US Presidential Hopefuls—
Who’s Best for Burma?
By Wai Moe January 9, 2008
As the contest to select the candidates for November’s US presidential election heats up, Burmese are asking themselves which of them are more likely to engage in Burma’s democracy struggle and how a new administration will impact on US policy on Burma.
The most interesting of them appear to be the Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama and the Republican John McCain. Clinton, however, has shown less interest in Burma than Obama and McCain.
Many Burmese observers, inside and outside the country, say that Clinton’s interest in Burma issue is less than her rivals, Obama and McCain.
Analysts point out that Washington’s Burma policy is mostly influenced by congressmen, congresswomen and senators with special interest in the country, such as Senators Joseph Biden, Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein and Congressmen Joseph Crawley, Tom Lantos and Joseph Pitts, who are united in their view that the Burmese military regime is one of the world’s worst tyrannies.
Thaung Tun, the UN representative of Burma’s government in exile, the National Coalition Government Union of Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday he didn’t expect a “big change” in US policy from a new administration. All candidates for the US presidency shared the same view on Burma, he said.
Obama spoke out on October 1 last year about the September demonstrations and crackdown, saying the world had witnessed the images of monks as they courageously and peacefully demand democracy and the military junta’s violent response. He said a regime that claimed to be impervious to international criticism had moved to close off media and communications access to stem the flow of those images out of the country.
Obama said he was pleased that the UN had dispatched special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma and that he had met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I urge all nations, including the EU and Burma’s neighbors, to cooperate in enforcing the financial sanctions the United States has imposed,” said Obama. “The United States should also push China to help persuade the regime to begin a serious dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and those seeking democratic reform.”
Obama also said the US should lead in charting a unified course with Asean, China, India, Japan and the EU “to forge a road map for change in Burma, and prevent the junta from playing countries off each other as they have in the past.”
“Ordinary people armed with courage and hope are not powerless,” Obama said. “They are history’s mightiest force, even before the guns of a brutal regime. We must remain true to their cause and honor their bravery.”
In contrast to Obama, Clinton was silent on the September demonstrations and the crackdown, earning criticism from commentator Sheldon Filger on the Web site http://www.hillaryproject.com/.
In a commentary carried by the site on October 8, Filger said many statesmen and human rights advocates had been speaking out publicly about the events in Burma.
“But what about the person who claims to be the ‘most qualified’ to become America’s next president, Hillary Rodham Clinton?” he asked. “Our former co-president, Senator Hillary Clinton, has thus far been silent on recent events in Burma. Why?”
A Western observer told The Irrawaddy Clinton was “more like a political opportunist.” But he also wanted to know how Obama stood on Burma—“I am not sure if he knows where Burma is located."
Among all presidential candidates, McCain has proved himself to be the best champion for the Burmese people. He visited Burma with a US delegation in the 1990s and met Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is the greatest person I have ever met in my life,” McCain said after the meeting.
“Some in the international community fail to see the urgency of restoring just rule in Burma, believing that the passage of time will eventually undermine the SPDC's [State Peace and Development Council’s] tyranny,” McCain wrote in a commentary in The Wall Street Journal in June 2005.
“But as we see today, the SPDC could just as easily tighten its grip as lighten its repression. We must stand behind Ms Suu Kyi and other Burmese democrats to ensure that time abets freedom, not despotism and misery.”
When the Burmese junta cracked down on Buddhist monks and other protesters last September, McCain referred to the events repeatedly on the campaign trail, even to crowds largely unfamiliar with what he was so upset about. “They are bad guys,” he said of Burma’s ruling generals. “Thugs.”
As the contest to select the candidates for November’s US presidential election heats up, Burmese are asking themselves which of them are more likely to engage in Burma’s democracy struggle and how a new administration will impact on US policy on Burma.
The most interesting of them appear to be the Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama and the Republican John McCain. Clinton, however, has shown less interest in Burma than Obama and McCain.
Many Burmese observers, inside and outside the country, say that Clinton’s interest in Burma issue is less than her rivals, Obama and McCain.
Analysts point out that Washington’s Burma policy is mostly influenced by congressmen, congresswomen and senators with special interest in the country, such as Senators Joseph Biden, Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein and Congressmen Joseph Crawley, Tom Lantos and Joseph Pitts, who are united in their view that the Burmese military regime is one of the world’s worst tyrannies.
Thaung Tun, the UN representative of Burma’s government in exile, the National Coalition Government Union of Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday he didn’t expect a “big change” in US policy from a new administration. All candidates for the US presidency shared the same view on Burma, he said.
Obama spoke out on October 1 last year about the September demonstrations and crackdown, saying the world had witnessed the images of monks as they courageously and peacefully demand democracy and the military junta’s violent response. He said a regime that claimed to be impervious to international criticism had moved to close off media and communications access to stem the flow of those images out of the country.
Obama said he was pleased that the UN had dispatched special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma and that he had met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I urge all nations, including the EU and Burma’s neighbors, to cooperate in enforcing the financial sanctions the United States has imposed,” said Obama. “The United States should also push China to help persuade the regime to begin a serious dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and those seeking democratic reform.”
Obama also said the US should lead in charting a unified course with Asean, China, India, Japan and the EU “to forge a road map for change in Burma, and prevent the junta from playing countries off each other as they have in the past.”
“Ordinary people armed with courage and hope are not powerless,” Obama said. “They are history’s mightiest force, even before the guns of a brutal regime. We must remain true to their cause and honor their bravery.”
In contrast to Obama, Clinton was silent on the September demonstrations and the crackdown, earning criticism from commentator Sheldon Filger on the Web site http://www.hillaryproject.com/.
In a commentary carried by the site on October 8, Filger said many statesmen and human rights advocates had been speaking out publicly about the events in Burma.
“But what about the person who claims to be the ‘most qualified’ to become America’s next president, Hillary Rodham Clinton?” he asked. “Our former co-president, Senator Hillary Clinton, has thus far been silent on recent events in Burma. Why?”
A Western observer told The Irrawaddy Clinton was “more like a political opportunist.” But he also wanted to know how Obama stood on Burma—“I am not sure if he knows where Burma is located."
Among all presidential candidates, McCain has proved himself to be the best champion for the Burmese people. He visited Burma with a US delegation in the 1990s and met Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is the greatest person I have ever met in my life,” McCain said after the meeting.
“Some in the international community fail to see the urgency of restoring just rule in Burma, believing that the passage of time will eventually undermine the SPDC's [State Peace and Development Council’s] tyranny,” McCain wrote in a commentary in The Wall Street Journal in June 2005.
“But as we see today, the SPDC could just as easily tighten its grip as lighten its repression. We must stand behind Ms Suu Kyi and other Burmese democrats to ensure that time abets freedom, not despotism and misery.”
When the Burmese junta cracked down on Buddhist monks and other protesters last September, McCain referred to the events repeatedly on the campaign trail, even to crowds largely unfamiliar with what he was so upset about. “They are bad guys,” he said of Burma’s ruling generals. “Thugs.”
No comments:
Post a Comment