Is it time in ‘invade’ Burma?

Victims of the recent cyclone in Burma aren’t being helped. The junta is incapable and intrinsically xenophobic. It can’t help itself and is wary of accepting help from outsiders. Meanwhile, people are dying. The lack of clean drinking water is, amongst other things, causing concern of widespread illness and further death. As such, it was only a matter of time before someone suggested that the international body invade Burma to save its people.

Time published an article airing that idea out. I think they were wrong to use the word ‘invade’ though. That’s a term associated with war, which is not what they are calling for.

Instead the article gives voice to those who want to airdrop supplies into stricken areas. Even though the junta would ostensibly not approve of this action, it has historical precedent in Berlin, Somalia, and Bosnia. In other words, we’ve provided humanitarian assistance without the expressed will of a state’s ruling body before.

The problem with making the comparison between those operations and a potential response in Burma is that we actually did invade militarily in the example states. Setting our willingness to do that aside, invading is just not an option in Burma since it would exacerbate the current crisis — by orders of magnitude.

Air dropping supplies obviously doesn’t require an invasion. That said, a lot of the treatment does need to be administered by doctors. So although parachuting food and water in would help, the people need medical attention which requires trained professionals.

The article does talk about working through Thailand who has normalized relations with the junta and has already been allowed to land in Burma with aid supplies. Since the deliveries go into military hands, there is no guarantee that they are being effectively dispersed or used though. Also, that arrangement presents the same problem as air drops do: the Burmese people need doctors, not just supplies.

At this point we’ve come to two conclusions. We can’t invade and supplies alone will not suffice. As for the latter, I think that dropping them in unannounced will only further antagonize the junta and injure efforts to bring in doctors. Since we can’t invade, we have to coerce the junta.

Any and all pressure needs to be applied on the military rulers. The UN should consider the possility that this situation constitutes a war crime. The Bush administration must lean on China and India to leverage their regional power. The junta’s foreign assets have to be frozen until they provide the UN and aid-relief agencies with immediate and unencumbered access to disaster areas. As agonizingly slow and imperfect as all that is, it’s the only reasonable way to forge change in this horrifying situation.