News & Articles on Burma -Friday, 02 September, 2011-UZL

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 02 September, 2011
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China speeding up the dam in Burma
What Is the EU Waiting For In Burma?
US band to visit Burma
The U.N. Should Document Burma's Abuses
Ethnic Leaders Say Suu Kyi Should Be on 'Peace Committee'
Pyongyang Dining Comes to Rangoon
'Save The Irrawaddy' Campaign Gains Momentum
Bullies Across Borders?
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Amid armed conflict in Kachin state, China speeding up the dam in Burma
By Zin Linn Sep 02, 2011 8:17PM UTC

Today state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused KIO/KIA of forcibly recruiting villagers in Dawphonyan Sub-Township into their armed forces.

It said that KIO/KIA forced local people to join them, and otherwise they are not allowed to live in the villages. The ethnic armed group proclaims that one man from each household in lower Tarsai Village, upper Tarsai Village, Teinmakyaing Village and Mongma Village in Dawphonyan Sub-Township must join KIO/KIA.

Such act of KIO/KIA shows that they prove a total disregard for the wishes of the local people wishing for peace and undermined the stability of Kachin State, and security and socio-economy of the rural people, the government media said.

However, Salang Kaba Lar Nan, Joint General Secretary-2 of the KIO, dismissed the government newspaper’s accusation as baseless since those villages are under the government’s administration. Moreover, members of the KIO/KIA join up the group at their will, he said.

Meanwhile, China is speeding up the construction of the Irrawaddy dam although the armed conflict still going on in Kachin State, quoting an urgent August-31-dated statement released by the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), the Kachin News Group said.

The Myitsone dam is being constructed by workers of the state-owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and the Burma-Asia World Company, plus 700 additional construction workers from the Chinese state-owned Sino-hydro Corporation, Ms. Ah Nan, spokesperson for the KDNG said.

In October 2009, the Thailand-based Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) published a report – “Resisting the flood” – highlighting the implementation of the Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy River. The report demanded to stop the project sponsored by the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), the main investor and contractor.

The dam project creates unwelcome impacts like social, environmental, livelihood, cultural and security problems for tens of thousands of people around the dam location and downstream of the dam. The report states that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages around the dam sites are being forcibly relocated without proper resettlement plans being drawn up by the Burmese military regime. They lost their means of livelihood such as farming, fishing and collection of non-timber forest products.

Besides, over 150,000 people in Kachin’s capital Myitkyina, 27 miles downstream of the dam, will have to live under the constant threat of floods from the dam if there is an earthquake. The dam is less than 100 kilometers from a major fault line in an earthquake-prone area, warned the KDNG report.

More Chinese construction machinery and materials are being transported to the Myitsone Dam site by 12-wheel trucks on the Myitkyina-Kambaiti Road, referring local eyewitnesses of border town Kambaiti, KNG reported.

After a new military conflict started between the Burmese Army and the KIA in June, in Kachin State, the KIA post along the Myitkyina-Kambaiti route banned trucks loaded with construction materials and equipment, according to truck drivers on that road. The KIA also damaged the key bridges on the road using mines. Part of the Stilwell Road (also called Ledo) was reconstructed in 2006, at a cost of 97 million Yuan (US$15.2) by Chinese companies from Yunnan province.

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, sent an open letter to Chinese President, Hu Jintao, in March, urging a halt to the Irrawaddy Myitson Dam construction because it will lead civil war in the country.

According to the KDNG statement, the Chinese communist government has refused the KIO request.

With the help of the KDNG, Kachin ethnic people around the world have protested by sending an appeal letter with many signatures via the Chinese Embassies in five cities such as Bangkok, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Wellington addressed to Premier Wen Jiabao. They made a fervent appeal in March 2010 to stop the Myitsone Hydropower project in Kachin State.

The 500 foot dam has been under construction at the confluence (Myitsone) of the Mali Hka River and N’Mai Hka River, 27 miles north of the Kachin capital, Myitkyina, beginning in December, 2009, and it will cost 3.6 billion dollars.

Most of the 6000 MW of electricity produced will be sold to China.

