Mission Aborted
Insight Myanmar4 Apr 2025

Mission Aborted

Episode #330: “When President Bush called that morning and said, ‘Pull back [away from Myanmar],’ I just couldn't compose myself. I broke down in front of all the Marines, and so I had to run into the bathroom and I just cried and cried,” says Mie Mie Winn Byrd. “I knew we had all the capability to help them, to relieve suffering and provide aid, but there was nothing I could do.”

In a powerful and emotional reflection, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mie Mie Winn Byrd recounts her role in Operation Caring Response, a U.S. humanitarian relief mission following Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which killed over 135,000 and displaced millions. Born in Burma, Byrd brought vital regional expertise to the U.S. effort. Yet despite American readiness to help, Myanmar’s military regime blocked aid access, allowing only limited deliveries of critical supplies, which it then left to rot on—or disappear from—the tarmac.

Byrd draws clear and direct parallels between Cyclone Nargis and the recent earthquake in Myanmar, underscoring the military’s pattern of paranoia, cruelty and obstruction. Byrd calls the junta not a legitimate government, or even a legitimate army, but rather a Mafia-like, organized crime syndicate.

In contrast, she finds inspiration in Myanmar’s civil society and diaspora, whose grassroots response has saved lives despite immense hardship. She urges international donors to bypass the military and support trusted, local actors: “They open up their hearts, their purse, and [are] doing it again.”

Episoder(518)

Gratitude and Growth

Gratitude and Growth

This is the third episode in our ongoing series “Love Letters to Myanmar.” Our recent run of longform interviews has tried to realistically portray the terror and suffering that so many Burmese people...

4 Jun 20211h 50min

Beaten but not Broken

Beaten but not Broken

When Jonathan fell to the ground, the only thing he could think to do was to somehow shield his head from the blows and kicks coming from all directions, his reflexes automatically kicking in as he tr...

30 Mai 20212h 10min

Up In Flames

Up In Flames

Nothing had ever prepared Bhikkhu Mokkhita for this--his monastery set afire, his name appearing on a blacklist and becoming the focus on a manhunt. Somehow, he made it through the numerous police che...

24 Mai 20212h 28min

No Magical Thinking

No Magical Thinking

Ni Ni has been planning for a revolution for as long as she can remember… just not this one. She had expected her fight to be about gender equality. But she says, “Now, I am fighting back about basic ...

20 Mai 20211h 34min

Punk Revolutionary

Punk Revolutionary

Kyaw Kyaw has been a revolutionary about as long as he can remember. His political awakening came through an unlikely influence: punk culture. “Punk is being yourself. It’s a rebellion against injusti...

15 Mai 20211h 55min

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Home Is Where the Heart Is

You are listening to the second episode in our ongoing series, titled “Love Letters to Myanmar.”This series features guests who share their warmest memories and anecdotes, discuss what life lessons th...

9 Mai 20211h 40min

Operation Defection

Operation Defection

For his contribution to the resistance, Ven Detta is seeking inspiration from Vladmir Lenin, spending the last several months studying the history of how soldiers are coaxed to defect during insurrect...

5 Mai 20211h 6min

Literally A Nightmare Scenario

Literally A Nightmare Scenario

Thiri is no stranger to the trauma brought on by the military coup. She spent five years with Human Rights Watch listening to people with cruel and brutal stories of their families killed or harmed by...

30 Apr 20212h 12min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
popradet
aftenpodden-usa
stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-gukild-johaug
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
i-retten
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
nokon-ma-ga
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
bt-dokumentar-2
rss-dannet-uten-piano