If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings, you might just remember that moment when you see the Elves arriving at Helm's Deep, at a time when the Rohirrim thought that nobody would ever come to help in the fight against Saruman. I remember well, because so many things happen in this world when that moment comes again and again, and nobody ever decides not to let people in need stand alone. Rwanda and Darfur come to mind. Man-made wars.
But now, here comes this case. This case is, in most people's minds, so unequivocal, that our inability to react to it will be perceived by most as deeply unethical. Here comes a time when, struck by the force of nature, a government fails an entire nation...and we stand here to watch and pontificate on whether it would be legal for the UN to send troops to Myanmar. Too bad we know exactly why Russia and China voted against a UN resolution in favour of stronger UN intervention in Myanmar (two words: Tibet and Chechnya).
Burma continues to reject help
Burma's military rulers still oppose foreign aid workers helping the many thousands left destitute and in danger of disease by Cyclone Nargis.
Vice-Admiral Soe Thein said Burma was grateful for an aid shipment from the US, which arrived on Monday, but said there was no need for aid workers.
The UN has warned of the risk of a "second catastrophe" unless a massive aid operation is put in place rapidly.
The organisation is calling for a "transport corridor" to be set up.
The UN's humanitarian chief, Elisabeth Byrs, reiterated the international community's exasperation with Burma's ruling junta.
"We are only seeing the peak of the iceberg, and the situation risks becoming a lot more dramatic if there isn't an acceleration of humanitarian aid," she told journalists in the Swiss city of Geneva.
'Haphazard' delivery
The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis is approaching 32,000 - but observers fear the final count will be much higher.
Ms Byrs said 55,000 tonnes of rice would be needed to feed the 750,000 people estimated to be in danger for three months. Half of the rice would need to be imported.
So far, she said, the World Food Programme had been able to send only 361 tonnes of food aid - and distribute just 175 tonnes.
Emergency help has been held up by Burma's rulers, who have accepted the aid but refused to allow experts from overseas to co-ordinate its delivery.
Aid agencies say much of the food and equipment arriving in the country is not getting to those who need it because the junta does not have the organisation to transport it.
A BBC correspondent inside Burma says aid delivery is haphazard and private citizens have begun to distribute water and cakes from the backs of their cars rather than waiting for the soldiers to help.
French news agency AFP reported that the military had imposed a curfew in some of the worst-affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta region over fears that rice rations would be stolen.
"You can't go out after 7pm because the soldiers will shoot," a 60-year-old man from the village of Pyin Ka Yaing told an AFP reporter there.
Apparently, it can also take about 3 hours for a European national on Burmese ground to get a tourist visa, but if you happen to be a relief worker, you will simply not be allowed in.
I guess this is what the ruling junta wants, ahead of the upcoming constitutional referendum which could keep them in power for a very long time still. Which makes me wonder whether the area struck by the cyclone would have voted, before the events, against or in favor of the junta remaining in power.
Never underestimate a bureaucracy's instinct for self-preservation.
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