In a statement issued on 11 August, Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said the dam endangers the flow of the Irrawaddy River, which she described as “the most significant geographical feature of the country.”

“We believe that, taking into account the interests of both countries, both governments would hope to avoid consequences which might jeopardize lives and homes,” Suu Kyi emphasized. “To safeguard the Irrawaddy is to save from harm our economy and our environment, as well as to protect our cultural heritage,” she added. http://asiancorrespondent.com/64052/amid-armed-conflict-in-kachin-state-china-speeding-up-the-dam-in-burma/
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CONTRIBUTOR
What Is the EU Waiting For In Burma?
By BENJAMIN ZAWACKI Friday, September 2, 2011

It is time the EU work to establish a UN-led Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law in Burma.

Four years ago this month, the people of Burma rose up in what became known as the “Saffron Revolution,” named after the Buddhist monks who eventually led the demonstrations. While the world initially condemned the security forces’ violent crackdown that followed, several months later the Burmese authorities managed to deflect international criticism by announcing it would hold national elections and form a civilian government.

The international community, including the European Union (EU), has been distracted ever since, despite an abundance of information that Burma’s government has continued to violate human rights on a massive scale. “Wait and see”—what the government will do before the elections, how the elections will be conducted, whether the new government will make any changes—has been the prevailing and irresponsible approach.

Meanwhile, the human rights situation in Burma has gone from bad to worse, with no justice for the victims. By the time the election announcement was made, the number of political prisoners in Burma had nearly doubled from its pre-Saffron Revolution number to over 2,100—where it remains today. Several months afterwards, the government denied, obstructed and/or confiscated international aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, turning the humanitarian disaster into a human rights crisis. And a year later, authorities arrested, tried, and unlawfully extended the house arrest of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Among the situations calling out loudest for justice and accountability is Burma’s ethnic minority regions. Ten months before the November 2010 elections, Amnesty International released a report on the repression of ethnic minority political activists in Burma, which showed that optimism in relation to the polls was being contradicted in the ethnic minority areas.

It followed a mid-2008 publication, Crimes against humanity in eastern Burma, whose relevance has only increased since then. The report focused on the Burmese army’s human rights violations against ethnic minority Karen civilians on a widespread and systematic basis, which amounted to crimes against humanity. Violations included extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, forced labor, confiscation of land and food and forced displacement of the civilian population on a large scale, starting in late 2005.

While this was the first time Amnesty had characterized such violations as crimes against humanity, the report’s findings were consistent with our research on the country for two decades. The testimonies, collected in several countries since 1987, documented the very same crimes against civilians. They were told to us not only by the Karen, but by many other ethnic minorities as well, including the Rohingya, the Karenni, the Shan and the Mon.

Likewise, accounts since mid-2008, especially since the day of Burma’s national elections last November, when hostilities were accelerated or renewed between the Burmese army and armed groups fighting on behalf of several ethnic minorities, recall our report’s findings: serious human rights violations—some of which may amount to crimes against humanity and/or war crimes—against ethnic minority Karen, Kachin, and Shan civilians.

These include recent accounts of the army using prison convicts as porters in the fighting in Kayin (Karen) State, forcing them to act as human shields and mine-sweepers and of rape and other sexual violence, primarily in Shan State. Reliable reports indicate that the number of displaced persons there has reached 30,000, while in or near Kachin State 20,000 internally displaced persons were reported at the end of July.

We have waited for years, even decades, and seen quite enough: these violations call for accountability. However, Article 445 of Burma’s 2008 Constitution—which codifies immunity from prosecution for officials for past violations—indicates that without international action, this is most unlikely.

In October 2011, the UN special rapporteur will be presenting a report to the UN General Assembly, which will likely adopt a resolution on Burma. The EU will again lead in the drafting of this resolution.
In each of his reports or statements to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, the special rapporteur has called for greater accountability for grave international crimes in Burma or expressly recommended that the UN establish a Commission of Inquiry into such crimes.

While the question remains as to whether such a Commission would have access to Burma, a similar 1997 Commission by the International Labour Organization compensated for its denial of access partly through expert testimony, which Amnesty among others provided. Two years later, Burma passed a law prohibiting forced labor. Accountability must begin somewhere.

