On May 12, 7:48=A0pm, "spider" <spider...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Zomi" <z...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:WLmdnTqOi-xYDLnVnZ2dnUVZ_jidnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> > Zomi says:
>
> > The UN is powerless.
>
> > The generals want only the aid, not the aid workers.
>
> > Why should other countries deal with the generals as human beings? The
> > generals are brutes in human form. They should be dealt with as the
> > brutes, which they are.
>
> > Highlights:
>
> > Myanmar's military regime seized United Nations food ****pments today
and=
> > said it would distribute them to the 1 million people left homeless by
> > last weekend's cyclone.
>
> > UN and Western relief workers, with experience *****sing and
distributin=
g
> > aid amid disasters, have had little success gaining entry to Myanmar.
>
> > Myanmar refused entry to two of four members of a previously approved
UN=
> > *****sment team that arrived yesterday. Myanmar de****ted a
> > search-and-rescue team and re****ters who arrived on a May 7 flight
from
> > Qatar because it expected the plane to carry only emergency aid, not
> > workers, AFP cited the Myanmar Foreign Ministry as saying.
>
> I think the world aid agencies lost their senses. Isn't Myanmar a
sovereig=
n
> state and country? =A0Just because of its weakness, the unfortunate
disast=
er,
> and because of the aid in food, must it let outsiders come in as they
like=
?
>
> History has shown that a country has pride and it intends to stand tall.
> America, England, Russia, China, and many other countries, through the
age=
s,
> have sacrificed their sons to die on their own soil, and in the foreign
la=
nd
> of many other countries, just to uphold their ideology or national
interes=
t.
>
> So I think the world aid agencies should treat Myanmar with respect and
> dinity. It does not mean that you give free chocolates, milk powder,
canne=
d
> beef and ham to the disaster victims the government is happy. It may
cause=
> more unhappiness among the general population of Myanmar and the
soldiers
> who may have never tasted such high-end food in their lives. It may be
see=
n
> as the disaster victims have now become the very priviledged. The relief
> food may be better distributed if it was only rice and salt fish.
>
>
>
>
>
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> > Myanmar Seizes Food ****pments, Assumes Distribution (Update1)
>
> > By Gregory Viscusi and Demian McLean
>
> > May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's military regime seized United Nations
foo=
d
> > ****pments today and said it would distribute them to the 1 million
peopl=
e
> > left homeless by last weekend's cyclone.
>
> > The UN said it will fly in more food tomorrow as it tries to reach an
> > agreement with the military-ruled country, ranked as the world's most
> > corrupt by nonprofit Transparency International. About 276,000 of the
1.=
5
> > million people needing aid received it as of May 7, Richard Horsey, a
> > spokesman for the UN disaster- response unit, said in Bangkok today.
>
> > The seizure came just as outside aid was beginning to get into the
> > isolationist nation formerly called Burma, where as many as 100,000
were=
> > killed by the May 3 storm. Torrential weekend rains, marking the start
o=
f
> > monsoon season, are likely to make remote, hard-hit region more
difficul=
t
> > to reach and expose homeless people to the elements.
>
> > ``The food that we flew in hasn't been released to us as had been
> > promised,'' Chris Kaye, Myanmar country director for the UN's World
Food=
> > Program, said in a phone interview from Yangon. ``If the government's
> > doing that to give priority to certain groups, that's going to make it
> > very difficult for us to operate.''
>
> > The WFP has sent three planeloads of high-energy biscuits to the
Southea=
st
> > Asian nation since yesterday, said Marcus Prior, a spokesman for the
UN
> > agency in Bangkok. Two more should land tomorrow.
>
> > `Urgent Need'
>
> > The White House said Myanmar had agreed to let a U.S. plane land in
> > Myanmar on May 12 with relief supplies.
>
> > ``One flight is much better than no flight,'' said White House
spokesman=
> > Gordon Johndroe. The contents of the plane are still being worked out,
h=
e
> > said.
>
> > UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the country may lack the
capacity =
to
> > distribute supplies. He told a meeting of health re****ters in Atlanta
> > today that there is an ``urgent need'' to allow aid workers to enter.
