Hello Mallika and Everyone,

Interesting because I was asking myself just that same question a few weeks ago while reading about Haiti, Zimbabwae, and other Nations where the rule of the few is the cause of great suffering for the many. How many Nations have sold the ruling government the weapons that control the population and contribute to this suffering, many, I suspect.

REally, I have no clue.

have a great weekend, ruth

Dear Mallika

Thank you for a second Myanmar blog.

In my personal opinion, it is not justified to invade Myanmar, even if thousands of deaths result.

But do you think Myamnar's military would shoot down relief planes doing unauthorized airdrops, if the relief agencies flying the planes are unassociated with other countries' governments? I think they would not. The question is, does anyone have the guts and nearby airports so it can happen?

love, h

By all means possible...it is wrong to watch this kind of needless dying, and political posturing.
How will food and medicine being supplied and donated get to its proper destination?
If not it will go unused. How immoral.

Hi Heather,

I just noticed where you seemed upset that many people were not commenting or posting on Myanmar.

For me, I purposely did not want to comment on Myanmar, even though I am aware of the great suffering that is going on there, as I write, because I just recently experienced loss, in my extended family, of someone's very young child so I have not wanted to take on more than I can chew in the pain and suffering area, and, that is, what I like about Intentblog, you get to pick and choose what you want to get involved in on any given day.

Choosing not to comment or write about a certain topic does not mean people are not concerned or caring there can be as many reasons as there are people for ignoring or bypassing a topic.

And, I think it is interesting and great that you chose to write about it, that it moved you so and you expressed it so well here at Intentblog....

have a great day, Heather, ruth

If more than 100,000 people die of cyclone, I am for Invading Myanmar. Proposed invasion is not without questions.

1. Who will invade?

2. If USA and western ally invade, they would face situation like Vietnam war.

3. India will never invade.

4. If China invades Myanmar, it would be not good. It may be worse. Invasion of Myanmar by China may weaken neighbor's of Myanmar and they will be the next target.

No other country can invade Myanmar.

So what's the option.

By the way cyclone Nargis has already invaded Myanmar.

Why would USA and its Ally invade Myanmar? I do not think that Myanmar has large stock of oil underground.

They just have weak human, rice and forest which are of no use to western developed countries.

India is the country which should invade Myanmar, which China would not allow.

Come to your senses, Mallika!

NO, NO, and NO.

Question: who suffers in today's wars?
Answer: the poor and the civilians.

Q: Who just got totally disenfranchised by Nargis?
Answer: the poor and the civilians.

So you are proposing to go into a disaster zone and impose a a war zone on top of it?

Did you think about this before you posted?

I think Intentblog should create an invading army of its own. It should invade countries in difficulties and help them.

Myanmar accepts help or not, they should be invaded with food, shelter and medicine immediately.

All these things should reach the border and at the sea shore of Myanmar.

Their government will accept it. They have no other way.

UN and Red cross have to play big role.

Once the situation turns normal, UN should use its power to build Myanmar, specially providing them with better housing which can withstand cyclones.

Bombing them with food would be quite appropriate they do not really have an air force. Brute force would not be desired.

It really comes down to intention. The other question is how many lives would it save and what if it was your children being held hostage by these leaders?

Would you use force to safe the life of your children? Are they not your children if we are one?

Force and defense can be used to stop a malevolent force from destroying life, including termination of the malevolent force, yet in this circumstance we do not have actual physical aggression or just the creation of circumstance.

The few oppressing the many applies in many countries including China and The United States some are a little more civil about it but they all resort to brute force including the United States if some do not comply they forcibly overcome and lock one up in jail. Ultimately those that do not conform are subjected to brute force. We have law by brute force on this planet which is an issue.

How to remove these "few" and their grip on the controls is a question to be answered for the whole planet. Perhaps by creating incentive we could get it done or empowering the populations to act in unity using presence with intent.

As for Geopolitical boundaries and laws, on the planet made up by a few, they have no meaning to the owners of the planet as the human population has only guest status on the planet.

Violence (destruction of life) is the only crime that would require one to be apprehended, in a world of truth there is no need for these additional laws and divisions.

