The Junta Still Drags Its Feet After Deadly Cyclone

While the junta continues to drag its feet to deal with the overwhelming devastation to Myanmar (Burma), a UN delegation finally arrived in the country to survey the damage.

Meanwhile, the US Navy and Marine Corps are positioning ships and equipment for providing assistance once it is requested and the junta provides its approval.

The U.S. military is stepping up preparations for a humanitarian mission to Myanmar.

Though the country's military junta has not accepted the offer of help, the U.S. Air Force is moving more airplanes to a staging area in neighboring Thailand.

And a U.S. defense official says the Navy has started sending helicopters to be closer to Myanmar as well, should approval come.

The Navy and Marine Corps happen to have ships and thousands of service members in the area this week for a multinational exercise on humanitarian missions.

An official said that because it would take the ships several days to get there, some of their helicopters are being sent ahead. When the ships are finished off loading their helicopters, they will get under way later Thursday.

The junta has refused to grant permission for US forces to provide humanitarian aid. Every day that the junta continues to drag its feet means more Burmese people die. It's really that simple. The US military has three ships in the region that were engaging in humanitarian relief exercises that could be deployed to provide immediate assistance and several heavy airlift planes positioned in Thailand to provide additional assistance and airlift of materials from around the region.

The junta has stonewalled and backtracked on outside assistance days after saying that they needed help. That's what you get when you have a corrupt and incompetent government operating during a natural disaster.

UPDATE:
One has to wonder what the junta is really afraid of. Are they afraid that they're going to lose power because foreign countries, including the US will provide aid and that they aren't going to be the ones distributing it to their cronies or withholding it from perceived opponents? Or, is it because the world will know about the corpses floating in rivers and streams because there's simply no place to bury them? Or maybe it's the rotting stench of death that overwhelms much of the coast?

The junta's clearly trying to hold onto power, and the cyclone has dealt them a blow that the opposition groups couldn't when they were protesting several months back. Fear is governing what the junta is doing, and that means that the Burmese people will continue suffering.

UPDATE:
A bird's eye view of the devastation - before and after photos of Burma. Another set of comparison photos is here.

UPDATE:
500,000 dead? That's what the Sun is reporting.

THE death toll in cyclone-ravaged Burma could hit 500,000 – more than TWICE the total killed by the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Last night’s warning came as it emerged that 17 Britons, including ex-pats and backpackers, were still missing.

Sources said 200,000 people were already dead or dying.

But the figure could rise to HALF A MILLION through disease and hunger if the nation’s hardline army rulers continue to block aid for the devastated lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta.

I'm not sure how much to believe that figure, but it is plausible, and could explain why the junta isn't quite willing to let in foreign countries to see the devastation. It would expose the utter failure of the regime.

Rangoon is a complete wreck. The UN says that 1.5 million Burmese were affected by the storm, which makes the half a million dead seem out of proportion, but then again, villages were simply wiped away by storm surge, so anything is possible. The junta hasn't updated its figures today, but holds to a figure of 22,980 dead with 42,119 missing as of Tuesday.