Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Editorial: Aid by any means necessary
By DI Editorial Board
The Daily Iowan U. Iowa
May 15, 2008

Earlier this month, a cyclone ripped through Burma, quickly becoming one of the largest and deadliest natural disasters since the 2004 tsunami that killed thousands in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, among other countries. While the global response to the tsunami was widely televised and reported, we've seen substantially less conversation regarding the current crisis in Burma - but it's not for a lack of trying. The ruling government, an isolated military regime, has been reluctant to allow any aid to reach a large swath of citizens affected by the cyclone. The situation there has become so dire that *Time* has even been so bold as to suggest invasion as a means to get aid to those still at risk.

In an interview Monday, President Bush said about the crisis in Burma and the response of its dictatorial leaders: "Here they are with a major catastrophe on their hands, and [they] do not allow there to be the full kind of might of a compassionate world to help them." According to one AP article, aid workers there have reported that some survivors in the region are being distributed "spoiled or poor-quality food." It's becoming more apparent that the ruling junta is prepared to let its people die as a means to conserve its own power. If allowed to do so - while the entire world looks on in horror - it would be an embarrassment to the international community.

According to the United Nations, more than 1 million people are still at risk of disease in Burma. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "I want to register my deep concern - and immense frustration - at the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis." If the government does not begin cooperating with aid agencies soon, more drastic measures may have to be taken to ensure that more innocent lives are not lost.

On Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC reported new Red Cross estimates that more than 127,000 people may die in Burma as a result of the cyclone and a lack of aid resources. In light of the disaster, the global community should begin to reassess its position on the ruling regime there. In the same *Time* article that questioned whether invasion is an option to ensure aid gets into the hands of the people, authors used Bosnia and the Sudan as precedence for aid without consent in the past. If the ruling government does not allow full access to the sick and dying soon, perhaps it's time the United Nations and the world's powers take the initiative. If Burma's government isn't willing to help, certainly there are other governments that might.

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