Truth is the ultimate authority.

However the actions of the rulers in this country have resulted in negligent homicide a type of violence which is a crime viewed through the eyes of truth.

How to apprehend and detain them for correction using some non-lethal manner is a good question.

If there was some way to embrace and transform this would be the best option, but there may not be time.

What may happen is the people will, having nothing to lose, swarm the government and leaders.

Perhaps this can be used to convince them.

I suppose the leaders are also acting out of fear of reprisal for their past transgressions.

Decisions such as this should be collective decisions made by the planets citizenry working in unity as one, geopolitics aside. They are not to be made by individuals or individual nations who may be influenced in their decision making by individual interests and desires.

It's not just what you do, it's important how and why you do it. If one is offering/air-dropping food & supplies, but the accompanying feelings are (even partially) "you rulers are evil, incompetent, etc", that will get a different response (and earn different karma) than if it were accompanied by nothing but love and kindness and a lack of judgement.

No its not justified Mallika, not at all. Can you blame them for not wanting our milatary there. Our Job: ask them what they need and get it there, thats it. If they want us physically in there country helping, they will ask for it.

Yogi-one, I must come to Mallika's defense. Mallika merely poses the question in this forum and initiates the dialogue here. I don't think she was taking any one position regarding this tragic dilemma. In fact, the majority of her comment was quoted directly from the Time Article. So, Mallika has already 'come to her senses' and I am quite sure she does think quite profoundly before posting anything.

Though some of these posts may be 'hot button' issues, let's always remember to be very thoughtful and respectful of each other here - as there are many voices and each needs to be heard.

Peace,

Kai

Questions are always great, unless they are answered from some context. Context again has it's own levels. Deepak might believe that it is time to invade Burma for a spiritual cause and contrast it with Iraq. Gotham might think it is funny that Bush doesn't want to preach democracy in Burma and Al Gore had warned of one such calamity. But a practical point of view is to do what is best for the people who are suffering, and do that within the limitations of current situation.

In such situations, we need to act from a different level - one that promotes immediate action and releif dedicated to alleviate the suffering of victims, now.

Report on Myanmar, from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/world/asia/11scene.html

"Cyclone Toll in Myanmar Is Raised to Nearly 32,000

"BANGKOK — The authorities in Myanmar allowed a United States military aircraft to land with relief supplies Monday, crossing a barrier that has prevented the delivery of large-scale aid to more than a million victims of the May 3 cyclone, even as the country’s state media reported that the death toll had risen to just under 32,000.

"State television has put the death toll at 31,938 with 29,770 people missing. The United Nations raised its estimate Monday to between 62,000 and 100,000 dead.

"United Nations officials said that the distribution of most deliveries of international relief supplies were still being blocked to the most badly affected parts of the country. They say help is reaching fewer than one-third of those in need.

"A group of high-level officials greeted the unarmed C-130 transport plane carrying in the first American aid, in an extraordinary scene of cooperation between two nations whose only relations in recent years have been acrimonious.

"In a sign that this was more than simply a cargo delivery, the aircraft also carried Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the commander of the United States military in the Pacific.

"In a telephone interview, Admiral Keating said that it had been years, if not decades, since an American military officer of his rank had visited Myanmar.

"He said the United States had about a dozen medium- and heavy-lift military helicopters on standby in Thailand, ready to assist. In addition, he said a three-ship naval task force with another dozen transport helicopters was 24 hours away, and ready to help relief efforts.

"“We told them we could come in during the day and leave at night, that they could put Burmese officials on our planes and ships, and that we would provide our own fuel,” Admiral Keating said. “We told them we wouldn’t stay a day longer than they wanted.”..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/asia/13myanmar.html

Actually Life Coach, why would the UN help rebuild Burma? It has no oil for food program to speak of.

Unfortunately the CIA can't go in with covert ops to usurp the government anymore. The UN has apparently very little influence. This horribly brutal junta would rather let it's own people die than accept help. They will have blood on their hands and certainly aren't scoring any PR points.

Gee if only Burma did have oil...

Steve

"BANGKOK — Myanmar continued to restrict most large-scale deliveries of relief supplies Tuesday...