>
> > While 156 tons of rice stockpiles are on hand in Yangon, local
volunteer=
s
> > had distributed less than a fifth as of yesterday.
>
> > UN and Western relief workers, with experience *****sing and
distributin=
g
> > aid amid disasters, have had little success gaining entry to Myanmar.
>
> > ``It's very frustrating,'' Prior said. ``The situation isn't
> > sustainable.'' The WFP has 16 visa applications for staff pending,
with
> > only one accepted so far.
>
> > Entry Refused
>
> > The U.S. State Department said on its Web site that Myanmar refused
entr=
y
> > to two of four members of a previously approved UN *****sment team
that
> > arrived yesterday. Myanmar de****ted a search-and-rescue team and
re****te=
rs
> > who arrived on a May 7 flight from Qatar because it expected the plane
t=
o
> > carry only emergency aid, not workers, AFP cited the Myanmar Foreign
> > Ministry as saying.
>
> > German Chancellor Angela Merkel today called on Myanmar to allow aid
to
> > enter.
>
> > ``I emphatically urge the government to live up to the responsibility
it=
> > has for its people and quickly allow international aid into the entire
> > disaster area,'' Merkel said in an e-mailed statement. ``Very many
peopl=
e
> > are now dependent on fast aid.''
>
> > In London, Michael Ellam, a spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister Gordon
> > Brown, said ``we are pressing the Burmese authorities as a matter of
> > urgency to address the barriers to rapid access for staff and supplies
a=
nd
> > to allow international agencies to disperse relief to worst affected
are=
as
> > within Burma now.''
>
> > Forty-Five Tons
>
> > The four WFP flights will bring to 45 tons the amount of food the WFP
ha=
s
> > sent, Prior said. `
>
> > `It's a trickle and they need an awful lot more,'' he said. The WFP
> > already had 10 international and 200 local staff in the country, which
> > isn't enough to oversee the distribution. ``We have to direct the aid
by=
> > remote control, which doesn't allow us to put in place a sustainable
> > effort,'' he said.
>
> > A Boeing 747-400 from China, a neighbor and key ally of Myanmar,
landed =
at
> > Yangon International Air****t today carrying supplies including
medicine,=
> > tents, food and water-purification tablets, China's official Xinhua
news=
> > agency re****ted. The government in Beijing will send additional relief
> > supplies tomorrow, Xinhua cited unidentified government officials as
> > saying.
>
> > The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies=
> > flew in 6 tons of shelter supplies to Yangon from Kuala Lumpur
yesterday=
> > and will send a further 8 tons from Bangkok today, spokesman John
Sparro=
w
> > said by telephone from the Malaysian capital.
>
> > Russian Aid
>
> > Russia plans to send two planes carrying mobile electricity
generators,
> > tents, blankets, food, bandages, antiseptics and other medicine to
Myanm=
ar
> > today and tomorrow, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on
i=
ts
> > Web site.
>
> > ``Aid right now is going in at a trickle,'' Anne Richard of the
U.S.-bas=
ed
> > International Rescue Committee said in an interview With Bloomberg
> > Television today. ``Without the permissions to go into the country the
> > whole system is grinding to a halt.''
>
> > Myanmar's ``food basket'' bore the brunt of the cyclone and supplies
in
> > the nation are now threatened, the UN said. The five worst-affected
stat=
es
> > produce most of the fish, rice and ****k for the nation's 47.8 million
> > people, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said.
>
> > Myanmar has been under international sanctions since the military
reject=
ed
> > the results of elections in 1990, won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National
> > League for Democracy.
>
> > The junta plans to press ahead with a referendum tomorrow for a new
> > constitution before elections in 2010. The ballot will be delayed
until
> > May 24 in the worst-affected areas.
>
> > To contact the re****ters on this story: Demian McLean in Wa****ngton at
> > dmcle...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gregory Viscusi in Paris at
> > gvisc...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Last Updated: May 9, 2008 12:44 EDT
>
>
>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=3D20601087&sid=3Dae7eZFw_Jb7w&refe=
....
>
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
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> - Show quoted text -
If your mama were about to die would you keep the same stupid attitude
about sovereignty? No. Your opinion is not well thought out, and your
connection to this world we live in is tenuous.
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