Despots blown asunder

History is full of self-absorbed regimes that failed to respond to human suffering after a natural disaster. Myanmar's repressive junta joins a hall of shame.

The simple imperative for the military and civilian despots is to open the doors to a benevolent wave of international relief. The trickle of aid allowed inside the country since the weekend cyclone is no match for the desperate need.Estimates of the death toll soar as information seeps out of the country. The loss of life, once pegged at a grisly 22,000, is now put at an incomprehensible 100,000.

Equally mind-numbing is the figure of 41,000 missing. The same fragile shelters that offered no protection from murderous winds and lethal floodwaters have left 1 million homeless.

Myanmar's despots have sustained themselves behind closed borders. They have the ruthless capacity to murder and detain democratic leaders, assault monks, intimidate the press and neuter political institutions. All credibility flows from the ends of truncheons and rifles.

Isolation and poverty are instruments of control in normal times, but the storm topples the regime from a shaky pedestal.

Delivering the lifesaving help required is not only about willingness and resources, but also the know-how to work in difficult and hazardous conditions. Executing that logistical dance is a combination of expertise and experience. Assembling and distributing supplies quickly is a humanitarian art form.

The storm will have potentially deadly repercussions beyond the immediate trauma over a wide swath of Myanmar. The world's rice supply — already suffering from a combination of shortage and prices shocks — is in for another jolt.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Myanmar, a leading rice producer, had been gearing up for greater exports. Other Asian countries had responded to the shortage by keeping their rice home for local consumption.

Watch Myanmar's despots get shoved aside. The calamity is too great to long resist outside help. One thing the junta fears more than a tropical cyclone is a loss of control.