Their troubles were compounded when a cyclone struck this week, and the junta is compounding its felonies by denying U.S. military planes permission to deliver aid. After a two-day wait, some relief supplies from the United Nations were finally allowed into the country, carrying high-energy biscuits, medicine and other supplies. But the U.N. teams that could assure the aid actually reaches victims of the cyclone are still barred from entering.

The government-controlled media reported that the cyclone killed nearly 23,000 people, with another 42,000 reported missing. U.S. diplomats fear the death toll will pass 100,000 because safe food and water are scarce and unsanitary conditions are widespread.

Still, the junta resists accepting aid, reflecting traditional paranoia about foreign influence. The U.S. has three transport planes loaded with water and food sitting in Thailand and a fourth is on the way. The U.S. Navy has sent helicopters from the USS Essex to the staging area in Thailand.

The U.N. has released $10 million from its emergency relief fund to help the cyclone victims but its workers have been denied visas to enter the country. U.N. officials fear the aid will be siphoned off to the Myanmar military, a concern shared by Amnesty International. "We will not just bring our supplies to an airport, dump it and take off," the Associated Press quoted Anthony Banbury, regional director of the World Food Program, as saying.

Still, that is the way Myanmar's rulers want it, virtually guaranteeing that the death toll will continue to rise.

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