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US aid ships could soon leave Myanmar coast
Myanmar junta defends cyclone response as prompt
Myanmar defends cyclone response
Tea with a dictator
Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters

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US aid ships could soon leave Myanmar coast
AP
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he will make a decision within "a matter of days" to withdraw U.S. Navy ships from the coast of Myanmar, because "it's becoming pretty clear the regime is not going to let us help."

As a result, he said many more people will die, particularly those in areas that can only be reached by helicopters, such as those sitting idle on the U.S. ships.

Asked if the military junta there is guilty of genocide, Gates said, "I tend to see genocide more as a purposeful elimination of people, this is more akin, in my view, to criminal neglect."

Speaking to reporters at the close of an international security conference here, Gates said the Myanmar representative at the forum did not seem interested in speaking with him. But, he said "it was interesting to watch as minister after minister described their respective unhappiness at their inability to get assistance in to Burma."

It was particularly pointed, he said, since Chinese officials thanked other countries for the help provided after the earthquake in China.

Still, Gates affirmed again that there is unanimous opposition in the international community to forcing aid to the Myanmar people suffering in the wake of the devastating cyclone that struck in early May.

"There is great sensitivity all over the world to violating a country's sovereignty," Gates said. "Particularly in the absence of some kind of U.N. umbrella that would authorize it." Asked if that sensitivity is linked to the controversy surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Gates said he has heard no one make that connection.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that even when the decision is made to pull the four U.S. Navy ships off the coast, the vessels will move away slowly enough to turn back if there is an unexpected change of heart by the Myanmar government.

Gates comments came a day after he made his strongest public condemnation of the Myanmar government at the conference, saying that Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims.

The widespread displeasure with the Myanmar government was clear at the conference, coming up in nearly all conversations among leaders. Gates met with his top Pacific commander Saturday to discuss the timing of a U.S. Navy pullout. A final decision still has not been made.

Following the conference, Gates flew to Thailand on Sunday where large anti-government demonstrations threaten to lead to the country's second military coup in two years.

Gates said he was not concerned about the potentially difficult situation and that canceling his visit could cause more of a problem than continuing on. He said he would urge officials in Bangkok to move to a democratically elected government.

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Myanmar junta defends cyclone response as prompt
AP
1 hour, 15 minutes ago

Myanmar's junta said Sunday that it was prompt in providing relief to cyclone victims, an apparent response to global criticism over its handling of a disaster that left more than 130,000 people dead or missing.

Deputy Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Aye Myint made the comments in Singapore as authorities back in Myanmar pushed ahead with plans to open schools in several cyclone-battered areas Monday — a move that aid groups fear could put children in harm's way.

The country's military leaders broadcast warnings about the May 2-3 cyclone more than a week in advance and moved quickly to rescue and provide relief to the estimated 2.4 million survivors, Aye Myint told an international security conference.

"Due to the prompt work" of the military government, food, water and medicine was provided to all victims, he said.

"I believe the resettlement and rehabilitation process will be speedy," he added.

He spoke a day after human rights and aid groups criticized Myanmar for kicking cyclone survivors out of shelters and sending them back to their devastated villages.

Cyclone Nargis killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.

Some international aid agencies say they are still being blocked from sending foreign experts into the delta, despite the junta's pledge to open its doors to foreign aid workers. Other aid groups say their staffers are meeting survivors deep in the delta who have not received any help since the storm hit.

Aye Myint reiterated the junta's official stance of welcoming international aid.

"We would warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine goodwill from any country or organizations provided there are no strings attached," he said.

Shortly after the cyclone struck, the U.S., France and Britain sent warships loaded with relief supplies, but the Myanmar regime has refused to let them land, apparently fearing a foreign invasion.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday in Singapore he will make a decision within "a matter of days" to withdraw the U.S. Navy ships from the coast of Myanmar, because "it's becoming pretty clear the regime is not going to let us help."

As a result, he said many more people will die, particularly those in areas that can only be reached by helicopters.

Gates on Saturday called Myanmar's rulers "deaf and dumb" over their refusal to accept outside help. He said Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, on Sunday praised the response of country's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, to the disaster.

"His loving kindness and goodwill for the people is much better than that which a parent has for his children," the newspaper said. "As a matter of fact, he is dedicating his life to a prosperous future of the nation's over 57 million population."

