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Burma Clears U.S. Aircraft To Deliver Storm Relief
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Critics are also accusing the generals of callousness for proceeding with the referendum.
"We are dealing with madness at the very top," said Zarni, a visiting research fellow at Oxford University who uses one name. "It's massive policy failure."
Political analysts say that in Burma's deeply hierarchical decision-making structure, the only opinions that really matter are those of Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the reclusive strongman known for uncompromising attitudes toward his opposition and the outside world.
Many Burmese believe that nearly every crucial -- and sometimes trivial -- decision in the country is made by Than Shwe, whose most trusted adviser is said to be his astrologer. That can lead to paralysis if the general, who is reported to be seriously ailing, does not make timely decisions.
Government officials "may disagree with the top leadership, but at the end of the day everybody rallies and executes the order," Zarni said. "All army officers have witnessed how disloyalty and disobedience and independent thought has been punished, and punished severely."
In 1962, Gen. Ne Win expelled foreigners and severed most ties with the outside world in a quixotic quest to build "Burmese socialism." His successors sought to restore those ties but were shunned by the West after thousands of unarmed protesters were slaughtered in a 1988 uprising, and the results of a 1990 election, in which the opposition National League for Democracy won a landslide victory, were refused.
After last September's massive anti-government protests, the generals accused the United States of conspiring with Burmese dissidents to overthrow the government. That continuing suspicion appears to be dictating the generals' response to the current crisis.
"Most of us look at this massive human tragedy unfolding and think, 'The past is the past, but we have to deal with this,' " the Western academic said. "But the generals have not suspended the past, their prejudices, their hostility and their suspicion."
Lynch reported from the United Nations. Correspondent Nora Boustany in Washington contributed to this report.
