NPR: Drawing the Line

Drawing the Line

Not long ago, an update on Myanmar crossed the news wires: The UN estimates nearly 2 million people are in need of emergency aid in the Southeast Asian country. And recent reports say as many as 100,000 may already be dead. But despite the widespread devastation, Myanmar's military government has repeatedly refused to let foreign governments send aid workers or distribute aid. The junta has recently made some concessions, but most reputable aid organizations say not enough. To make matters worse, weather predictions say a new cyclone could hit the country in the next few days.

If it is true that Myanmar's government is negligently denying its people necessary aid, should that warrant a military intervention? Should the world wait, as hundreds of thousands die? Or are the potential risks of an invasion just too high? Where should the line be drawn? And how should draw it?

We'll be talking about this tomorrow with two people who've studied and written about the issue. Stay tuned. And let us know if you have questions to contribute. I'll be checking the blog before we go LIVE. Speak up. We're listening.

Also, check out today's show. Two fascinating conversations with Israelis, one from Argentina and two from Ethiopia. And the LEGEND ... Barbara Walters talks to Michel. Plus, the first white valedictorian of at Morehouse, an historically black college.

Douglas Hopper

3:49 PM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Hi, I'm a student who goes to Wichita East High. Numerous clubs at our school have decided to collaboratively fund raise money for victims in Myanmar in a massive fund raising project called Project: Aid Myanmar. Although I have talked to several aid agencies, all of them claim that supplies that have been sent have not been seized or misused in any way by the Burmese government. Is this true?

Sent by Sarah Yun | 10:29 PM ET | 05-14-2008

Immediately after the cyclone, some great nation should have sent a representative to the Manymar military government and outlined a humanitarian relief plan that clearly indicated permission was not being sought to save lives. The only tragedy that can rival the suffrage inflicted upon the victims is world governments forgetting that true greatness is not just the willingness to do what is right - it includes the conviction of doing it right now.

Sent by Evans Wuu | 4:14 AM ET | 05-15-2008

I missed the first half of today's show, but caught the second part: interview with Gremeen Bank founder. When I heard Michel Martin say that she felt it was too bad that people who make the least get charged the highest interest rest on loans, I thought yes i recently learned this and was outraged. On a similar note, the US mortgage crisis was fed by newly rich countries hungry for investments (see story on All Things Considered last week entitled: Global Pool of Money), yet most of the people who work in factories making the products, which the "newly rich countries" got rich off of, remain poor. Maybe there is an expert on global manufacturing who could come on the show and explain how the countries get rich and the workers remain poor. Thanks for the show.

Sent by marcia west | 7:59 PM ET | 05-15-2008

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