The disaster of Burma's dictatorship

ႀသစေႀတးလ်သတင္းစာတစ္ေစာင္ကအယ္ဒီတာရဲ.အာေဘာ္ကုိအေရးအသားႀကဳိက္လုိ.
ကူးၿပီးတင္ထားတာပါ။

THE catastrophic cyclone that continues to heap such misery on Burma has served to throw into relief a more enduring horror afflicting its 55 million hapless citizens – the brutal military dictatorship running the county.

As one of the most oppressive pariah states on the planet, the iron-fisted junta allows in few tourists, drastically curbs the media and restricts foreign visitors to a minimum.

By keeping the prying eyes of the the world at bay and its own citizens in the dark, the totalitarian rulers have used isolationist tactics to camouflage a multitude of policy disasters and human-rights abuses.

Now, as the concerned world makes repeated appeals for Burma to open its doors to desperately needed foreign aid and disaster experts, the nation's brutal rulers dilly-dally.

With more than 100,000 dead and millions homeless, the need for speed in providing properly targeted relief is self-evident.

But even United Nations officials have encountered "enormous difficulties" in obtaining visas.

Rattled by the sheer scale of the disaster, the regime appears confused about how to respond to countries across the world – including Australia – which have pronouced themselves "ready, willing and able" to help.

When the last major natural disaster stuck Burma – the Indian Ocean tsumani of 2004 – the regime spurned offers of international relief. This time, the annihilation of large tracts of the country has increased pressure to accept outside help.

Delays in getting assistance to survivors have added to the levels of suffering and to the death toll.

Young children without access to clean water and food are especially vulnerable and need immediate help to survive.

The regime's unwillingness to act decisively could spark a second humanitarian crisis, the spread of waterborne disease.

Millions of displaced people are also at risk of malaria if they sleep in the open.

Another telling index of the generals' lack of concern for the welfare of the Burmese people was their failure to take appropriate action when warned of the severity of the looming storm a full two days before it struck.

The cyclone and its tragic aftermath have served as a timely reminder of the folly of totalitarian systems of government everywhere. Ultimately, they tend to cave from within, buckling under the weight of the regime's many faults.

The Soviet Union and East Germany ultimately were crippled by the unworkable nature of a state-controlled economy.

If any hope can come from such a horrific natural disaster, it is that it will prove the catalyst for the demise of Burma's severely flawed regime.

Through its timid and grossly inadequate response to the cyclone disaster, the regime has shown itself utterly incapable of governing in the interests of Burma's people.

 Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by The Editor, Melvin Mansell, 31 Waymouth St, Adelaide, SA 5000.