There are natural disasters, about which humankind can do nothing to prevent. Consider the catastrophic Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, for instance, which has killed at least 22,000 people and probably far more. The top U.S. diplomat there predicted Wednesday that the death toll would top 100,000.
And then there are the unnatural disasters, the man-made ones, like the aftermath of Nargis. Myanmar's military dictatorship, which failed to warn the public despite having two days' notice of the storm's approach, is willing to let thousands of people suffer and die rather than loosen its iron-fisted grip around the nation's throat.
... Days after the cyclone's landfall, the paranoid generals who run Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- are still letting only a trickle of international relief into the country. It is an almost incomprehensible display of a government's contempt for its people.
The humanitarian crisis is almost certain to become a political crisis. Last September, Myanmar's generals faced the biggest threat to their rule in 20 years when fuel price increases sparked mass protests that were crushed by soldiers. You can't eat gas, but if you're Burmese, you have to eat rice. And the cyclone may have wrecked the country's rice-growing region during harvest time.
With the region already facing a rice shortage, how will Myanmar's people feed themselves?
The United States has joined other governments and independent relief agencies from around the world in standing ready to help -- but short of an act of war, it cannot intervene. Myanmar's generals now join the ranks of history's great tyrants who were willing to allow the masses die of hunger and disease rather than yield the least bit of control.
Nargis was a monster, but it has passed into history. The monstrous regime remains.
How you can help
Contact one of the following agencies:
-- CARE: www.care.org
-- Catholic Relief Services: www.crs.org
-- International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent: www.ifrc.org
Dallas Morning News
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