May 11, 2008

Myanmar Disaster, Norway Seed Bank, Emphasize Food Priority

The whirling vortex of wind that roared through Myanmar(a.k.a Burma by romantics) last week – killing up to 100,000 people and leaving more than a million injured and homeless – demonstrates that food is the highest priority of mankind and can be a weapon and/or salvation of the future.

Another significant event last week in Svalbard, Norway -- substantiating this hypothesis -- was barely noticed.

A “doomsday” seed vault, deep inside a frozen mountain, was dedicated to restart farms in the event of natural disasters, wars or drastic climate change.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says the seed vault “is our insurance policy, the Noah’s ark for securing biological diversity for future generations.”

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso declared the vault “a frozen Garden of Eden.”

It cost $9 million by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The vault will store 4.5 million seed samples and join hundreds of other such facilities in remote locations.

There are 1,400 seed banks around the world. The largest in the United States is at Fort Collins, Colo.

Key Role

Whether the big, rotating wind in Myanmar was a tornado, cyclone or hurricane is immaterial. All are the same phenomena -- differing only in perception of size by unfortunate people affected.

The Myanmar twister was spawned in the Indian Ocean and pushed up a giant wall of water as it raced eastward. When it surged ashore, it smashed everything. The true death toll will never be known.

Ironically, the country long held in bondage by a military cabal was preparing to conduct a sham election. The propaganda aim was to give a semblance of democracy to the dictatorial rule to a cabal of Army generals led by Than Shwe.

General Than Shwe
from The Irrawaddy

At first, only one plane-load of food from India was allowed to land. One from the United States was curtly rejected. However, aid from America was finally accepted when it was clear that the military rule of Than Shwe was near collapse.

Nonetheless, distribution of food packages was delayed while labels of generals were pasted over those of foreign contributors.

As this is written, the sham election continues with few citizens participating.

Burma v. Myanmar

Myanmar was made famous by novelist-poet Rudyard Kipling as Burma (a native people) where the “dawn comes up like thunder.” (Click for full poem) In recent years it was taken over by a corrupt army militia.

The Burma warlords refused at first to allow foreign relief flights – particularly by the United States. The magnitude of death and destruction finally overcame the army generals.

A few flights of foreign relief planes were allowed – and, finally, one American cargo plane with rice.

U.S. President Bush expressed satisfaction that Myanmar will allow some American aid on Monday.

Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman said, “We will work with our partners who can get the supplies to the people who need them. We hope this is the beginning of broader support between the United States and Burma to help the Burmese people.”

Ouch! The Pentagon seems to suffer from foot-in-the-mouth disease.

Maj. Upton reiterated: "We will come, provide assistance, and then leave – just like in Bangladesh, Indonesia and other places where we have provided assistance."

U.S. Set to Go

Ready to begin relief operations is the USS Essex – a new, multi-purpose amphibious assault ship equipped with a dozen transport helicopters. It is nearby, for military exercises with Thailand.

The Essex can produce 50 thousand gallons of fresh water daily. Nearby sister ships USS Harpers Ferry and USS Juneau each can produce 10 thousand gallons of fresh water daily.

Mission of the task force is to provide training for 1,800 Marines aboard and use of heavy moving equipment.

Other Navy ships in the task force are the carriers Kitty Hawk, Blue Ridge and Nimitz. All have standard hospital and relief capabilities.

Undoubtedly these critical relief services are repositioning for MyanMarch

Rudyard Kipling would be proud.

By Lindsey Wilger Williams, retired newspaper publisher and syndicated columnist