Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Am I Emotionally Exhausted?

If you ask me to describe myself, I will tell you that I am heartless, despotic, selfcentered and a dozen other less than flattering words. People laugh and think I am joking. I am not.

It's true and so is this.........I could give a fat rat's ass about Burma. If you are too stupid to let us in to help you, then fuck ya.

Nervous junta places itself above its people
By Mary O'Kane
The pictures that have begun to roll in, of Burma's survivors struggling to clear debris and searching for clean water and food in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, depict an emergency situation with a vital element missing: help.

In stark contract to its capacity to deploy tens of thousands against monk-led peaceful demonstrations last year, the Burmese military capacity to respond to this natural disaster is almost non-existent.

At the same time, it's all hands on deck for the international humanitarian relief effort. Non-government organisations (NGO) working on humanitarian aid in Burma are working at full throttle preparing their responses. Governments, including Australia's, have pledged essential assistance. Yet as of today, the military regime has refused assistance from the United States, delayed visas for humanitarian aid workers to enter the country, and a UN assessment team is still waiting in Bangkok to fly to Burma.

The luckiest thing that can happen to you after a natural disaster is to have the United States Navy right there in your neighborhood to help you. It happened that way for Burma. The Navy is right effing there! We were there for Cobra Gold (Yes, I am a geek for knowing this). We participate in this exercise every spring along with Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

We are sitting right there waiting to help. The USS Harper's Ferry , the USS Juneau, the USS Blue Ridge, the USS Kitty Hawk carrier strike group and the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier are sitting off shore unable to do anything because the government of Burma is vying for a national Darwin Award.

So my friend Admiral Tim Keating looks concerned and petrurbed.......but I don't.

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