The first cyclone of the 2008 season in the northern Indian Ocean was a devastating one for Burma.

Cyclone Nargis hit the land with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts of 150-160 mph, equivalent to a strong Category 3 or minimal Category 4 hurricane.

On the 5th news reports stated that several thousand people have been killed, and thousands more were missing. More recent reports estimate that more than 150,000 people are now dead or missing from the cyclone that hit the country’s Irrawaddy delta.

The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million have been left homeless with up to 2.5 million being seriously affected. The World Health Organization has also received reports of large malaria outbreaks in the worst-affected area.

Myanmar’s isolationist regime made recovery efforts extremely complicated, initially delaying the entry of United Nations planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies into the Southeast Asian nation.

U.S. Military Assistance

The annual military operation and military exercise Cobra Gold 2008, that incidentally was almost canceled this year due to the Thailand military coup, was fortunately underway at the same time as the natural disaster occur. The military was ready, nearby, and able to provide assistance at a moments notice. This fortunate scheduling was not able to take full advantage until the end of the operations that is now extended.

On May 13th, the first U.S. military transport plane was allowed to land, bringing 14 tons of medical supplies, mosquito nets and blankets. Shortly afterwards, another five more US military C-130 transport planes were allowed to bring in more supplies.

The Thailand Public Health Ministry announced May 15th, that they would be able to send 30 doctors, along with medical supplies, to work for two weeks in Burma, totaling 160 aid workers from four Asian countries.

“We are seeing more flights into the country, more supplies getting into the delta,” said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “But the levels of aid getting in are not adequate . . . They are not at a level and speed commensurate with what is needed.”

Despite the acceptance of foreign aid, the military regime continues its propaganda. The advocacy group Human Rights Watch reported that the supplies delivered by a US C-130 aircraft Monday were unloaded by men wearing the shirts of the Union Solidarity and Development Association. There are also reports that state-run television continuously ran images of Gen. Than Shwe ceremonially handing out disaster relief.

According to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband,

“A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime.”

Among the people trying to get aid into the cyclone zone are Burmese living abroad. Thailand alone has an estimated 1.5 million migrant workers and political dissidents from the country.

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The “Cobra Gold” live-fire military exercises, the largest US war games in Asia, are set for May 8 to 18 in eastern Thailand with a focus on multinational peacekeeping operations. The war games were launched 26 years ago and originally limited to US and Thai troops. This year, 3,090 personnel from Thailand would take part along with 2,000 US forces. Japan will send 47 troops, with 70 from Singapore and 27 from Indonesia. Forces from those three nations will only participate in computer simulations and observe humanitarian projects. In earlier years, some 20,000 personnel participated in the war games, but the scale has gone down considerably in recent years as a result of US Military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year’s event will be mainly sponsored by the United States and Thailand, with the former contributing 6 million U.S. dollars while the latter 20 million Thai Baht (about 590,000 dollars).

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