russia and China. Both are now in a position to provide technical expertise and the equipment to extract natural resources which keeps the junta's pockets filled with hard currency.

This is no longer 1990 when the USA was the sole superpower having won the Cold War. China and Russia are ascendant and resurgent great powers, respectively, who offer governments such as this the assurance they won't interfere or criticize the country's political system.

But we can certainly publicize their support for this regime in an effort to get them to withdraw it. Beijing has actually criticized its Burmese counterpart in fairly harsh terms. Now they need to be nudged to take the next step....