Letters to the Editor_2004

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And however deplorable, ruthless and savage the Burmese military’s crushing of the 1988 uprising was, legalistically speaking it did NOT amount to genocide as per the provisions of the 1951 Convention o­n the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

A few, may be some will almost inevitably assume that I am a SPDC "sympathizer" by these comments. Needless to say I am not. Superficial, perhaps even shallow, as the above comments—and a few others of the external Burmese resistance or opposition, which I have not mentioned here—are. I would state that they are not the moral equivalent of the puerile rants and ravings of the military literary hacks in such junta publications as the New Light of Myanmar. And I write this also not necessarily to please or antagonize either the SPDC hacks or the "Burmese Resistance".

An observer [Top]

Failure of the United Nations

March 25, 2003—The United Nation’s performance is mixed. Several UN agencies like the WHO, UNICEF and UNHCR have a good record in humanitarian activities. But the UN has a poor record in dealing with evil regimes. The UN's record in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo is shameful. And the UN has failed in Iraq and Burma.

Saddam Hussein and the SLORC/SPDC have for more than a decade been hiding behind the skirt of the UN with a campaign of "delay and deceit". Both have ignored repeated UN Resolutions for the past decade and engaged in delaying tactics to deceive the international community. The failure of the UN has forced the "Coalition of the Willing" to use military action to restore freedom and democracy in Iraq.

Operation Iraqi Freedom will in a matter of a few weeks accomplish what a decade of UN Resolutions has failed to accomplish. And an American Aircraft Carrier Battle Group with a Marine Expeditionary Force can help restore freedom and democracy in Burma within 72 hours, which repeated UN Resolutions have failed to accomplish during the past decade.

Force will have to be used to facilitate regime change in Burma. There is no other way.

Myint Thein
Texas, USA [Top]

Burma's Regime might Change over Iraq War

March 20, 2003—The Iraq war is a preset and selective war, yet it seems to be a US led New Global Order. However, the Burmese regime may see it with a different and more cautious view. Burma's generals have to change their game plan in order to prevent the United States from becoming interested in them over the next few months. The United States interest in Burma is not an economic interest or strategic interest but o­ne of human rights and democracy. If the United States keeps its policy of liberating countries that lack human rights and democracy, Burma will be o­ne of the next targets.

Saddam unleashed chemical weapons o­n his own people, and Burma’s generals slowly tortured the Burmese without using these extremes measure. Shan human rights groups, however, have shown the world community that the SPDC uses sexual abuse as a weapon against them. Indeed, Saddam is known to be worse than the current Burmese leaders, but the suffering felt in both countries has not been much different.