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No Intervention in Burma:
The influential think tank, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), has said in its June 2008 report that there is no prospect of any outside intervention in Burma, although a man-made catastrophe looms in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. “Although the junta’s foot-dragging over the acceptance of international aid has horrified the UN and many foreign governments, there is no prospect of any outside force intervention,” the EIU said in its recently released Country Report Myanmar (Burma). The report noted there had been debate over whether the UN’s “Responsibility to Protect” mandate—which sanctions international action to prevent mass atrocities such as genocide and crimes against humanity—might apply in Burma’s case. But the general consensus appears to be that it doesn’t, and that attempts to bypass the Burmese junta when delivering aid could be counterproductive, the EIU said. The report also noted that as the ruling generals continued to enjoy the tacit support of China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, there was “less likelihood” of foreign intervention despite outrage from many foreign countries over the junta’s inaction during the cyclone disaster, and calls from some quarters for UN-sponsored intervention.The EIU also criticized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for again failing to prove that it is an influential and decisive body. Although Asean took a leading role in channeling international aid to Burma, it did it in accordance with the junta’s demands, the report said. However, the EIU saved its most stinging criticism for the Burmese military authorities, noting that “the humanitarian crisis has revealed once more the incompetence of the military junta and its callous disregard for the welfare of the Burmese people. “The military will keep its primary focus on protecting its grip on power rather than dealing with the crisis at hand,” it added. With regard to the junta’s promise to allow “all aid workers” into the country, the report concluded that there was little likelihood of a rapid increase in the amount of aid being delivered to those in desperate need who are facing the risk of starvation and disease. “The generals also appear unwilling to accept the full scale of the disaster,” the EIU said, referring to Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein’s declaration three weeks after Nargis hit that the relief effort had ended and that the second phase—reconstruction—was now being implemented. Meanwhile, in a thinly-disguised PR exercise to mock the Burmese regime, the Joint Task Force Caring Response, a US military relief effort for Burmese cyclone victims, on Tuesday invited members of the press to a media junket at Thailand’s largest port, Laechabang. Journalists were invited to view a warship from the USS Essex group which was withdrawn from international waters off Burma on June 5, and see its cargo of relief supplies which the Burmese junta rejected.
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