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[Tyrannical]

Look at all the liberal war mongers in this thread, I'm shocked.

 

[Zeed]

Yeah trying to instigate another military conflict isn't the greatest idea for anyone, but something should be done about this. Really this is China's opportunity to step up, but seeing as how they're having trouble feeding their own population I'm not sure what aid Burma (easier to type, kthnx) can expect from them.

 

[Kodiak]

500,000 dead, which leaves millions missing parents, siblings, friends, homes.


sorry for stating the obvious, but its more than just a big number

 

[quaere]

And an "invasion" isn't something as easy to pull off as you imagine?

The US could achieve complete air superiority within hours for the cost of fuel, with no risk to any of our people or planes. Aid could then be airdropped easily.

It's just a matter of priorities. Not that I really blame the government, sadly it's far easier to sell the violation of a nation's sovereignty with fear about terrorism than the death of hundreds of thousands from preventable causes.

 

[laesperanzapaz]

wow @ liberal hippies not thinking through with the 'lets militarily overthrow the junta'

wow @ anyone thinking China gives two shits about a poor country without gettinng something in return [just like US]

 

[fortified_concept]

Look at all the liberal war mongers in this thread, I'm shocked.

Your post wasn't just uncalled for it was idiotically uncalled for. Noone has refused that something has to be done in places where genocide is a fact even if that means limited military intervention as the last solution (don't worry the UN or whoever would help doesn't need to invade or stay there simply because they don't have to protect any oil fields/pipes). And please don't dare even for a moment to compare this to the disgusting profit wars the rightwing pieces of shit you love so much have started.

 

[grandjedi6]

It's called Myanmar. Not Burma. I guess, asking journalists to get their facts right is a bit too much to ask for some times.

Every English speaking country uses Burma officially and few recognize Myanmar at all. So its not surprising that journalists use Burma instead of Myanmar"

 

[Jackl]

The number just keeps rising drastically every day. I remember when they were reporting this as a few thousand and look at where we are now.

How do you even begin to recoup after something like this?

Its even worse for the survivors. Loss of commodities. Roads, food, water, shelter can kill just as much as the storm itself. With so much dead the place become a breeding ground for parasites and disease. God help those poor people, I mean that with 0 sarcasm.

 

[Ronok]

Yeah trying to instigate another military conflict isn't the greatest idea for anyone, but something should be done about this. Really this is China's opportunity to step up, but seeing as how they're having trouble feeding their own population I'm not sure what aid Burma (easier to type, kthnx) can expect from them.

This is pretty much what I was thinking. It's not like everythings awesome in China itself, so for them to go through and give aid to all those in Burma would pretty much fuck over it's own population even more. :-/ It WOULD be helpful for China to talk them in to letting in other governments, but, I don't see that happening either. lol

 

[Tyrannical]

Your post wasn't just uncalled for it was idiotically uncalled for. Noone has refused that something has to be done in places where genocide is a fact even if that means limited military intervention as the last solution (don't worry the UN or whoever would help doesn't need to invade or stay there simply because they don't have to protect any oil fields/pipes). And please don't dare even for a moment to compare this to the disgusting profit wars the rightwing pieces of shit you love so much have started.

Wow, you sound so angry I bet you're all ready to ship out and help liberate Burma.

 

[Green Shinobi]

Wow. My mother was born there. I was in Myanmar for a short time last year. It looked pretty terrible then. I can't imagine what this area must be like.

People in the first world who haven't traveled have no idea how bad off these people were before all this happened, and now it's just so much worse.

 

[avatar299]

Yes . . . use the military force to drop aid instead of bombs. Go for it.

That would be a sign of war, so you might wanna carry bombs

 

[Myke Greywolf]

That is 0.00007% of the world's population.

Actually, 0.008%.

You forgot to multiply the fraction by 100 to get a percent value.

 

[Souldriver]

The fuck!?!


few thousand --> 10,000 --> 30,000 --> 100,000 --> 500,000


How can you think there will be " a few thousand deaths", only to end up with half a million deaths?!? That's just fucking ridiculous, and really really sad.

