Myanmar, 10 days later

Today is the 10th day since Cyclone Nargis touched down in Myanmar. By my count, so far, 2 people from the UN’s emergency response team have been given visas, and one from the World Food Program. Meantime, the death toll continues to rise unabatedly. Some are saying more than 1 million could die.

To blame the government of Myanmar is useless at this point. They don’t care about people dying–to them, this is population control, especially since the hardest hit areas were the poorest, filled with opposition supporters.

The military junta is denying outside help because it wants to be responsible for any relief effort, both to convince themselves and everyone else that they are in control, and to meld support the referendum that was voted on last Saturday. Also, the infamously reclusive state doesn’t want to open up to internationals, for fear that they could incite or support an democracy movement.

What’s shocking is that the international community, especially the UN, is being pushed around by a rogue state. But we’re used to the UN not being able to act even in the most drastic circumstances, in Rwanda, and present day, in Darfur.

The UN can’t force aid on the country, as suggested by Bernard Kouchner. But it can press other buttons, like kicking the country out of the UN. Why not threaten that? Meantime, there is no foreseeable solution.