Moreover, accountability need not exclude increased humanitarian assistance and efforts to engage the new government.

Amnesty International welcomes the fact that 12 of the 16 nations that have publicly stated their support for a Commission of Inquiry in Burma are EU members, but regrets that neither the EU as a bloc nor several of its influential members—including Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden—have not done so.

After more than three years of “wait and see,” it is time the EU and its member states translate their concern about Burma’s human rights situation into public support for the establishment of a UN-led Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law in Burma.

Benjamin Zawacki is Amnesty International’s Burma researcher and a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations. http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=22006&page=2
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THE NATION
Music to calm the savage diplomatic beast? US band to visit Burma
Published on September 2, 2011

Rangoon - A US band is to make a rare appearance in Burma this month in the latest sign of a possible diplomatic thaw between the military-dominated country and the West, officials said Friday.
Earth String is to be in Burma September 21-25, a US embassy official said without providing details.
The band's visit, sponsored by the embassy, was seen as the latest sign of slight improvements in Burma's relations with Western democracies after its November general election, the first in 20 years.
"I think all relations usually start with the cultural sector," one Asian diplomat in Rangoon said. "This is a positive sign for American-Myanmar [Burmese] relations."
"I hope it is a positive sign for American-Myanmar relations because we haven't seen these kinds of musical bands here for sometime," said Nay Zin Latt, a political adviser to the new government.//DPA

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The U.N. Should Document Burma's Abuses
It's time to set up a commission of inquiry. Asean cannot stand by.

Today European foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss, among other issues, a resolution on Burma to be tabled at the United Nations General Assembly. Later this month, members of parliament from Southeast Asia will gather for the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Association meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Both are opportunities to build momentum for a United Nations-led commission of inquiry into possible crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

To date, 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Czech Republic, have called for a commission. Yet Burma's Asean neighbors have remained silent. Perhaps some consider such a move gratuitous and meddlesome. But if Asean is to assert itself as a leading organization on the global stage, its members need to send a clear message that crimes against humanity affect the entire region and will not be tolerated.

An inquiry would not be a political tool for assigning criminal liability; rather, it would be a mechanism to document atrocities committed in Burma over the years and help prevent future atrocities by encouraging policy reforms in Burma's judicial system. It would also provide victims of Burma's protracted civil war an opportunity to seek justice for their grievances, and so contribute to building a lasting peace.

Human rights monitors have documented abuses in Burma for more than two decades, and the U.N. General Assembly has passed 20 resolutions describing possible crimes. In March 2010, Tomás Ojea Quintana, the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, recommended establishing a commission of inquiry. Leaving Burma after a five-day mission last week, Mr. Quintana reiterated his position.

An international investigation is urgently needed because the Burmese government has failed to respond to appeals from its people. In 2007, deep-seated discontent spurred tens of thousands of Buddhist monks to take to the streets to demand change. Instead of engaging the monks in constructive discussions, the military junta opened fire on the religious leaders. Today more than 2,000 prisoners of conscience remain in prison.

The Burmese government is trying to head off pressure for a commission of inquiry by raising hopes it will now pursue reforms. In 2008 it held a referendum on a new constitution to restore civilian rule. However, this constitution is severely flawed, since it protects those who committed abuses in the past.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has nevertheless hailed the new government as a step forward, calling on the European Union and the United States to lift sanctions. However, Asean states did not consider the ramifications the elections would have on Burma's armed conflict. In the aftermath of the elections a number of ceasefire agreements between the government and non-state armed groups broke down.

In June 2011 renewed hostilities between government forces and the Kachin Independence Army led to widespread abuses against civilians in Kachin State provoking over 20,000 people to flee their homes. Thousands of refugees spilled across the borders to Thailand and China. Asean was slow to respond and has yet to develop a mechanism to protect refugees and ensure civilians protection from human rights abuses.

In contested areas of Shan State, where government troops continue to battle ethnic Shan armed groups, there have been credible reports of systematic rape. In a statement released on July 22, Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the Indonesian Parliament and President of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus declared "We [AIPMC] call on the Myanmar Army to immediately end rights abuses, particularly the systematic use of rape as a weapon to suppress ethnic women and to urgently engage in peace talks with ethnic armed groups."

