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WASHINGTON-President Bush has called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the United States to help with disaster assistance after a devastating cyclone.Myanmar was struck Saturday by the cyclone, which is reporting deaths in the thousands. The most recent death toll estimates have climbed as high as 22,000, but the numbers are changing as the hours pass in the low-lying, rural country."The United States has made an initial aid contribution, but we want to do a lot more," Bush told reporters gathered in the Oval Office as he signed a bill to give a Burmese activist the nation's highest civilian honor."We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," Bush said."So our message is to the military rulers: let the United States come and help you help the people," Bush said.A news broadcast on government-run radio said Tuesday that 22,464 people have now been confirmed dead from Cyclone Nargis, which tore through the country's heartland and biggest city of Yangon.An additional 41,000 people were missing, Reuters reported.Bush's announcement came at a ceremony where he signed a bill to give Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi a Congressional Gold Medal. Aung, a Nobel Prize winner, is a harsh critic of the military regime in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma."So our message is to the military rulers: Let the United States come and help you help the people," Bush said.As in the days of Noah...