Than Shwe faced international criticism for waiting until two weeks after the storm hit to survey the damage and visit survivors in the delta.

In its struggle to return to normalcy, the junta plans to reopen many schools Monday in areas hit by the cyclone, though some were scheduled to reopen in July.

The United Nations Children's Fund says that more than 4,000 schools serving 1.1 million children were damaged or destroyed by the storm and more than 100 teachers were killed. As a result, the government plans to train volunteer teachers and hold some classes in camps and other temporary sites, UNICEF said.

Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's regional director, said that reopening schools in the delta Monday "may be too ambitious," since construction materials were still on the way and there was not enough time to rebuild schools and train new teachers.

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Myanmar defends cyclone response after rebuke
Reuters
By Aung Hla Tun 59 minutes ago

Myanmar's military junta on Sunday defended its response to Cyclone Nargis after stinging criticism from the United States, while a U.N. official said food supplies had yet to reach at least 200,000 people.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has accused the regime of causing more deaths by stonewalling foreign aid, said on Sunday U.S. ships cruising near Myanmar could leave in a "matter of days" if they cannot deliver relief supplies.

Myanmar Deputy Defense Minister Aye Myint, in Singapore for a security conference also attended by Gates, insisted the government had acted swiftly and it was open to foreign aid with "no strings attached."

"Through the prompt and immediate supervision of the supervisory central body headed by the prime minister and member ministers, relief camps and hospitals were opened, debris was cleared, emergency power and water supply restored," Myint said.

State media had given plenty of advance warning of the May 2 cyclone, which left 134,000 dead or missing and up to 2.4 million others destitute, Myint told the annual gathering of security and defense officials in Singapore.

The former Burma has said the rescue and relief effort is largely over and it is focused on reconstruction. The United Nations has said the scale of the devastation meant the relief phase could last six months.

A major problem in delivering foreign aid has been an inability to get enough international aid workers into the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta due to visa hurdles and red tape.

"We haven't been able to get the whole mechanism going. Progress has been slow," Hakan Tongul, deputy director in Myanmar of the U.N.'s World Food Program, told Reuters in Yangon.

Around 500,000 people have received some food and water since the storm struck nearly a month ago, but another 200,000 have received no international help at all, he said.

"CRIMINAL NEGLECT"

Some 45 U.N. visa requests were approved after junta leader Senior General Than Shwe promised last week to allow in "all" legitimate foreign aid workers, but obstacles remain.

One western aid worker said on Saturday that a two-day processing period to enter the delta area, which had been earlier cut from two weeks, had now increased to three.

Speaking to reporters in Singapore, Gates, whose government is one of Myanmar's harshest critics, accused the generals of "criminal neglect."

Asked how much longer U.S. ships and helicopters would be deployed in the area, he said: "I think it's matter of days."

"No decision has been made at this point but I think they've obviously been out there steaming round in circles for a long time at this point," he added.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said southeast Asian nations, loathe to interfere in each other's affairs, should play a bigger role in a crisis that could be worse than the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed at least 232,000 people.

Nearly a month after the cyclone, some villagers are trying to rebuild their lives, including forming ad-hoc teams to dredge waterlogged fields, rebuild houses and organize food supplies.

"We're seeing a level of resilience and recovery that's unlike what we've seen before. They are moving onto the next phase of shoring up their lives," Steve Goudswaard of the charity World Vision said.

Authorities began evicting families from government-run cyclone relief centers on Friday, apparently fearing the 'tented villages' might become permanent.

"It's unconscionable for Burma's generals to force cyclone victims back to their devastated homes," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Some 39 camps in the immediate vicinity of Kyauktan, 30 km (20 miles) south of Yangon, were being cleared as part of a general eviction plan, cyclone survivors and aid workers said.

The evictions followed commentaries in the official media which have criticized donors' demands for access to the delta and said cyclone victims could "stand by themselves" and did not need "chocolate bars" from foreign countries.

The New Light of Myanmar said in an editorial that "people can easily get fish for dishes by just fishing in the fields and ditches." It also noted "large edible frogs are abundant."