Burmese President Thein Sein recently made overtures to the political opposition, meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi and offering peace talks with some of the armed groups. Genuine multiparty dialogue is welcome, but progress toward political reconciliation is not a substitute for seeking truth and justice. An independent U.N.-led investigation that examines reports of human rights violations committed by both the government and non-state actors would complement talks.

President Thein Sein also recently announced that Burma is ready and committed to take a stronger leadership role in the region. On Aug. 21, he declared in Parliament that his government intends to assume the Asean chairmanship in 2014. The government should demonstrate its readiness to chair the regional body in action as well as words. Cooperating with a potential international investigation would be a step in the right direction.

All those who care about the rights and dignity of the citizens of Burma should support the call for a commission of inquiry. Without accountability, allegations of grave human rights violations will continue to poison the development of Burma and Asean.

Mr. Tanada is a member of the Philippines Congress and the vice president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544222636274718.html
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Ethnic Leaders Say Suu Kyi Should Be on 'Peace Committee'
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, September 2, 2011

Leaders of a number of Burma's ethnic armed groups welcomed the approval of a “Peace Committee” by the country's Upper House of Parliament on Wednesday, but said they want opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be a member of the committee.

The mission of the Peace Committee will be to mediate between the Burmese goevernment and the ethnic armed groups, some of which are engaged in armed conflict with the Burmese military.

Arakanese MP Aye Maung, who is the chairman of the Rakhine National Development Party, proposed that Suu Kyi become a member of the Peace Committe, but it is unclear whether his proposal will be adopted.

Naw Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed group that has been fighting the government for more than six decades in an effort to achieve autonomy for the Karen people, said, “If the government honestly forms a Peace Committee to hold talks with us, it would be a good sign. But we have to wait and see the condition and rule of the committee. We also prefer to hold talks in a neutral country, not inside Burma.”

Suu Kyi’s participation would be helpful, as she is sincerely working for democracy for the country, Zipporah Sein added.

In an open letter sent by Suu Kyi to President Thein Sein and the ethnic groups last month, Suu Kyi said that she is ready to become involved and use her influence to help end the conflicts and build peace in the nation.

Maj Sai Lao Hseng, the spokesperson for the Shan State Army-South, also welcomed the formation of a Peace Committee to mediate with ethnic groups. He said the committee should include Suu Kyi because the ethnic conflicts are a national issue and Suu Kyi is widely respected by the people of Burma.



A veteran politician, Chan Tun, also welcomed a Peace Committee, which he said should include a number of prominent and widely respected politicians.

Aye Thar Aung, another prominent Arakanese politician who is based in Rangoon, said that the government must declare a nationwide ceasefire first, and then talk to the ethnic armed groups.

“The talks should be held directly by the authorized government officials, not the chief ministers of states because they don’t have the authority for making decisions.”

“We can only say there is a possibility of peace if the government committee reaches a bilateral agreement with the ethnic delegation,” he added.

On August 18, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that the government had offered an “olive branch” to the ethnic armed groups, encouraging them to contact their respective state or division governments as a first step toward meeting with a union government delegation.

After the offer, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of ethnic armed groups, rejected the idea of one-on-one talks and called for talks between the government and the alliance of ethnic armed groups. In late August, the UNFC also formed a peace talks group in preparation for future negotiations with the Burmese government.

La Nan, the secretary of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), doesn’t expect much from the government’s Peace Committee. He said that there will be no possibility of peace with ethnic armed groups if the committee holds talks based on the 2008 constitution.

There are a dozen ethnic armed groups that have been fighting for autonomy since Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948. Tensions have boiled over into bloody clashes in recent months, most notably between the Burmese army and the KIA, the KNU and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

The Peace Committee has been officially named the “Committee for Eternal Stability and Peace in the Union of Burma,” according to Aye Maung. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22008
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Pyongyang Dining Comes to Rangoon
By WAI MOE Friday, September 2, 2011

North Korean technicians have been coming to Burma since 1993 to help the county's military junta improve its weapons systems. During that time, the North Koreans, invariably men, rented houses from military cronies in the most prestigious areas of Rangoon.

