Burma's "Malign Neglect"

The following was posted on Huffington Post: Burma's Criminal Malign Neglect.

Burma is making China look like a world leader on human rights. The troops in China are moving out in force to help Chinese eathquake victims, while in Burma the troops have blocked the way to relief from the devastation of the Nargis cyclone.

Now, 11 days since the cyclone, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC today that the junta was guilty of "malign neglect" and that he would be amazed if 100,000 Burmese have not already died, with "hundreds of thousands" more at risk of starvation and disease.

He says that a natural disaster is turning into a "humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions". Afraid that epidemics may already be starting, relief agencies have thrown themselves into the logistics of the enormous challenge, especially in the Irrawaddy Delta, only to find soldiers blocking their way at the behest of the Burma's ailing xenophobic dictator, Senior General Than Shwe.