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Analysts Urge Washington to Invade Burma

Others advise against forcing aid on devastated country

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2008 4:49 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Analysts and aid workers appalled by Burma’s attitude to foreign aid are urging Washington to invade, Time reports. One observer has called for the US to airlift food regardless of the junta’s restrictions; a retired general wants China to pacify Burma about US aid, or Thailand to paint their colors on US aircraft to help aid get through.

Humanitarians were quick to counsel caution, particularly about using US troops. “I can't imagine any humanitarian organization wanting to shoot their way in with food,” one former UN official said. “Do you want to secure an area of the country by military force? What kinds of potential security risks would that create?”

A boy sits in a boat in Burma on May 7, 2008.
A boy sits in a boat in Burma on May 7, 2008.   (Getty Images)
Relief supplies from Bangladesh are unloaded at an airport in Yangon, Myanmar.
Relief supplies from Bangladesh are unloaded at an airport in Yangon, Myanmar.   (AP Photo/Burma News Agency via Xinhua News Agency)
The US Navy has three ships in the Gulf of Thailand, including the USS Essex, which boasts 23 helicopters, 1,800 Marines and five amphibious landing craft according to a pentagon press spokesman.
The US Navy has three ships in the Gulf of Thailand, including the USS Essex, which boasts 23 helicopters, 1,800 Marines and five amphibious landing craft according to a pentagon press spokesman.   (AP Photo)
Thai soldiers load relief supplies bound for Myanmar on to a Thai military transport plane.
Thai soldiers load relief supplies bound for Myanmar on to a Thai military transport plane.   (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
In this Burma News Agency photo taken on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 relief supplies for Cyclone survivors are unloaded in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar.
In this Burma News Agency photo taken on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 relief supplies for Cyclone survivors are unloaded in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar.   (AP Photo/Burma News Agency via Xinhua News Agency)
A B-1 bomber takes off from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga., in this Thursday, July 5, 2001, file photo, for training.
A B-1 bomber takes off from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga., in this Thursday, July 5, 2001, file photo, for training.   (AP Photo/Ric Feld)
Officials stand near a US cargo plane, which has delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia on Friday Sept. 14, 2007.
Officials stand near a US cargo plane, which has delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia on Friday Sept. 14, 2007.   (AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazov)
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On the ground, things get worse
Associated Press

British MP approves aid by force
Wales Online

The top dogs blocking Burma aid
Daily Mirror (UK)

 
China • United Nations • Thailand • Myanmar • Burma • Yangon • US Navy • US military aid • humanitarian aid • Cyclone Nargis • airlift

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