This story requires constant attention and must remain on the front page, well done. And the title is a vast improvement on the Independent's 'wind of change' quip a few days back which was tasteless and ill-advised.

It's good that the Independent has highlighted the dire situation in Burma and that Gordon Brown has spoken out about it.

Perhaps the international community should threaten to prosecute members of the junta for homicide if they fail to let aid through.

Meanwhile Avaaz.org has the bright idea to bypass the corrupt junta by funneling aid donations through Burma's Buddhist monasteries, which are firmly rooted in the community.

Good for Avaaz!

Why is the UN so impotent ?

Why isnt China told - " Convince the Junta in Burma or else?"

Why doesn't the UN including China - and apart from the USA and any other country that the Junta particularly distrusts - go into the worst affected regions with aid?

The Burmese are peaceful people and do not deserve to be left to die.

COME ON POLITICIANS>>>>>

If there is a need & justify to foreigh intervention this is the place to save the citizen of Burma I am all for it.
You do interfere Afghanistan to protect the people against the Taliban & Iraqy people (Lets not mentione the petrol & not go there)
Why not interfere the Burma on ground to help the victims & ignore the Generals?
I am asking the question to President Bush. It might help you when your lawyers defend you when you will be tried crime against humanity in the future.
According the inteligence of CIA & MOSSAD, members of HAMAZ, HEZBULLAH & REVOLUTION GUARDS OF IRAN IS IN BURMA ALLREADY so go get them by killing two birds with one stone.

Excuse to Invade Myanmar
Propaganda! And you were duped.
The "aid" offered to Myanmar is purely poltical propaganda. Neither the US nor UN care at all about saving lives. They want to give "aid" but only if it is Western "aid workers" handing it out.

Is it easier to A) Hand out food to the Burmese (or Chinese or Indians or foreign aid workers already on the ground)? or B) Invade Myanmar so that western "aid workers"(arriving from warships) can hand out the aid?

Any intelligent person sees this "aid" and evil Junta story as a sham. The same fools who believed in Iraqi WMDs are being led to war again. Where is an "Independent" media to provide intelligent analysis?

This disaster is no surprise - nor was the asian tsunami, the earthquake at baam, or any other natural disaster.

These acts of nature have always happened - the difference is, in the past when the world has a sparsely distributed population, only a few were killed and affected; now, with 6.7 billion in the world (up from 1 billion a century ago) and many living in densely populated areas and cities, any natural event will kill and affect multitudes.

And yet, as usual, there has been NO mention of overpopulation in any report of the deaths in Burma. Sad to say, but if these people hadn't been born, they wouldn't have died, would they - the same for the tsunami and the other disasters that will be happeneing regularly, as they have always done, but with devastating effect due to over-population.

Couldn't be because most people have and/or want children could it?

I also find it sadly amusing that those individuals who have been most noisy about how the west shoul not intervene against muslim dictators in iraq etc and now the ones who are criticising the west for not intervening to stop the madness of another fascistic regime. Ho hum..

none ofthe aid will reach the people of burma the military will take it for their own use and that is the reason why they want to distribute it by themselves andthey will eat the high energy biscuts they will alsotake the blankets nets canvas etc they must not be allowed to distribute by themselves they are evil anddontcare about their own people and it is high timethey are pushed out of the country they are curreptand most of the goods will be sold in the markets the US can finish the green chaps off for goog

Two things:

Burma makes money for the West via Total and Texaco and, I think, rubies. Hence no UN action.

Forget the usual charities, their aid will not get to the stricken in time. Instead use this one:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/

They have already raised almost 1 million euros in a few days, and are sending the money directly to monasteries who are there on the ground to help. Dare I say that by helping the monks to help the people, eventual change in Burma may also be possible.

DONATE NOW! Many people are dying as it's been more than 1 week since the cyclone.

PS I just realised that someone already mentioned Avaaz. Well I see no harm in mentioning them again! They are terrific.

God help these desparate people. Absolutely nothing, including their corrupt national government, should stop assistance to this suffering humanity. The USA should act independently if the U.N. is too timid. If we could massively airlift aid to Berlin after WWII, we sure could repeat that same type of airlift here; an airlift that might save ten's of thousands of lives.

If the Myanmar dictatorship remains intransigent in its refusal to allow foreign aid, then the international community will have to take some form of interventionist action, backed by military force if necessary. The world can't just sit and watch.

>> The world can't just sit and watch. <<

Are you sure about that, Dilip? I wish you were right. But the world sat and watched during the Saffron Revolution - and did nothing.

It is always with great discontent and horror that the powerless see and look at others in need, yet incapable of helping them them in any way. Because those who should be helping them aren't up to the task at hand. Should help br dropped from the sky to the people of Burma, yes it is possible but it would violate the air territory of Burma and so yet again...the incapable junta wins over.
There is a cartoon called " abug's life" in which it took a dumb ant to let the entire colony of ants they were more powerful TOGETHER against a group of crickets (the Burmese government)in order to regain their freedom from slavery the crickets had imposed unto them. If it worked in at least one country (eastern block) why doesnt it work in Burma?

i agree with billt, the UN should try to airlift supplies to people hit. however i doubt that the Burmese gov would allow any thing of the sort. i not saying wot the US did in Iraq was right, but they should realy try using force with the burmese gov. put massive presure on the gov to do sumthing and inmprove the country or else USA gets involved. USA should use their influencial powers to take control of rogue states and put them into line, okey democracy isn't perfect but its the best form of govenment we got at the moment, surly its better than a iron fisted dictatorship. so if the burmese gov refuses to help its people sufficiantly and just takes charity money for itself the US should get involve and force aid upon the country, no conquering is needed all they need to do is forced aid, protected convoys or guarded transport planes and helicopters, so that the bermese gov doesn't get it. its realy what they should do in Zimbabwe, if mugabe gets in again, its pretty obvious that he forced his way back in, judging from the mass voting and protesting before te first election, before he started his rapaging and pillaging again. so the UN should take charge and force mugabe out of power and enstate someone else. its pretty obvious that Mugabe isn't ruling the country right and that its economy has spiraled out of control by the hyperinflation. so UN action should be taken to not let MUgabe back into office

coming back on 1mean1's point, "if it worked in (eastern Bloc) then why not in Burma. there are many differences between burma and the Soviet UNion. for one you have to remeber 1956 and 68, hungary and czech, look what happened there, witht he breshnev doctrine. the people rebeled and they where crushed. the main reason communism fell between 1989 and 1991 is because both side kind of wanted it, reagan defiinatly did, and gorbachev was slowly convinced and was a bit sick od this hard line stalinist rule. secondly soviet union colapsed because it bank rupted itself. it was trying to keep up with the growing demands of the arms race with the USA. reagan invented this myth of a program called star wars that could "intersept missiles will in flight before they hit their target". this mythological proggram was partly the reason for the USSR's bankrupcy trying to keep up with its costs. i don't think that Burma is planing to put satelites into space, firing lasers at misslies. do you??

It is beyond believe how a government, however unfair & cruel on a daily basis, can let citizens die like flies. Burma's powerful friends should be ashamed for not acting on behalf of the people neglected by one of the most repulsive regimes of the moment.