U.S. Delivers First Relief Aid to Burma; Critics Ponder Airdropping Aid Directly

[Attero Dominatus]

RANGOON, Burma —  A U.S. plane ferried relief to Burma, renamed Myanmar by the ruling military junta, for the first time Monday, but with 2 million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation, a radical proposal was gaining ground: Airdropping aid without the junta's approval.

Even as the death toll from Cyclone Nargis climbed to 31,938, the country's military rulers continued to bar almost all foreign experts experienced in managing humanitarian crises, saying they would handle relief efforts on their own.

With hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed in the disaster zone, refugees packed into Buddhist monasteries. Others camped in the open, drinking dirty water contaminated by dead bodies and animal carcasses. Medicine and food were sorely lacking — even as supplies bottled up at the main international airport.

"The sands of time are running out," said Britain's opposition Conservative party leader David Cameron, suggesting aid should be airdropped into Burma if the junta does not provide access soon.

"In the end what matters is getting aid through to people and feeding them and stopping them from dying," he told BBC Radio.

Burma's hermetic rulers made a huge concession Monday in letting the United States — the fiercest critic of its human rights record — bring in relief following prolonged negotiations.

The U.S. military C-130 cargo plane filled with 14 tons of mosquito nets, blankets and water was unloaded in Rangoon, the country's largest city, providing what officials said was enough to help some 30,000 victims of the May 3 disaster.

It was immediately transferred to Burmese army trucks and would be ferried by air force helicopters to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, government spokesman Ye Htut told reporters.

U.S. military officials said they hoped it would be the start of a steady flow of aid, with two more flights planned for Tuesday.

"We hope they will allow us to do more in the future," said Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, the U.S. Marines spokesman for the operation. "It's really just up to what the Burmese will allow us to do."

The U.S. ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, was more direct.

"It is important that we, and the international community, be allowed to help," he said. "Let them in. Let them save lives."

Continued: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355035,00.html