Foreign Aid Finally Trickling Into Burma As Death Toll Rises

The death toll from Cyclone Nargis in Burma is now nearly 32,000, and aid from the US and elsewhere is finally starting to trickle in to the country more than a week after the cyclone made landfall. The death toll and casualties from the cyclone has been exacerbated by the junta's unwillingness to allow aid workers enter the country to provide direct assistance. The junta sought to control every aspect of the relief efforts, to the point of refusing access and seizing aid shipments rather than allowing the aid to flow to those most in need.

Bodies are continuing to float on rivers and in flooded areas.

The first US delivered shipments of aid entered the country today, but it's a fraction of what the people need. The slow pace of relief efforts are due entirely to the junta's insatiable need to retain control. Of course, the tighter they clutch at power, the more swiftly it will slip through their hands and one can only hope that the people of Burma realize the folly of permitting the junta to remain in power.

The British government is demanding that the junta allow unfettered access for humanitarian relief efforts, but those demands continue to go unheeded.

UPDATE:
The US is looking to have three planes providing transport of aid, but the situation on the ground is dire. In one refugee camp, there are five latrines for 3,500 people (headline reads 5 for 35,000). In either case, it's woefully inadequate thanks to the junta's actions.