Obama Says Authoritarian Regimes Should Follow Burma's Example

Touting Burma as a foreign policy success story and an example of America’s leadership, US President Barack Obama on Thursday said that other authoritarian regimes could also improve relations with Washington by adopting the path of democratic reform.

“We demonstrated that if countries like Burma travel down the road of democratic reform, they will find a new relationship with the United States,” Obama said at a fundraising event in New York.

Obama, who is seeking reelection in November presidential elections, said that the US under his leadership has restored respect for America around the world.

“We’ve restored respect for America around the world, made clear that America will abide by those core values that made us a great country. We ended torture. We promoted human rights. We made it clear that America is a Pacific power,” Obama said.

“We are leading, again, by the power of our moral example. That’s what change is,” said Obama, who rode to power on the slogan of change.

Meanwhile, a top Pentagon commander on Thursday told lawmakers that the US military would gradually try to establish relationship with the Burmese Army.

“To the extent that any military-to-military relationship exists with Burma, it is extremely limited due to US policies and sanctions directed at the former junta and its actions,” Admiral Robert Willard, Commander of US Pacific Command (PACOM) said during his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

“However, the Burmese government's steps towards credible political and economic reform and working toward ceasefires with armed ethnic groups in the past several months together have improved U.S.-Burma ties, resulting in several initiatives announced during Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton’s December trip to Burma,” he said.

“Prisoner of War (POW)/Missing in Action (MIA) recovery operations is the first opportunity for military-related engagement with Burma since 2004. It is estimated that the WWII remains of as many as 730 Americans may be present there,” said Willard.

“Burma’s assimilation into the broader Asia-Pacific regional security order would be a positive event,” he added.