Bush says world should condemn Myanmar

"Here they are with a major catastrophe on their hands, and (they) do not allow there to be the full kind of might of a compassionate world to help them," Bush said.

Asked in a CBS News radio interview if the isolated generals running the country were more concerned about their own grip on power than with helping their own people, Bush answered, "That's the only conclusion you can draw."

U.S. officials have complained that skilled aid workers are being forced to sit on the sidelines, waiting for permission from the government to enter, as victims of the cyclone die.

Bush said "the world ought to be angry and condemn the government" of Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Ky Luu, the director of the U.S. office of foreign disaster assistance, said "there's massive concern" about whether U.S. aid for Myanmar's cyclone victims will get to those suffering from disease and lack of food and water.

Luu told reporters at the State Department that the United States plans to rely on aid groups to track the supplies flown into the country Monday on a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane. U.S. officials were not allowed to accompany the supplies to the areas hardest hit.

Luu acknowledged that it is difficult to determine what will happen to the aid in the tightly controlled, military-led country.

"We have to stay optimistic, support the in-country team and hope that the commodities will be able to reach the beneficiaries," he said.

Luu was questioned about the lack of U.S. control over the distribution of the supplies. "What we are trying to do here is react, on the one hand, to the immediate humanitarian imperative; on the other hand, we do want to make sure to be able to verify and track these commodities," he said.