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Birth control seminars and clean hypodermic needles will not get the junta to recognize the May 1990 election, but they may halt, or slow down, the spread of AIDS.

The fact is that neither sanctions nor constructive engagement have worked to change the behavior of the SPDC: the argument between proponents of o­ne or the other has become irrelevant. And sanctions won’t work now, because Burma’s economic and other relations with its neighbors are better than ever.

Compare 2003 with 1983: twenty years ago, China was still backing the Communist Party of Burma; India, now emerging as a regional economic force, was too poor to have an impact o­n its eastern neighbor; and the Thai government, regarding the Ne Win regime as a nest of communists, backed insurgencies such as the Karen National Union.

It is o­nly with western countries and (possibly) Japan that relations are worse now than they were in 1983. The junta is promoting smooth ties not o­nly with China, but practically every other East and Southeast Asian country.

It may be the case that, short of direct military intervention, there is very little foreign countries can do under the circumstances to promote democracy in Burma. To me, this is too pessimistic an assessment, but the international community needs a smarter, more coordinated policy that takes full account of the complexities of the situation over the long run. And over the short run, it needs to provide the kind of humanitarian aid that Burma’s people desperately need.

Donald M Seekins
Okinawa, Japan [Top]

Burma Has More Than Just Suu Kyi

August 29, 2003—Derek Tonkin ["SPDC Not Listening to Sanctions", Reader’s Opinion, Aug 27, 2003] suggests that sanctions by the marketplace rather than international pressure forced South Africa to end apartheid. But he fails to realize that Burma’s present financial crisis was precipitated by the bankruptcy of private banks in Burma after crony capitalism and inadequate banking supervision. The market discipline imposed o­n the Narco-Dictatorship of Myanmar will also, in the final analysis, destroy the regime.

Tonkin exhibits utter ignorance when he states "Burma o­nly has Daw Suu Kyi." We started the sanctions campaign in the early 1990s when Suu Kyi was detained for the first time. The Burma lobby is now o­ne of the best organized lobbies in Washington DC. We have defeated million-dollar campaigns financed by major oil companies and very expensive lobbying firms retained by the Narco-Dictatorship of Myanmar.

The CIA was born in Burma. The Flying Tigers with 99 planes operated in Burma six months before Pearl Harbor. The Ethnic Resistance Armies under a unified command, and with assistance from covert operations, can field 50,000 troops to help restore freedom and democracy in Burma.

Myint Thein
Senior Advisor to the Burmese Resistance
Dallas, Texas [Top]

SPDC Not Listening to Sanctions

August 27, 2003—There is, I fear, too much wishful thinking in Philip S Robertson Jr’s commentary in The Irrawaddy ["Sanctions Are Working in Burma" o­nline, Aug 26, 2003].

Economic sanctions are o­nly seriously effective if they command broad international support. At present Burma’s neighbors are not interested. o­nly Japan has undertaken to suspend new economic aid, possibly the least they could have done without incurring US and European displeasure. Asia is doing quite well picking up abandoned Western assets in Burma for a song.

When Daw Suu Kyi’s motorcade was attacked o­n May 30, the SPDC knew exactly what they were doing. She had become too popular, and represented a serious political threat. Their efforts to curry favor with the West by allowing Amnesty International to visit, by signing an agreement with the ILO, by releasing Daw Suu Kyi from house arrest and by other specific measures since April 2002 were not sufficient to persuade the West to relax sanctions, so they decided to close the book and remove Daw Suu Kyi from the scene.

We should have seen it coming, but didn’t. The SPDC knew full well that if Daw Suu Kyi disappeared, there would be an international outcry and sanctions, long mooted in the US, would certainly be imposed.