Official papers have in the last few days have also carried more reports of Than Shwe's visits to the delta area, including photographs of the junta supremo comforting cyclone victims or giving "guidance" on the construction of roads.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray, Jan Dahinten, Melanie Lee and Ovais Subhani in SINGAPORE)

(Writing by Ed Davies; Editing Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)

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Myanmar defends cyclone response
Reuters
By Aung Hla Tun Reuters - 1 hour 1 minute ago

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta on Sunday defended its response to Cyclone Nargis after stinging criticism from the United States, while a U.N. official said food supplies had yet to reach at least 200,000 people.
(Advertisement)

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who has accused the regime of causing more deaths by stonewalling foreign aid, said on Sunday U.S. ships cruising near Myanmar could leave in a "matter of days" if they cannot deliver relief supplies.

Myanmar Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint, in Singapore for a security conference also attended by Gates, insisted the government had acted swiftly and it was open to foreign aid with "no strings attached."

"Through the prompt and immediate supervision of the supervisory central body headed by the prime minister and member ministers, relief camps and hospitals were opened, debris was cleared, emergency power and water supply restored," Myint said.

State media had given plenty of advance warning of the May 2 cyclone, which left 134,000 dead or missing and up to 2.4 million others destitute, Myint told the annual gathering of security and defence officials in Singapore.

The former Burma has said the rescue and relief effort is largely over and it is focused on reconstruction. The United Nations has said the scale of the devastation meant the relief phase could last six months.

A major problem in delivering foreign aid has been an inability to get enough international aid workers into the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta due to visa hurdles and red tape.

"We haven't been able to get the whole mechanism going. Progress has been slow," Hakan Tongul, deputy director in Myanmar of the U.N.'s World Food Program, told Reuters in Yangon.

Around 500,000 people have received some food and water since the storm struck nearly a month ago, but another 200,000 have received no international help at all, he said.

"CRIMINAL NEGLECT"

Some 45 U.N. visa requests were approved after junta leader Senior General Than Shwe promised last week to allow in "all" legitimate foreign aid workers, but obstacles remain.

One western aid worker said on Saturday that a two-day processing period to enter the delta area, which had been earlier cut from two weeks, had now increased to three.

Speaking to reporters in Singapore, Gates, whose government is one of Myanmar's harshest critics, accused the generals of "criminal neglect".

Asked how much longer U.S. ships and helicopters would be deployed in the area, he said: "I think it's matter of days."

"No decision has been made at this point but I think they've obviously been out there steaming round in circles for a long time at this point," he added.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said southeast Asian nations, loathe to interfere in each other's affairs, should play a bigger role in a crisis that could be worse than the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed at least 232,000 people.

Nearly a month after the cyclone, some villagers are trying to rebuild their lives, including forming ad-hoc teams to dredge waterlogged fields, rebuild houses and organize food supplies.

"We're seeing a level of resilience and recovery that's unlike what we've seen before. They are moving onto the next phase of shoring up their lives," Steve Goudswaard of the charity World Vision said.

Authorities began evicting families from government-run cyclone relief centres on Friday, apparently fearing the 'tented villages' might become permanent.

"It's unconscionable for Burma's generals to force cyclone victims back to their devastated homes," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Some 39 camps in the immediate vicinity of Kyauktan, 30 km south of Yangon, were being cleared as part of a general eviction plan, cyclone survivors and aid workers said.

The evictions followed commentaries in the official media which have criticized donors' demands for access to the delta and said cyclone victims could "stand by themselves" and did not need "chocolate bars" from foreign countries.

The New Light of Myanmar said in an editorial that "people can easily get fish for dishes by just fishing in the fields and ditches". It also noted "large edible frogs are abundant".

Official papers have in the last few days have also carried more reports of Than Shwe's visits to the delta area, including photographs of the junta supremo comforting cyclone victims or giving "guidance" on the construction of roads.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray, Jan Dahinten, Melanie Lee and Ovais Subhani in SINGAPORE)

(Writing by Ed Davies; Editing Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)

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Tea with a dictator
Benedict Rogers
May 31, 2008 9:00 AM
http://commentisfre e.guardian. co.uk/benedict_ rogers/2008/ 05/tea_with_ a_dictator. html

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, reminds me of Lady Hester Random in the movie Tea with Mussolini. Lady Hester, widow of a former British ambassador to Italy, played by the famous actress Maggie Smith, lives in 1930s Florence. As the fascists gain ground, she seeks an appointment with the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. He promises her his personal protection, and she naively takes him at his word.