"...Save the Children...had surveyed the Irrawaddy Delta by air in recent days...trucks and helicopters would not be enough to deliver the aid needed...The Myanmar government reportedly has five working helicopters...

"...the United States offered to send in search-and-rescue teams and disaster-relief experts, but the junta refused...the government had also rebuffed teams from China, Bangladesh, Singapore, Thailand...

"...Mr. Ban [UN Secretary General] expressed “deep concern” and “immense frustration” with what he called the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis by the government of Myanmar.

"In unusually blunt language for a United Nations leader, Mr. Ban said: “This is not about politics; it is about saving peoples lives. There is absolutely no more time to lose.”...

"...the foreign policy chief of the European Union, Javier Solana, said that if the government continued to bar large-scale aid, outside donors should find a way to deliver it anyway.

"We have to use all the means to help those people," he said. "The United Nations charter opens some avenues if things cannot be resolved in order to get the humanitarian aid” to arrive..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/world/asia/14myanmar.html

UN is impotent, but boy can they do a great job in reporting disasters and horrific tradgedies, but very little teeth. Such is the world we live in when nations all try to act and behave the same way. It's called Normists. John Bolton writes a great piece about the UN in the latest edition of Hillsdale's College

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp

Warning, John Bolton has never been a guest blogger on Intent, therefore may be viewed with caution.

Steve

I've posted an update from a non-profit org that I support and has been able to work within Burma to help with the victims and bodies, note at the bottom the reason why the country name Burma is still used by those who oppose the junta:

American Jewish World Service-www.ajws.org

May 13, 2008 - The effects of Cyclone Nargis, which ripped through Burma* on May 2, are continuing to cause devastation throughout the country. While the official death toll has risen to more than 30,000, aid agencies estimate that the number of dead could be as high as 100,000. At least one million people are currently homeless. This could be the world's deadliest natural disaster since the tsunami of 2004.

AJWS has been making grants focused on Burma since 2002 and has long-standing partnerships with grassroots organizations in the region. Through this network of organizations, AJWS is providing food, water, cooking equipment, shelter, clothing and health services to those most in need. AJWS is also supporting cremation and funeral services for the victims of Cyclone Nargis: this is essential to prevent the spread of disease and to protect water supplies from further contamination.

Grassroots relief efforts are key to reaching out to the people of Burma at this time, as the junta that controls the country is still refusing entry visas to aid workers and restricting access to the most badly affected communities. In the words of an AJWS contact in the region, who cannot be named for security reasons: "It is appalling... the suffering and devastation that have resulted are of alarming magnitude."

As the situation on the ground in Burma continues to develop, AJWS will continue to provide updates and reports from our grantees in the region.

*The name Myanmar was given to the country by the SPDC in 1989. However, pro-democracy activists still use the old name, Burma, to vocalize their objection to military rule.

"YANGON, Myanmar — The directors of several relief organizations in Myanmar said Wednesday that some of the international aid arriving into the country for the victims of Cyclone Nargis was being stolen, diverted or warehoused by the military.

"Separately, news agencies reported a second powerful storm was heading toward the Irrawaddy Delta, the region that was ravaged most by the first storm earlier this month.

"The United States military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said there was a good chance that "a significant tropical cyclone" would form within the next 24 hours and head across the Irrawaddy delta area, The Associated Press reported.

"The aid directors declined to be quoted directly on their concerns for fear of angering the ruling junta and jeopardizing their operations, although Marcel Wagner, country director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, confirmed that aid was being diverted by the army.

"He also said it was going to be a growing problem, although he declined to give any further details because of the sensitivity of the situation.

"International aid shipments continued to arrive Wednesday, including five new air deliveries carrying American supplies. Western diplomats said their representatives at the airport were making sure the cargo was unloaded efficiently and then trucked to staging areas.

"The fate of the supplies after that, however, remained unknown..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/world/asia/15myanmar.html

Dear Mallika

Thank you for the main page MercyCorps.org link.

Unless more assistance is received, the destruction caused by Nargis will continue disrupt Myanmar, and cause suffering for many months more, because Burmese farmers who normally plant rice in May can't do it, now.

love, h