And so the powers that be in the Myanmar junta have suddenly agreed to open their doors to allow aid workers of all nationalities to enter:
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta agreed on Friday to admit foreign aid workers of all nationalities to the delta area worst hit by Cyclone Nargis, in what the U.N. called a breakthrough for aiding survivors.
Western disaster experts, largely kept out of the Irrawaddy Delta and restricted to the former capital Yangon, welcomed the news but wanted more details on the deal struck by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and junta supremo Than Shwe."The general said he saw no reason why that should not happen ... as long as they were genuine humanitarian workers and it was clear what they were going to be doing," a U.N. official with Ban said.
Asked whether the agreement on relief experts was a breakthrough, Ban replied: "Yes, I think so. He has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities."
The U.N. chief said he hoped the agreement "can produce results quickly. Implementation is the key."
Disaster experts say that unless the generals open their doors, thousands more people in the Irrawaddy Delta could die of hunger and disease, adding to the nearly 134,000 reported killed or missing in Cyclone Nargis, which struck three weeks ago.
European Union humanitarian commissioner Louis Michel expressed relief at the news.
"It is now clear that our joint diplomatic efforts have delivered concrete results," he said in a statement.
"We have no more time to lose, so it's imperative that the Myanmar authorities immediately provide the international community with the practical details of the agreement. The real work of providing life-saving assistance starts now."
Thus, on the junta's whim, lives will be saved.
Just as, on the junta's whim, some lives have already been needlessly lost.
Do you see, now, what loss of their freedom cost the people of Burma?
It cost many of them their very lives.
When a natural disaster struck, it interfered with the relief that would have poured in through the compassion of others -- through the compassion and wealth of others who live in greater freedom.
When they lost their liberty, the people of Burma also lost whatever safety and security they thought they had.
Liberty and security are two sides of the same coin.
You cannot have one without the other.
Destroy liberty and, sooner or later, you destroy prosperity. Without prosperity, there is little forward progress and there is nothing to spare when disaster strikes. Worse, the task of living and dying is complicated by tyrants who deliberately take life, and deliberately or carelessly withhold rescue, on a whim.
Likewise, without security, your freedoms will soon be lost. Domestic and foreign tyrants will soon seize control and destroy what liberty the people have.
Hence, two prerequisites for the survival and and well-being of any nation are liberty and security.
People of the world, when you choose your leaders, choose leaders whose top priorities include local and national security and personal and economic freedoom. Those who are lukewarm on one or the other of these values are potentially dangerous. Those who don't care about either one are very dangerous should be shunned and ridiculed.
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