I actually think that this disaster might be the straw that breaks the camels back for the military junta that currently rules Myanmar, or Burma. They made a major tactical blunder by not warning its citizens that a major hurricane was bearing down on the country. Given that Burma mostly sits below sea level, much of its population are extremely exposed to the threat of storm surge. 22,000 people killed! To put this in perspective, about 1,300 people died in New Orleans after Katrina. This is a monumental disaster, and much of the blaim can be layed on the hands of the military government there. The goverment was, as Irishgit poined out, probably looking to reduce the population while increasing foreign aid remittances which it will look to pocket for itself. I'd like to see if this causes true widespread opposition to the government--usually such instances do, and I suspect that the forces within the country pushing for democracy will gain some ground from this.
