If you polled an average group of Americans, few could tell you where Myanmar was. It is the self-selected named for the nation of Burma. Burma is in western southeast Asia, between India and Thailand with China to the north.

Since 1990, a military junta has ruled this largely Buddhist nation. An election in 2010 created a “civilian” government but the large numbers of ex-military officers in major positions within this government suggest that the junta still is in control. The junta took control of the nation in 1990 after the last free election placed an opposition party into power.
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The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is expected to provide satellite images to China as soon as today [May 19 2008] to assist in damage assessments in earthquake-stricken Sichuan province, a senior defense official said today.

The People’s Republic of China specifically requested imagery of dams, reservoirs, roads and bridges, said Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Weather permitting and if cloud cover doesn’t hamper the effort, the first images are expected to be delivered today, he said.

The imagery-support request follows two C-17 Globemaster aircraft deliveries of supplies to China yesterday. The loads, delivered to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, carried food, water containers, blankets, lanterns, generators and hand tools from U.S. military relief stocks in Hawaii and Guam.

While no additional flights are scheduled, the U.S. military remains ready to deliver more assistance, Whitman said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Pacific Command continued humanitarian flights today to cyclone-stricken Burma, Whitman reported. Five C-130 aircraft delivered more relief supplies today, following 10 flights during the weekend. To date, 31 airlifts have delivered more than 727,000 pounds of water, food, mosquito netting, shelters, medical supplies, hygiene supplies and other relief.

“We have no further scheduled flights, but we anticipate that the government is going to permit a similar number of flights, probably tomorrow, as they have in the past several days now,” Whitman said.

Humanitarian aid organizations operating in Burma report that the relief supplies are reaching the affected areas. But without any U.S. military presence on the ground, Whitman said, it’s impossible to verify all aid is getting where it’s needed.

Burma’s military junta has not authorized four U.S. ships on standby in the Bay of Bengal to join in the relief effort. USS Essex, USS Harpers Ferry, USS Mustin and USS Juneau are equipped with 14 heavy-lift and medium-lift helicopters. “Right now, the only thing we have been granted permission for is the C-130 flights,” Whitman said.

He expressed hope that Burma will tap into all the support ready to help. “There is still a good deal of suffering that is taking place in Burma. We are hopeful that we will be able to continue to provide some of that badly needed assistance,” he said.

“So we are going to continue to monitor the situation, work through this problem and, as always, encourage the government to accept outside assistance so we can provide it to those that most need it right now.”

DVIDS
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

A total of eight Air Force C-130s have delivered supplies to Burma as part of the U.S. relief effort following Cyclone Nargis, a senior military official said yesterday.

Five C-130 Hercules transports delivered water, blankets, rations, mosquito netting and plastic sheeting yesterday. “We have to have permission every time we go in,” the official, speaking on background, said. “U.S. officials have a verbal OK to bring in five more planeloads of relief supplies today, he added.

Military planners said they want the Burmese to accept six CH-53 helicopters to speed delivery of the supplies to those hardest hit by the cyclone deep in the Irrawaddy River delta. Burma has only a handful of helicopters, and military officials doubt the nation has the capability to deliver the supplies to those most in need.

The U.S. effort currently is limited to deliveries to the international airfield at Rangoon. The Hercules airlifters land, offload the supplies and then depart, the military official said. No Americans are on the ground to assist in assessing what the cyclone victims need and how best to get the supplies to them. U.S. military airfield specialists are standing by for the OK to help the Burmese manage the supplies that are flowing in.

Cyclone Nargis hit an area with 2 million people. A Burmese government spokesman said more than 35,000 people are dead and more than 30,000 are missing. United Nations estimates said the number killed could be more than 100,000.

The U.S. military is looking at options for setting up a helicopter forward operating base outside Burma, the official said. The base ideally would put U.S. choppers within easy range to deliver supplies to the southern Irrawaddy River delta. Officials said many areas in the delta are still under water and that there are no roads to many affected towns and villages. The helicopters would allow supplies to reach those people.

In addition, the USS Essex Expeditionary Strike Group is off the coast of Burma. Clean water is the biggest need now, and the Essex group has 14,000 5-gallon water bladders ready to deliver. The ship also has pallets of other supplies the crew could deliver quickly. “The capacity on those ships is incredible,” the official said.

The U.S. ships are only part of a flotilla rushing to provide aid the Burmese government is reluctant to accept. British, French and Australian ships are converging on the area, the official said.

But delivering fresh water and other supplies is only the first piece of the relief effort the Burmese people need, the official said. As terrible as the loss of life already has been, “the disease and all the second- and third-order effects remain,” he noted.

DoD
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service