Bush Imposes Sanctions on Myanmar (Burma) Over Human Rights

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush told the U.N. General Assembly on

Tuesday that the U.S. will tighten existing economic sanctions on

Myanmar, citing a a series of "the most egregious violations of human

rights."

In Myanmar, the military government "has imposed a 19-year reign of

fear," including persecution of ethnic minorities, child labor, human

trafficking and the snuffing out of freedoms of speech, assembly and

worship, Bush said.

"The regime is holding more than 1,000 political prisoners," Bush

said.

Despite the government's totalitarian behavior, Bush said "the

people's desire for freedom is unmistakable."

The U.S. will move to tighten sanctions on the military government and

its financial backers, including visa bans on those responsible for

human rights violations, Bush said. He further urged the U.N. member

nations to apply "diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese

people reclaim their freedom."

Burma is the traditional name for Myanmar. The Asian nation is

presently the site of massive protests led by Buddhists monks pushing

for democracy.

Freedom was the focus of Bush's Tuesday address, as he asked the U.N.

General Assembly to "join in the mission of liberation."

"The best way to defeat extremists is to defeat their dark ideology

with a more hopeful vision, a vision of liberty," he said, lauding the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly

in 1948.

The declaration involves "confronting long term threats" and

"answering the immediate needs of today," Bush said.

- - - - - -

Looks as if Bush is taking a cue from those monks - striking

while the iron is hot, so to speak.

Whether this will have the slightest effect on the regime is

unknown. Probably not much. I don't think we do too much

business with Burma and I doubt our imposition of sanctions

will prompt many other nations to adopt the same strategy.

We just don't have that kind of "moral leadership" standing

these days.

The whole idea of "sanctions" is worth questioning too. They

have never caused a dictator to loosen his grasp. When we

tried sanctions against Saddam Hussein and Castro, they

continued to live high on the hog while their people suffered.

When we tried them against North Korea, they countered with

a (possibly bogus) nuclear weapons program which eventually

brought US to the bargaining table ... eager to make nice

with the regime.

All in all, "sanctions" seem to be a way for nations to make

it appear they are "doing something" without actually having

to do much. The impact does not promote social or political

change nor does it impact the leadership - it only hurts the

common people and thus makes enemies. The only tried and true

ways to dislodge a bona-fide dictator are to back a coup or

go in and blast them ourselves. Neither solutions are good

solutions - often promoting chaos and/or takeovers by the

most radical elements - but they will eliminate a specific

regime where 'sanctions' will not.

Finally, why pick on Myanmar ? There are plenty of other

'human rights' offenders out there - some much more

prominent and influential. Saudi Arabia comes to mind,

some of our "friends" south of the border too. Some

would list Israel as well. In narrow scope, even the USA

has been rather naughty of late relative to our treatment

of "terror suspects" plus our rapidly expanding domestic

spying programs and general disregard for the constitution.

B1ackwater wrote:

> NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush told the U.N. General Assembly on

> Tuesday that the U.S. will tighten existing economic sanctions on

> Myanmar, citing a a series of "the most egregious violations of

> human rights."

>

Now that's funny. Pot calling the kettle black.

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:52:27 -0500, nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

>B1ackwater wrote:

>

>> NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush told the U.N. General Assembly on

>> Tuesday that the U.S. will tighten existing economic sanctions on

>> Myanmar, citing a a series of "the most egregious violations of

>> human rights."

>>

>

>Now that's funny. Pot calling the kettle black.

Well, truthfully, the Burmese ARE far darker towards

their own than we are. A blacker kettle.

Of course Burma doesn't have a couple hundred thousand

troops stuck in a perpetual war on foreign soil, shooting

up things again and again and again and wondering why

no headway is being made.

B1ackwater wrote:

>

> Well, truthfully, the Burmese ARE far darker towards

> their own than we are. A blacker kettle.

>

I haven't heard about the Burmese security services kidnapping people,

sending them to secret prisons for torture. Have you?