The Burmese regime had previously suspended its relationship with Pyongyang following the assassination in Rangoon of South Korean delegates by North Korean agents in 1983.

However, relations began warming when both countries found themselves increasingly isolated in the region. In April 2007, the two pariah states re-establish diplomatic ties, and the North Koreans reopened their embassy in Rangoon.

Now Pyongyang has taken another footstep into Burma— the opening in July of the first North Korean restaurant in the former capital.

Named “Pyongyang Koryo Restaurant,” the diner is located on Sayar San Road in Bahan Township, and has already established a regular clientele of customers, including North Korean diplomats and South Korean businessmen.

The Pyongyang Koryo serves Korean dishes for lunch and dinner, and hosts traditional Korean entertainment in the evenings. Options include soups, hot pots and curries with prices generally from 10,000 to 35,000 kyat (US $13 to $47) per dish.

“In my opinion, this could be a place where Koreans hold informal business talks on North Korean related matters,” a diplomatic source in Rangoon said. “You know how paranoid the North Koreans are—maybe they are too cautious to invite guests to the embassy.”

When The Irrawaddy called the restaurant, the receptionist answered “Koryo,” but was unable to converse in Burmese or English.

Hein Latt, a well-known Burmese author who wrote the biography, “Kim Jong Il: North Korea’s Dear Leader,” said that in recent days he had met North Korean ambassador Kim Sok Chol at a party in Rangoon, and the ambassador invited him to dine at the North Korean restaurant.

“The new North Korean restaurant has been opened with the backing of the North Korean embassy,” he said. “Without the embassy’s support, this kind of restaurant would not exist.

“I expect they [North Korean diplomats] use it as a venue to gather intelligence,” he said.

Ex-Maj Aung Lynn Htut, a former counter intelligence officer, said that in the day to day work of an intelligence officer, “a friendly restaurant is a good cover.”

“Previously, [former premier] Gen Khin Nyunt refused the North Koreans permission to open a restaurant because of international concerns,” he said, adding that nowadays there are more North Koreans in Burma since allegations surfaced over North Korea and Burma’s ties to nuclear missiles and underground military technology.

According to Southeast Asia-based journalist Bertil Lintner, the first North Korean restaurant in the region opened in 2002 in the popular Cambodian tourist destination of Siem Reap.

It was so successful that Pyongyang decided to open a second restaurant in Phnom Penh in 2003, he said, adding that the North Korean government then financed in 2006 the opening of a large restaurant in Bangkok’s Pattanakarn suburb near the North Korean embassy.

“It [the Pyongyang Koryo] sounds like all the other North Korean restaurants in the region,” Lintner said. “I guess it's to make money for the North Korean embassy in Rangoon.” http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22007
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'Save The Irrawaddy' Campaign Gains Momentum
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, September 2, 2011

A petition signed by nearly 1,600 influential Burmese persons, including politicians, journalists, writers, artists and film directors, has been sent to President Thein Sein on Thursday with a campaign message titled “From Those who Wish the Irrawaddy to Flow Forever.”

The signatories included: Win Tin, a prominent member of the opposition National League for Democracy; veteran journalists Sein Win and Maung Wun Tha; Kyaw Thu, the founder of the Free Funeral Services Society; writer Than Myint Aung; social activist Aung Thin; the acclaimed writer Zaw Zaw Aung; and film director Cho Tu Zal.

The campaign was organized by Myat Thu, a prominent member of the 88 Generation Students group.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Myat Thu said, “Along with the petition we sent a letter that outlined our anxieties.”

The Irrawaddy River is considered the main artery of Burma and million sof people depend on it for their livelihoods. It has its source in Kachin State in northern Burma at the confluence of the N’mai and Mali rivers, and flows 2,170 km (1,348 mi) through many of the country's main cities, including Myitkyina, Bhamo, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bagan, Magwe and Pyay, before emptying in the fertile Irrawaddy delta.

But today the river is faced with an unprecedented threat in the form of ongoing dam projects in Kachin State.

