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The C-130 is the first US military aid flight to leave Thailand on Monday for Myanmar as relief supplies continued to dribble into the reclusive state nine days after the devastating Cyclone Nargis. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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UTAPAO AIR BASE (Thailand) - THE first US military flight to cyclone-ravished Myanmar on Monday carried both enough aid for 30,000 people and a strong diplomatic message - to let more in, now.
'We're limited only by the permission of the authorities in Burma,' Admiral Timothy J. Keating, the commander of the US military in the Pacific, said just before boarding the plane to Yangon.
Myanmar is also known as Burma.
Adm Keating went to Yangon to try to personally negotiate with Myanmar's ruling junta for a larger role for his troops in saving lives there.
He said the US military could send in as much as 200,000 pounds (90,700 kilos) of aid each day - nearly 10 times the amount that was on the first plane.
'We can bring anything that can be put in the back of a C-130,' he said.
Also, American military helicopters and boats could provide a huge boost for international aid groups that need transportation and support, he said.
US diplomatic and military officials have been pushing hard for approval to unleash the American troops on the disaster.
The military effort has been limited to a mere trickle, however, because Myanmar's isolated and deeply suspicious governing junta has refused or severely restricted outside help.
The C-130 took off from Thailand's Utapao Air Base, southwest of Bangkok, loaded with 28,000 pounds (12,700 kilogrammes) of supplies, including mosquito nets, blankets and water in an operation dubbed 'Joint Task Force Caring Response'.
While allowing even one US military flight in was seen as a huge breakthrough, officials said it was nowhere near enough, and expressed frustration with Myanmar's reluctance to open its doors.
'We know it is a small salve to fix a big wound,' Mr Eric John, the US ambassador to Thailand, said of the first flight. 'Let them in, let them save lives.'
The US military has a considerable amount to offer, as it demonstrated after the deadly tsunami that hit the area in 2004. The troops also helped with relief efforts after cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh last year.
They are in a particularly good position to help now.
Adm Keating said more than 11,000 troops are in Thailand for an annual exercise - called Cobra Gold - along with four naval ships led by the USS Essex, which is like a mini aircraft carrier that has a long reach through helicopters on board and is able to launch amphibious landings in hard-to-reach places.
More ships - including two aircraft carrier battle groups - could reach the area quickly but are for the time being hovering back in international waters. Their inclusion would vastly improve the logistics of any relief effort.
Officials have said that they will not force the issue - no aid will be flown in without the Myanmar government's permission.
Monday's flight was filled with humanitarian aid, such as blankets, mosquito nets and water that was provided by a governmental aid agency, not the military itself, and officials stressed that the flight was unarmed.
The US will send two more relief flights into cyclone-hit Myanmar on Tuesday, an aid official said, hours after the first flight of emergency supplies landed in the country.
'Today's flight is just the first step and we hope they will allow us to do more in the future. It's really just up to what the Burmese will allow us to do,' said Lt Col Douglas Powell, the US Marines spokesman for the operation.
The junta regularly attacks the United States in state media, accusing Washington of aiding Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party and of training dissidents.
The regime's suspicions have been hardened by US sanctions imposed a decade ago over rights abuses and Aung San Suu Kyi's detention.
Since the Iraq war, junta leader Than Shwe has also become nervous that Washington could be planning some kind of regime change in Myanmar, analysts said.
'Burmese generals, especially General Than Shwe, are very paranoid,' said Mr Win Min, a Myanmar military analyst based in Thailand.
The United States is one of the fiercest critics of Myanmar's junta, which Washington accuses of widespread rights abuses and of failing to make good on promised democratic reforms.
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted last week that the delivery of cyclone aid is 'not a matter of politics'.
UN says up to 100,000 dead or missing in Myanmar
Up to 100,000 people may be dead or missing in the Myanmar cyclone, the United Nations humanitarian agency said on Sunday, warning of environmental damage, violence and mass migration.
Following assessments of 38 affected townships, it estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 people were dead or missing in Cyclone Nargis, which struck flimsy dwellings with fierce winds and waves on the night of May 2.
According to Myanmar's state television on Monday, the death toll from Myanmar's devastating Cyclone Nargis has risen to 31,938, with 1,403 people injured and 29,770 still missing.
The cyclone had 'likely resulted in acute environmental issues that could pose an immediate risk to human life and health', the UN report said.
It said migration and violence were also emerging as problems in the poor southeast Asian country, where a succession of military juntas have ruled with an iron grip for 46 years.
'Given the gravity of the situation including the lack of food and water, some partners have reported fears for security, and violent behaviour in the most severely afflicted areas,' the report said.
'Some assessments have suggested that people are coping by migrating outwards from the most affected to less affected areas in search of the basic necessities.'
The junta has been sharply criticised for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending storm to responding slowly to offers of help.
Though international assistance has started trickling in, the few foreign relief workers who have been allowed entry into Myanmar have been restricted to the largest city of Yangon.
Only a handful have succeeded in getting past checkpoints into the worst-affected areas.
Austrian, German Red Cross to send water specialists to Myanmar
The Austrian Red Cross said on Monday it would send three Austrian and several German drinking-water specialists to cyclone-hit Myanmar on Wednesday.
The team, which will remain on the ground for six to eight weeks, will be tasked with setting up drinking water facilities, the Red Cross said in a statement.
These can provide up to 225,000 litres of clean water per day, enough to cater to 15,000 people.
Highlighting the many challenges ahead, however, a Red Cross boat carrying rice, drinking water and other goods for more than 1,000 people sank on Sunday near hard-hit Bogalay town. All four aid workers on board were safe.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies could not say how much of the cargo has been lost, but it said the food supplies were contaminated by river water.
'Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid,' said Mr Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Yangon, who described the sinking as 'a big blow'. Other aid was increasingly getting through, the group said, but on 'nowhere near the scale required'.
Heavy showers were forecast for the coming week, further complicating delivery of aid that is still barely reaching victims in the Irrawaddy delta, which was pounded by 190-kilometre per hour winds and 4-metre-high storm surges from the sea.
The United Nations said about 2 million people were severely affected by the story. British aid group Oxfam said on Sunday that the death toll could rise to 1.5 million if people do not get clean water and sanitation soon.
Myanmar's state television said Sunday the death toll from Cyclone Nargis had gone up by about 5,000 to 28,458 - with another 33,416 missing - though some experts said it could be 15 times that if people do not get clean water and sanitation soon.
'A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime,' said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
'I would be amazed if there hadn't been about 100,000 who had died already ... what's more, hundreds of thousands more are at risk,' he told British Broadcasting Corp television. -- AP, AFP
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