The tragedy that is Myanmar worsens. A country that was once Southeast Asia's richest and most promising has steadily deteriorated. It is now a corrupt military-run tyranny, an economic basket case and an international pariah. The man-made disaster in Myanmar was horribly compounded this month when cyclone Nargis hit, claiming tens of thousands of lives and leaving a swath of destruction that threatens hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — more.
And, true to form, the country's military junta has put its interests before those of its citizens, frustrating efforts to help and slowing and even blocking aid. This is inexcusable. Nonetheless, it is also virtually certain to continue, with the tacit acceptance of Myanmar's neighbors and so-called friends.
Nargis cut across the Irrawaddy Delta, one of Myanmar's key rice-producing areas, on May 3, inundating a region that was already isolated and underdeveloped. Reports of the scale of Nargis' destruction trickled out, with government estimates a fraction of unofficial numbers. Yet one week after the storm hit, more than 60,000 people were officially listed as either killed or missing; some fear the death toll will top 100,000, making Nargis the worst disaster in Myanmar's history and one of the world's worst in half a century.