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U.S. Navy Waiting for Junta's Permission to Deliver Burma Aid
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When Keating and other U.S. officials flew into Rangoon on May 11 with the first American planeload of supplies, he said, he informed Burmese authorities that the United States was capable of moving 250,000 pounds of supplies a day by helicopter to the disaster zone.
"I assured our Burmese colleagues that we would do this without fingerprint," he said. That is, the operation would be "entirely self-sufficient," there would be no need for fuel, food, lodging or other provisions, and U.S. personnel could come in at first light and leave the country in the evening if necessary, he said. He also invited the Burmese to put military or civilian officials on U.S. planes or helicopters and to observe operations aboard the Essex, a 40,500-ton amphibious assault ship that can carry as many as 36 helicopters.
Keating said he assured the Burmese that "we had no military intentions" in Burma and that once the relief operation was completed, "we will leave [and] you will not know we were here." Burmese officials said they understood but could not give approval and had to take the proposals to higher authorities. Since then, however, there has been no indication of any intention by the ruling junta to allow in greater quantities of U.S. relief.
"All it would take is a yes, and significant material would be going ashore in an hour," Keating said. He said there is still a need for relief supplies, including food, water and shelter, and that the United States could help to a much greater extent if asked.
"We believe there is still a mission for us," he said.
In contrast, Keating said, China has been responsive to U.S. offers of help in the wake of the earthquake that struck Sichuan province two weeks ago, leaving more than 88,000 people dead or missing. Chinese authorities have been much more open about the disaster and more receptive to foreign help than in the past, he said.
The admiral said there has been a "night-and-day difference" between the Burmese and Chinese governments' attitudes toward foreign relief efforts.