The local newspaper features a photograph of Lady Hester having tea with the dictator, a picture she proudly keeps in a frame on her mantelpiece. Events, however, turn out rather differently, though it takes a long time for Lady Hester to realise that Mussolini could not be trusted. Watch the movie to find out what happens.

On May 23, Ban Ki-moon met Burma's ruthless dictator, Senior General Than Shwe. In the comfort of the Hotel Sedona in Rangoon, the UN secretary-general then declared to the world media: 'I am happy to report that we have made progress on all these issues. This morning, I had a good meeting with Senior General Than Shwe. He agreed to allow international aid workers into the affected areas, regardless of nationality. He has taken quite a flexible position ...' It sounds almost as promising as Neville Chamberlain' s 'peace in our time'.

Today's world, when it comes to Burma, is full of Neville Chamberlains and Lady Hesters. No sooner had Ban Ki-moon left the country than the regime began its backtrack. Prime minister Thein Sein announced that the regime would 'consider' allowing access to international aid workers, 'if they wish to engage in rehabilitation and reconstruction work'. storm swept their homes away. Others have been forced into camps controlled by the regime. Notices have been put up prohibiting relief distribution. Soldiers have shot dead several cyclone survivors, for no apparent reason.

Declaring the relief phase 'over' before it has even begun is a death sentence for the desperate survivors, thousands of whom are still bereft of basic emergency aid, including food, medical care and shelter. To talk of reconstruction and rehabilitation when people are dying of starvation and treatable disease is a scandal. Unless aid workers are permitted to enter the cyclone areas without restriction, to assess the needs and monitor the distribution of aid, there will be few people left to rehabilitate and little point in reconstruction.

The brutality of the regime has not changed. It shows no concern for human life - yet in its Orwellian eccentricity, it has announced that Cyclone Nargis killed 665,271 ducks, 56,163 cows and 1,614,502 chickens. The junta fails to realise that hundreds of thousands of people have died, and their corpses continue to float in the flood waters alongside the dead ducks and chickens. Rotting corpses spread diseases, causing yet more deaths. Regime officials don't even attempt to conceal their contempt for human life. One official told foreign aid workers: "What you, westerners, don't seem to understand is that people in the delta are used to having no water to drink and nothing to eat."

The regime has no regard for the rule of law either, not even its own. Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has spent over 12 years under house arrest. Her current period of house arrest began in 2003, following an assassination attempt against her at Depayin which resulted in the slaughter of more than 100 of her supporters. She is held under the State Protection Act, which imposes a five-year sentence. Her five years has expired, but on May 27 the regime extended her detention for yet another six months. Instead of taking this opportunity, with the world watching, to initiate a meaningful process of national reconciliation, it continues to clamp down. At least 15 of Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters were arrested as they attempted to march to her home.

Burma's military regime is ranked as the most corrupt in the world, alongside Somalia, and it has shown its character in full colours in the past month. Of the aid that has arrived in Burma, only a trickle has reached the people. No more than a fifth of the 2.5 million cyclone survivors have received help. Much of the aid has been seized by the authorities and taken for their own use, or sold on the streets. Even the aid that has reached people has been painstakingly re-packaged and re-labelled for propaganda purposes. In just one example, packages labelled "Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand" were pasted over with labels bearing the junta's stamp. And then, incredulously, the regime has the audacity to demand $11.7 billion in reconstruction aid - almost the entire gross domestic product of the country.

But still the world's diplomats and politicians wait, and talk, and grasp at straws. Even the aid workers are too scared to speak the truth. Some will argue that we should not 'politicise' a humanitarian situation. But it is already politicised, whether we like it or not, by the regime. It is the regime's policies - not simply neglect, but deliberate, calculated obstruction - that are at the root of the crisis. It is the regime that is playing politics with people's lives.

