Editorial: Send aid, not politics, to reeling Myanmar

| The New Mexican

5/7/2008 - 5/7/08

The horrific news coming out of Myanmar, showing devastation and destruction of a nation, reminds us again how fragile the Earth is.

More than 22,000 people are known dead, another 41,000 missing, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Most affected were the Irrawady Delta, the fertile breadbasket of the country, and Yangon, the nation's major city. As many as 1 million people might have lost their homes, according to the United Nations World Food Program. The final death toll could top 50,000.

The aftermath of the initial cyclone and its tidal waves promises to be even more deadly.

As is customary with such massive tragedies, the world wants to respond with food and other necessary supplies. How needed aid will reach the people, though, is problematic. Roads are blocked, communications are down — the country is in tatters. And that's just the logistical portion of the nightmare.

The politics of the catastrophe carry another dark side.

Myanmar, the former Burma, is in the hands of a military junta — and over the years, it has become a closed-off country, hostile to foreigners and as unfriendly a place as you'll find. Nobel Prize winner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

Despite the repression, the citizens of Myanmar have been stirring. Last year, a non-violent uprising led by Buddhist monks led to immediate reprisals — thousands were detained, at least 31, and likely more, were killed.

The United States has led the drive for economic sanctions against Myanmar and its ruling junta. A catastrophe of this nature, however, calls for a different sort of action.

The Bush administration is offering aid beyond an initial release of $250,000, but only if Myanmar allows an American disaster team within the country. First Lady Laura Bush made the offer — evidently Myanmar is a special interest of hers. She made other comments at the same time, making sure to criticize the government for how it handled warning the people about the impending cyclone. (Surely, after Katrina, the Bush administration should recognize the irony of that group offering advice on how to handle a natural disaster.)

While no thinking person can defend the record of the leaders of this reclusive country, a disaster isn't the place to play politics or make a point. That's especially true when Myanmar is begging for help despite its isolation of the past.

The United States should reach out, help with this tragedy — money, aid and supplies can be funneled through the United Nations — and offer that aid with good heart and no strings attached. In contrast to our quarter-of-a-million dollars, the European Union already has promised $3 million. Singapore, another $200,000. We look like pikers, and worse than that, the Bush government is squandering another opportunity to do the right thing — which, not so incidentally, would help restore a bit of our good name in the world.