 

[dabig2]

Fuck their government. Their flat-out murdering their citizens at this point by their constant refusals and bullshit. America's sharp criticism of the situation was mocked by others earlier in the week..... but criticism at this point is not nearly enough.

 

[Zedsdeadbaby]

Military Junta really needs to put its shit together. It's an embarassment to the world and a stain on humanity. Can't even sort out aid, and won't let others in out of pride and bruised egos.

 

[Mato]

Their refusal seems extremely incomprehensible. Maybe the government might actually wish to decrease the population. For a twisted, fucked up reason they might have been actually hoping for a genocide.

 

[GHG]

Fuck me... read the title as 50 thousand, enter read again and its hafl a million. Half a million people... fuck...

 

[EMBee99]

Only solution:

On a serious note, it's nonsense that we're utilizing our military to force our ideals on a culture instead of providing real, tangible aid to a country in a much larger crisis.

 

[AdventureRacing]

Look at all the liberal war mongers in this thread, I'm shocked.

Hundreds of thousands of people will die without intervention so something must be done. At the moment i can't think of many peaceful options as we need to get aid in there now.

I mean 500,000 holy fuck.

 

[madara]

Actually, 0.008%.

You forgot to multiply the fraction by 100 to get a percent value.

Not greatest at math but with world at 7 billion, one percent of that is like 70 million right?

Anyway, terrible situation that needs world support.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Wow! Everyday the estimated number of dead goes up and GAF gets a new thread on the topic with the new number in the thread title. Couldn't we just have updated one of the other 3 threads?

And I love the people in here saying we should just start dropping aid. While that sounds great in theory, they would probably be the same people pissed off if one of our cargo planes got shot down over the country.

On NPR this morning they were talking about the situation and they said that the Myanmar government was accepting aid supplies, but didn't want anyone to come into the country saying they could distribute it just fine themselves. It's sad that when it's time to put political differences aside and worth together that they won't let anyone help them.

 

[Riskbreaker23]

Their refusal seems extremely incomprehensible. Maybe the government might actually wish to decrease the population. For a twisted, fucked up reason they might have been actually hoping for a genocide.

this is what i believe is going on.

its kinda fucked up that sending aid might actually help the dictators out because they are most likely keeping all or most of the supplies instead of using them on the victims.

 

[Yaweee]

Fuck me.....


I hope this means the end of the regime on sight, they are idiots for not letting aid go through.

That's the problem with military dictatorships, though; job performance is in no way related with future employment.

 

[Love To Love You Baby]

It's called Myanmar. Not Burma. I guess, asking journalists to get their facts right is a bit too much to ask for some times.

The repressive military regime renamed the country to Myanmar in the 80s. That is not the real name of the country.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Why are people buying this 500k figure as a fact? It's merely speculation or could be politically motivated by people who want to force the UN's hand to take action against the junta.

If we can't even determine the dead in Iraq, what makes you think we know the figures for this catastrophe looking from the outside?

 

[lil smoke]

Fuck their government. Their flat-out murdering their citizens at this point by their constant refusals and bullshit. America's sharp criticism of the situation was mocked by others earlier in the week..... but criticism at this point is not nearly enough.

Hate to agree, but I cannot help it. I was going to donate, but my brain is telling me "fuck them then"

 

[RumFore]

Why are people buying this 500k figure as a fact? It's merely speculation or could be politically motivated by people who want to force the UN's hand to take action against the junta.

If we can't even determine the dead in Iraq, what makes you think we know the figures for this catastrophe looking from the outside?

Does the numbers really matter? Fact is thousands and possible that much is presumed dead and they are stifling aid to the people because of harsh criticisms towards the military regime which now shows to have merit.

