"WHEN Cyclone Nargis struck Burma?s Irrawaddy delta—a heavily populated and largely agricultural area that feeds much of this impoverished country—it was immediately obvious that a massive response would be required to avert a major humanitarian crisis. But a month later, and after some of the most high-powered intercession from regional and world leaders that has ever been seen in the aftermath of a natural disaster, Burma?s military leaders continued to insist they have the situation under control. For the regime, the crisis passed almost as soon as it happened: The dead were already dead, and the dying might as well be. Time to move on to more important things—like ratifying a constitution designed to make the generals as politically secure from the threat of genuine democracy as they were from Cyclone Nargis in their fortress-like capital of Naypyidaw..."