22,000 dead and they don't want any help?
 

22,000 dead from a hurricane/cyclone? The numbers seem high to me but what do I know.

The "junta" doesn't want our help. They must think we'll over throw them and steal all thier oil. We've tried saving people from themselves before and it ain't workin' too well.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354274,00.html

The numbers dont seem high when you think of the overcrowded clusterf*ck that is over there. You don't want help now? We offered and you're on the record. Some libs will be complaining we didn't do anything in a few weeks.

too bad

There will thousands more casualties because they refuse our help, tens of thousands.

Do you suppose if we parked a carrier off their coast, started giving them food and clean water, and medical care for the injured, they would start shooting at us.

Refreshing to me that someone wants to take care of their own problems. We can't save the world, nor can we afford to at this time.

The article is misleading. The residents are furious that the reigning suedo government gave them no notification that the storm was coming. They want our help, there government does not.

Dave, that is so completely ridiculous, it makes my brain hurt to even think that you seriously believe this is the case

All citizens are subject to good or poor decisions of their respective governments. We're no different.

We did the right thing and offered help. They declined. Fine. It means we don't have to borrow more money from another source to help. Maybe the Saudis or the Chinese will offer to help and they'll accept.

Already happening. The link on Drudge is to another article and there's a blurb from Ed Markey (D-MA) at the end of it, saying we should have had more assets in place to respond to this, but because of Iraq, we didn't. Uh huh. Another natural disaster blamed on Bush and Iraq.

Bush hates natural disasters.

no, he likes disasters, hates the victims, especially if they are not white Republicans

You think the gubmint of Myanmar refused our help because they wanted to take care of their own problems, seriously?

China refused our help when they had a monster quake in the mid-70's that killed over 200,000. Plenty of places refuse our help and for a variety of reasons. Sadly, the main reason is probably that they don't know how to issue visas quickly to people from countries with whom they have no diplomatic relations. But then there's the whole shame issue, in which they don't want outsiders seeing how backwards their country really is. And there are espionage concerns as well and they are not unfounded. We may not have been the largest monetary donor after the tsunami of 2004. But we were the only country with the military assets in the neighborhood that could rescue people and deliver relief very quickly. I'm sure a place like Myanmar doesn't want any American spies mixed in with relief workers.

Thankfully, they have now asked for international assistance. Left to the military alone, the catastrophe would be twice as bad.

I have no idea what their motives are. Apparently they feel they CAN handle the situation to their satisfaction, or can get help from someone they are more comfortable with. So be it.

Any government who doesn't have to face its subjects or voters at the ballot box is not likely to care too much when things go badly for those people.

They are using food as a weapon to subdue potential political oponents and reward friends. Do you really need someone to spell it out to you? They are starving their population into submisson and the natural disaster is helping them. That is why they are refusing aid. Just watch, the assistance that does get in will be window dressing.

North Korea does one better. They accept the aid and then channel it to their military and their starving people know nothing about it. At least Myanmar's thugs could do the same.

the government is taking care of their problems, too many citizens survived, best to starve them to death
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/09/myanmar/index.html

The latest news is that the UN has suspended aid shipments because the govt. is confiscating it instead of letting it reach the people affected. Un-freaking-believable. :eek:

My brother works in the relief business in South Asia, (Burma is not his region, but close geographically). The Burmese govt. is only allowing visas for aid workers to enter the country who are ethnically Asian. My brother is in the process of sending them every Asian person in their organisation. Can you believe that schit? 100k people have died and they care about the ethnicity of emergency relief workers. It would be exactly like being shot and bleeding to death on the street, then refusing first aid because your do not like the race of the EMTs that show up. Astonishing.

The biggest obstacle to helping people in the developing world is always the governments.

just drop the food inland..They are not going to do squat. Well they may go to the UN....who will not do anything either..as they like living in New York.
couple of hommies from any southside hood in America could deal with these dwarf general's.
Burma has 7 helo's..2 maybe 3 running
it's Military is nothing more than F-troop in green instead of blue.
Rika