The time has come for action instead of talk. The time has come for the diplomats, politicians and aid workers to cease putting their confidence in the regime's 'noises', however positive, and demand practical results. A deadline should be set for visas to be issued and access to be granted, without restriction, to all international aid workers. That deadline should be hours and days, not weeks, from now. If the deadline is not met, the UN's 'responsibility to protect' should be actioned. The French, British and American navy vessels waiting off Burma's shores should go in, to deliver the aid they are carrying and be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Such intervention - with humanitarian objectives accompanied if necessary by military tools - would be welcomed by everyone in Burma except the top generals and their cohorts. Even many in the Burma Army would not resist. The sentiment is summed up in a letter to President Bush, dated 20 May, signed by several Burmese democracy groups including Buddhist monks and exiled 88 Generation Students. They write: 'Intervention will be seen as divine intervention by the Burmese people, not only to help the cyclone victims but also to finally free the entire nation from the military yoke'. The authors conclude: 'Please do not compare Burma with Iraq, because Buddhist monks, students, Burmese patriots will happily assist you with whatever you need to go inside Burma and help the cyclone victims and entire nation. We are willing to go together with whoever enters Burma first. We will recruit translators, doctors and nurses. Many concerned Burmese citizens are willing to join the intervention. Please do not waste precious time.'

A failure to act not only results in more deaths and suffering in Burma, it sends a signal to tyrants all over the world: that the world may huff and puff, but when it comes to it its words are meaningless. Too many times the international community has shown its impotence in the face of dictators. Burma presents an opportunity to be different.

The French, surprisingly, have been the most robust government on this. Surely, if the French are hinting at intervention, it's a sign that something is up? Critics cannot dredge up Iraq as a reason not to act in Burma. Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner wrote in Le Monde that a failure to act to help the people of Burma 'would be an act of cowardice'. Lady Hester Random and Neville Chamberlain showed that placing trust in dictators is not simply naive, it is costly cowardice. The time has come to bring an end to the deadly delay in helping Burma's people, and replace naivity and cowardice with courage and action - for the sake of Burma, and the world.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide has launched a campaign, ChangeforBurma! , which includes an online petition calling for action, available at www.changeforburma. org

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Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters
http://www.nytimes. com/2008/ 05/31/world/ asia/31myanmar. html?pagewanted= 1&ref=asia
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: May 31, 2008

KUN WAN, Myanmar — They paddle for hours on the stormy river, or carry their sick parents on their backs through the mud and rain, traveling for miles to reach the one source of help they can rely on: Buddhist monks.

Getty Images
With little help from the government, refugees were fed by a monastery near Yangon.

Associated Press

A monk organized relief donations this week for people left homeless by the cyclone. This monastery, outside of Yangon, has become a temporary shelter.

At a makeshift clinic in this village near Bogale, an Irrawaddy Delta town 75 miles southwest of Yangon, hundreds of villagers left destitute by Cyclone Nargis arrive each day seeking the assistance they have not received from the government or international aid workers.

Since the cyclone, the Burmese have been growing even closer to the monks while their alienation from the junta grows. This development bodes ill for the government, which brutally cracked down on thousands of monks who took to the streets last September appealing to the ruling generals to improve conditions for the people.

The May 3 cyclone left more than 134,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million survivors grappling with hunger and homelessness. This week, some of them who had taken shelter at monasteries or gathered on roadsides were being displaced again, this time by the junta, which wants them to stop being an embarrassment to the government and return to their villages “for reconstruction.” On Friday, United Nations officials said that refugees were also being evicted from government-run camps.

The survivors have little left of their homes and find themselves almost as exposed to the elements as their mud-coated water buffaloes. Meanwhile, outside aid is slow to arrive, with foreign aid agencies gaining only incremental access to the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta and the government impounding cars of some private Burmese donors.

In a scene the ruling generals are unlikely to see played out for themselves, a convoy of trucks carrying relief supplies, led by Buddhist monks, passed through storm-devastated villages in the delta this week. Hungry children and homeless mothers bowed in supplication and respect.

“When I see those people, I want to cry,” said Sitagu Sayadaw, 71, one of Myanmar’s most respected senior monks.

Village after storm-hit village, it is clear who has won people’s hearts. Monks were among those who died in the storm. Now, others console the survivors while sharing their muddy squalor.

With tears welling in her eyes, Thi Dar, 45, pressed her hands together in respect before the first monk she saw at the clinic here and told her story. The eight other members of her family were killed in the cyclone. She no longer had anyone to talk with and felt suicidal. The other day, word reached her village that a monk had opened a clinic six miles upriver. So on Thursday, she got up early and caught the first boat.