 

[Zeed]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/09/myanmar/index.html

Military Junta Seizes UN Aid, UN Suspends Future Deliveries

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- The United Nations' top World Food Program official says he is "furious" over the Myanmar's government's refusal to allow the organization to distribute aid that was flown in for cyclone disaster victims.

Future flights have been suspended.

Two planes that landed Friday morning in Rangon carrying 38 tons of high-energy biscuits, medical kits and other items were seized by officials at Yangon International Airport, said Tony Banbury.

The cargo is enough to feed 95,000 people, he said.

 

[Guileless]

Noone has refused that something has to be done in places where genocide is a fact even if that means limited military intervention as the last solution

Even by your standards this is ridiculous. President Clinton was forced to cut short a visit to your country because of massive riots protesting NATO's Bosnia intervention. Whatever you think about Iraq, the war only happened after years and years of diplomacy and UN votes. Not even the most crazed neocon warmonger is going to go to war with a country a week after a disaster happens over the control of aid supplies.

Grow up people, if bad taste has any meaning then using something like this for political point scoring on the internets is it.

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Going to war is the worst possible idea.

It will cause more unnecessary deaths than not giving aid at all.

 

[Vicious]

I can't believe the extent to which this tornado has devastated Burma... This is so ridiculous, I'm just awestruck. I never thought I'd witness something like this happen in my life.

People really need to stop confusing cyclone with tornado. A cyclone is the same thing as a hurricane.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

My wife is actually working on this massive project. She works for a NGO here in the US--- Medical Team International and they are having a hell of a time getting 3 vital things to the area:

1 - Money / aid
2 - Visa's for volunteers to help
3 - Any help from the government.

It's frustrating because the people need the help and the government is not allowing any help to be distributed really at all.

Shades of Africa....

 

[ToxicAdam]

Does the numbers really matter? Fact is thousands and possible that much is presumed dead and they are stifling aid to the people because of harsh criticisms towards the military regime which now shows to have merit.

So truth and accuracy are secondary as long as you are "doing the right thing"?

Isn't that the same attitude the Bush administration has about Iraq?

 

[Brannon]

Every English speaking country uses Burma officially and few recognize Myanmar at all. So its not surprising that journalists use Burma instead of Myanmar"

Hey, let's go ahead and call it Myanmar from now on. Let the newspapers of the world say that Myanmar Government Fails to Help It's People.

It just might do something.

 

[shibby]

On NPR this morning they were talking about the situation and they said that the Myanmar government was accepting aid supplies, but didn't want anyone to come into the country saying they could distribute it just fine themselves.

ToxicAdam has a point, how do we know that these numbers are not being inflated for the purpose of getting extra money by their government?

There's no way for extraneous groups to judge the death toll if they aren't being allowed in is there?

 

[jamesinclair]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/09/myanmar/index.html#cnnSTCPhoto

Take a look at the link, it shows Burma before and after the cyclone, huge areas of land are flooded.

 

[whytemyke]

It's called Myanmar. Not Burma. I guess, asking journalists to get their facts right is a bit too much to ask for some times.

Myanmar is how they spell "Burma" in Burmese. So yes, it really is Burma. The "my" is a B in Burmese, "an" is AH, etc.




UN is now getting more pissed. Guess all that food they dropped is now just sitting on the tarmac cuz the guvmint won't do shit about it.

ToxicAdam has a point, how do we know that these numbers are not being inflated for the purpose of getting extra money by their government?

The official government number is 22,000. The 100,000 mark is coming from the US Envoy to the country, while the half a million mark is coming from the UN. But I think you can rest assured the government doesn't want help or attention. The worst thing that could happen to the junta is if the world started actually caring about them.

 

[fortified_concept]

Even by your standards this is ridiculous. President Clinton was forced to cut short a visit to your country because of massive riots protesting NATO's Bosnia intervention. Whatever you think about Iraq, the war only happened after years and years of diplomacy and UN votes. Not even the most crazed neocon warmonger is going to go to war with a country a week after a disaster happens over the control of aid supplies.

Grow up people, if bad taste has any meaning then using something like this for political point scoring on the internets is it.

