WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday joined the growing call for Myanmar's leaders to accept the contributions, regardless of the policies of the donors.

"It should be a simple matter," Rice told reporters at the State Department. "This is not a matter of politics, this is a matter of a humanitarian crisis, and it should be a matter that the government of Burma wants to see its people receive the help that is available to them."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, readied people and equipment for an aid mission to the cyclone-stricken country, but the top U.S. diplomat in the Asian nation said its military junta is "paranoid" about accepting American help.

The U.S. military was putting people and airplanes into position Wednesday in nearby Thailand. But Myanmar's government had not accepted the U.S. offer to send aid, U.S. defense and diplomatic officials said.

The top American diplomat in Yangon, Charge d'Affaires Shari Villarosa, said the country's military junta is paranoid about the United States but is not blocking American aid in retaliation for past criticism.

"It's a very paranoid regime," she told reporters in a conference call.

She said lower reaches of the Myanmar regime appear to recognize the magnitude of the problem, but the senior leadership is isolated and has not yet announced a decision on how to handle outside aid.

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