Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:01 am Post subject: Is Dear Leader really all that smart?
Saturday, December 18, 2004; Page A26
AFEW DAYS AGO, Thailand's prime minister returned from a visit to the neighboring totalitarian state of Burma and pronounced the detention there of Aung San Suu Kyi "reasonable." This would be the rough equivalent of a foreign leader's journeying to South Africa during apartheid and endorsing the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela or coming to the United States during the civil rights movement and saying it seemed like a good idea to lock up Martin Luther King Jr.
That Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is elected, and ostensibly a democrat, makes his comment all the more puzzling. But he is also a wealthy business tycoon, as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) intimated in a statement yesterday: "Thaksin would be wise to place principles ahead of profit with respect to Thailand's relationship with Burma."
These seemingly arcane matters became suddenly urgent Thursday with the news that Burma's regime has further isolated Aung San Suu Kyi in her house arrest. The junta ordered half of her guards to leave her house, and her access to a physician was reduced to one weekly visit.
Given that the generals who rule Burma have tried to kill her, it was no surprise that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan immediately expressed "serious concern." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also weighed in: "We hold the Burmese junta solely responsible for her health, safety, security and well-being," he said.
Expressions of concern are good, but now Mr. Annan needs to go further. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is the legitimate leader of her nation, having won an electoral landslide in 1990. Those in the Asian nation's junta have never recognized the results, however, instead confining her, imprisoning and torturing many of her supporters, and waging a criminal war of rape and ethnic cleansing against many of Burma's ethnic groups. Their rule is a danger to neighboring states and the world, because their impoverished nation has become an epicenter of drugs and HIV. If ever a situation merited concerted international action, this would be it; if ever the United Nations faced a challenge to its relevance, this would be the moment.
Well at some stage we have all decried the dear leaders machinations to the North and West.
With satellite and communications provided by dear leaders companies, it will be interesting to see how the civilised world reacts to Thailands' PM butt-licking the generals. I wonder also how much direction the dear leader takes as he snivels along trying to be seen as anything but what he is, a sly, moneygrubbing, corrupt ex-cop, with at least one stupid child who can't get to Uni without cheating.
We will see how the civilised world (excluding in this instance Australia, UK, and USA who are a morals-free group of willing participants in just about anything with a dollar at the end), relate to dear leaders popping into bed with the pariah burmese generals.
Unocal and Total got a bit of a nudge this week, surprisingly enough from the US, but it remains to be seen what the end of that will be.
December 17, Reuters
Myanmar courted despite human rights record - Darren Schuettler
Bangkok: Hailed by activists as a triumph for human rights, Unocal Corp's
decision to settle lawsuits alleging abuses in Myanmar may only be a
pyrrhic victory in the wider campaign to force foreign firms out, analysts
say. Activists are promising to pile more pressure on Western firms doing
business in the military-ruled nation shunned for its human rights record
and suppression of political opponents.
But they have little sway over Asian companies jockeying for a bigger
share of Myanmar's natural wealth in oil and gas, timber, gems and
minerals, analysts say.
"It's a pyrrhic victory," economist Wylie Bradford said of the impact from
Unocal's decision to settle two lawsuits filed by 15 villagers who accused
it of turning a blind eye to rights abuses by soldiers while a pipeline
was being built in Myanmar.
Unocal, one of a handful of U.S. firms with investments in the former
Burma, denied any responsibility. But the dispute became a publicity
nightmare, sparking protests outside shareholder meetings and opposition
from investors -- an unlikely scenario for Asian firms linked to Myanmar.
"It's a new risk factor for Western firms where this type of legal action
can be brought, but in Asia the possibility of an action based on human
rights is zip," said Bradford of the University of Macquarie and co-author
of Burma Economic Watch.
Pressure on Western companies tied to Myanmar intensified after democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in May last year and the United States
and European Union tightened or imposed new sanctions on the military
government, which has ruled the former Burma in various guises since 1962.
The Burma Campaign UK says 30 Western firms have abandoned the former
British colony since the group's "dirty list" campaign began two-and-half
years ago. Another 95 remain on its list.
However, to at least say that not all Thais' are like the dear leader Rangsit University has this for him to wake up and choke on his cornflakes over:
December 23, Agence France Presse
Detained Myanmar opposition leader to be awarded degree by Thai university
Bangkok: Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to be
awarded an honorary doctorate by a Thai university for her role in
promoting democracy and human rights, Rangsit University said Thursday.
The Nobel Laureate will be awarded the doctorate degree in politics,
philosophy and economics for "her heart-rending commitment to the
principles of democracy, human rights and freedom," the private Bangkok
university said in a statement.
A representative of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest in
Myanmar's capital Yangon, will attend Sunday's award ceremony on her
behalf, said the Bangkok Post.
Aung San Suu Kyi has emerged as an icon of democracy during her struggle
against Myanmar's military, which has maintained an iron grip over the
impoverished Southeast Asian nation for more than four decades.
The winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize has not been seen in public since
May 2003 when she was detained by the junta following a clash between her
supporters and a pro-government gang in the north of the country.
Myanmar's democracy figurehead has undergone two other long spells of
house arrest, one lasting for six years and the other for 19 months.
Her silence during the years of the first house arrest galvanized global
opposition to the military-regime which was denounced by the United
Nations, governments and human rights groups worldwide.
Aung San Suu Ky's National League for Democracy and security officials
said in late November that her detention had been extended by another
year. News of the extension prompted further international condemnation.
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machinations to the North and West.