Did you notice the "last solution" part in my post? I'm not saying start bombing them now, far from it, I'm saying put severe economic and diplomatic pressure on them and as the last solution do something about it since the junta is responsible for a lot more than this tragedy.

Also your example was pretty bad. First of all don't assume my positions based on the positions of my idiotic country. Second the specific huge demonstrations -turned to riots- were against the Kosovo war not Bosnia and let me tell you noone was innocent in that war. Not the disgusting Serbian generals with their known tactics not the albanian nationalistic scum who believe in the "Great Albania" and had forced years ago the innocent Serbians out of their homes in Kosovo -noone. And it certainly it wasn't a genocide, more like the usual bullshit propaganda.

 

[Guileless]

Diplomatic pressure preceding any kind of military force is measured in months if not years, certainly nothing that would help these desperate people. And the only country or alliance capable of doing it is the United States or NATO led by the United States. And if doing that in Europe on behalf of Muslims causes a furor in a fellow NATO ally like Greece, what would happen if the US did it halfway across the world to Asians in a country that China would consider within its sphere of influence? The idea is preposterous, even before you take into account the current standing the Bush Administration is held in across the world.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

The U.S. couldn't put troops on the ground in New Orleans very fast to take control there. What makes anyone think they could do better in Burma?

 

[Ephemeris]

Wow.. just wow..


How can these people just do nothing to help themselves?

 

[WickedAngel]

The U.S. couldn't put troops on the ground in New Orleans very fast to take control there. What makes anyone think they could do better in Burma?

The government could have had troops in there the next day, with permission.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Their refusal seems extremely incomprehensible. Maybe the government might actually wish to decrease the population. For a twisted, fucked up reason they might have been actually hoping for a genocide.

Nah, they dont give a fuck as long as they rule someone with an iron fist.

 

[CharlieDigital]

Just curious: what would the US reaction be if there was a huge earthquake in California resulting in tens of thousands of dead and missing and China offered to send 100,000 troops, a fleet of warships, military cargo planes, and so on to help in humanitarian aid?

Yeah, somehow, I don't think that would work out very well.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

People really need to stop confusing cyclone with tornado. A cyclone is the same thing as a hurricane.

I was previously confused about this is well. Is there a particular reason this one has been consistently referred to a cyclone? I thought "hurricane" and "typhoon" were pretty standard. A regional thing?

 

[Chumly]

Just curious: what would the US reaction be if there was a huge earthquake in California resulting in tens of thousands of dead and missing and China offered to send 100,000 troops, a fleet of warships, military cargo planes, and so on to help in humanitarian aid?

Yeah, somehow, I don't think that would work out very well.

Are you dumb? Just curious because that makes no sense at all.

The whole reason why Myanmar needs aid is because they cant handle a disaster like the one currently.

 

[Chumly]

I was previously confused about this is well. Is there a particular reason this one has been consistently referred to a cyclone? I thought "hurricane" and "typhoon" were pretty standard. A regional thing?

Atlantic Ocean = Hurricane
Pacific Ocean = Typhoon
Indian Ocean = Cyclone

All the same thing

 

[lunarworks]

Just curious: what would the US reaction be if there was a huge earthquake in California resulting in tens of thousands of dead and missing and China offered to send 100,000 troops, a fleet of warships, military cargo planes, and so on to help in humanitarian aid?

Yeah, somehow, I don't think that would work out very well.

Canada's army had planes full of rescue and and relief personnel and equipment on the tarmac gassed and ready to go right after Katrina. The US government said "no thanks", and proceeded to bungle it on their own for a while before finally accepting our offer.

So yes, there's precedent.

 

[Walshicus]

Canada's army had planes full of rescue and and relief personnel and equipment on the tarmac gassed and ready to go right after Katrina. The US government said "no thanks", and proceeded to bungle it on their own for a while before finally accepting our offer.

So yes, there's precedent.

From a state you have a near complete military alliance with...