Burma's previous ruling military regime and China’s state-owned Chinese Power Investment Corporation (CPI) agreed to built a megadam at Myitsone, the confluence that acts as the source of the Irrawaddy. If completed, the hydropower dam project will be the 15th largest hydroelectric power station in the world, and will cost an estimated US $3.6 billion.
The length of the dam is to be about 499 ft (152 m), and its height about 499 ft, equivalent to a 50-story building. The surface area of the reservoir is to be 295.8 sq mi (766 sq km), larger than the city state of Singapore.
Environmentalists, activists and politicians have given voice to growing concerns about the fate of this mighty river, but the government is reluctant to take action to stop construction.

Meanwhile, political parties and independent candidates have called on the Supreme Court to take action to save the Irrawaddy River.

“We send an open letter today,” said Win Cho, an independent candidate. “We are calling for an official response into the issue of the Irrawaddy River and the Myitsone dam project.”

Win Cho said other signatories included: Bauk Ja from the National Democratic Force; Soe Kyi from Thanlyin Township; Aung Myo Oo from Kyeemyindaing Township; and Min Aung from Botahtaung Township, all in Kachin State. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22010
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CONTRIBUTOR
Bullies Across Borders?
By DAVID I. STEINBERG Thursday, September 1, 2011

The new, still fragile reform activities of the recently installed government in Burma have excited an outburst of vituperation from across international frontiers. As internal positive change is something external analysts have long sought, why is this so?

Military regimes inherently bully—orders are given and are expected to be obeyed. Orthodoxy is required and diverse views are eschewed. Line up and obey. So bullies inside Burma are a distressful but expected outcome of the nature of that military- dominated government. The deeply flawed elections were, in a sense, the outcome of such bullying.

But outside Burma? Developments within the country by the new government, with its probes toward positive change, have prompted an outburst of advocacy of heightened sanctions and renewed pressures for a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses at the very time when there is at least the possibility of reforms within the new “disciplined-flourishing democracy”. Even the possibility of positive change, still very much in process, has prompted a bullying type of orthodoxy from outside Burma by members of organizations devoted to liberty, democracy and human rights. This is quite disturbing.

Throughout the long rule of the military since 1988, voices in opposition abroad have often countered nuanced consideration of the problems of Burma with cries, reminiscent of President George W Bush, that if you are not with us you are against us. The new tone, with its more frenetic stridency, seems borne out of the fear that the internal changes at least advocated by the head of state may indeed have some positive results, thus perhaps prolonging the life of the new administration and making it more acceptable to the Western world, and threatening the sanctions regimen that had been serially imposed on Burma and its rulers. In effect, this new approach to internal change may postpone or prevent the “Arab Spring” from reaching Burma.

These attacks have become personalized against some individuals who have studied that country and who have advocated the well-being of the diverse Burmese peoples. Democracy requires diversity of views and intelligent debate over alternatives, none of which may have simple answers. Policies based on dichotomies rarely are successful. The goals of those new bullies on the policy block are indeed admirable—human rights and improved freedoms and lives—and ones that can be widely shared and with which most of us would identify. Yet their tactics undercut the very goals they seek to reach.

It is a sad, bordering tragic, condition that those of us physically, but not emotionally, removed from the Burma scene do not seem to be able to negotiate with amicable, respectful, and dignified personal relations the necessary and desirable policy differences among us that are reflective of the democracy we would like to see in that country. Dissent is essential, but so is amity.

For years, some observers of the Burmese scene have said that some of the incessantly articulated goals of the military government—national unity, sovereignty, better health, education, agriculture, etc.—are ones that could conceptually prompt widespread approval, but the means by which those goals have been approached, the tactics used to attempt to enforce them on the people, subvert the very aims toward which they purportedly work. In other words, one cannot get there from here on that route.

But what about this new stridency? Can one get to democracy, however defined in some non-adjectivally modified form, in this manner? It would seem highly unlikely. One does not question the motivation of those organizations advocating liberalization and change in Burma, nor the intent of their members, but one must question some ill-advised temperamental actions because—as across the frontier—you cannot get there from here.

David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His latest volume is“Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know” (Oxford). http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=21999
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