“In my entire life, I have never seen a hospital,” she said. “So I came to the monk. I don’t know where the government office is. I can’t buy anything in the market because I lost everything to the cyclone.”

Nay Lin, 36, a volunteer doctor at the clinic, one of the six emergency clinic shelters Sitagu Sayadaw has opened in the delta, said: “Our patients suffer from infected wounds, abdominal pains and vomiting. They also need counseling for mental trauma, anxiety and depression.”

While the government has been criticized for obstructing the relief effort, the Buddhist monastery, the traditional center of moral authority in most villages here, proved to be the one institution people could rely on for help.

The monasteries in the delta that are still standing have been clogged with refugees. People who could help went there with donations or as volunteers. Monasteries that served as religious centers, orphanages and homes for the elderly have also become shelters for the homeless.

The interdependence between monks and laypeople is age-old. Monks receive alms from the laity and offer spiritual comfort in return. In villages without government schools, a monastic education is often the only option.

“The monks’ role is more important than ever,” said Ar Sein Na, 46, a monk in the delta village of That Kyar. “In a time of immense suffering like this, people have nowhere to go except to monks.”
Kyi Than, 38, said she traveled 15 miles by boat to Sitagu Sayadaw’s camp.

“Our village monk died during the storm,” she said. “Monks are like parents to us. The government wants us to shut up, but monks listen to us.”

Faced with the deadliest cyclone to hit Asia in 38 years, senior monks have organized their own relief campaigns.

Every day, their convoys head down delta roads. A leading figure in these efforts is Sitagu Sayadaw, whose name invariably draws a thumbs-up sign here.

“Meditation cannot remove this disaster,” he said. “Material support is very important now. Now in our country, spiritual and material support are unbalanced.”

Trucks of rice, beans, onions, clothes, tarpaulins and cooking utensils, donated from all over Myanmar, pulled into his International Buddhist Missionary Center in Yangon from early morning on. Each day, shortly after dawn, a convoy of trucks or a barge on the Yangon River departs for the delta, loaded with relief supplies and volunteers.

Sitagu Sayadaw sat on a wooden bench in his field headquarters as people lined up to pay their respects. Villagers came to present lists of their most urgent needs. Monks from outlying villages came asking for help to repair their temples. Wealthy families from towns knelt before him and donated bundles of cash.

However, like other senior monks here, he must strike a careful balance. He has the moral duty to speak out on behalf of his suffering people, but in order to protect his social programs and hospitals, which provide free medical care to the destitute, he must try not to anger the government, which views such private undertakings as a reproof.

Nonetheless, speaking at his shelter as an afternoon monsoon rain drummed against the roof, Sitagu Sayadaw sounded frustrated with the government.

“In my country, I cannot see a real political leader,” he said.

“Gen. Than Shwe’s ‘Burmese way to democracy?’ ” he said, referring to the junta’s top leader. “What is it?”

He defended the monks’ uprising last September, saying the government’s failure to provide “material stability” for the people undermined the monks’ ability to provide “spiritual stability.”

Among monks interviewed in the delta and Yangon, there was no sign of imminent protests.

Still, a 40-year-old monk at Sitagu Sayadaw’s camp who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of official retribution said that “monks are very angry” about the government’s recent move to evict refugees from monasteries, roadside huts and other temporary shelters, even while the state-run media are filled with stories of government relief efforts. “The government doesn’t want to show the truth.”

A young monk in the Chaukhtatgyi Paya monastery district in Yangon predicted trouble ahead. “You will see it again because everyone is angry and everyone is jobless,” said the monk, who said he joined the September “saffron revolution” and had a large gash over his right eye from a soldier’s beating to show for it.

A monk from Mon State in southern Myanmar, who was visiting the delta to assess the damage and arrange an aid shipment, said, “For the government, these people are no more than dead animals in the fields.”

The simmering confrontation between the pillars of Myanmar life was evident at the village level after the cyclone.

Shortly after the storm, a monk in Myo Thit, a village 20 miles from Yangon, walked around with a loudspeaker inviting victims to his monastery and asking people to donate. The monk had to stop, villagers said, after a township leader affiliated with the government threatened to confiscate the loudspeaker.

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