PRESS RELEASE
Myanmar Crisis:
Head to Head Between U.S. and U.K.
May 17 (EIRNS)—British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said an invasion of Myanmar is on the table, while the U.S. Defense Department and USAID continue to put politics aside, delivering huge quantities of supplies to the Myanmar government to save the victims of the cyclone. Brown today said that an invasion is justified because the Myanmar regime is guilty of "failing to act to allow the international community to do what it wants to do." A better characterization of the British Empire outlook would be hard to find.
Meanwhile, four more U.S. C-130 cargo planes landed in Yangon Friday, with four more scheduled Saturday and Sunday, in addition to dozens of planes from the Red Cross and other countries and agencies. The breakthrough by the U.S. came last Monday when U.S. PACCOM chief Adm. Timothy Keating and USAID chief Henrietta Fore flew into Yangon on a C-130 and agreed to hand over all aid to the Myanmar government for distribution. As a result of the cooperation, two of the planeloads Friday were turned over to charities rather than the military.
A picture of USAID chief Fore shaking hands with the Myanmar Navy chief, with big smiles on both their faces, is driving the neocon press bonkers. Forty-three members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Bush demanding that the U.S. join the British, French, Germans, and others in their threat to invade Myanmar, and denouncing the U.S. effort to save lives now being pursued.
French Ambassador to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert said the Myanmar refusal to allow military forces from (hostile) nations like France into their country to deliver the aid "could lead to a true crime against humanity." The French have a warship off the coast, supposedly loaded with supplies, but refuse to unload the shipment unless Myanmar agrees to let them deliver it themselves.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told the press: "Myanmar is a sovereign country" which must be shown "due respect."
