Opinion

Archived Posts from this Category

Wall Street Journal: U.N. mission to nowhere – Bertil Lintner
Thu 2 Jul 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

There is little hope for a release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visits the country tomorrow. So far, the ruling military junta has ignored all calls by the international community for a negotiated solution to the country’s political problems. Mr. Ban’s visit will follow eight previous visits by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari — all of which failed to achieve anything but a few cosmetic changes and publicity stunts. Once the dust has settled, it has always been business as usual. (more…)

 
World Politics Review: Burma tests ASEAN’s legitimacy – Colby Pacheco
Thu 2 Jul 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

To critics of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Burma has long served as proof of the organization’s ineffectuality. For decades, the country’s ruling junta has suppressed democracy, oppressed its people, and ignored global calls to observe human rights. ASEAN member nations have previously been reluctant to apply economic sanctions to Burma because of a founding agreement not to intervene in the affairs of fellow members. (more…)

 
Guardian (UK): Should Ban Ki-moon visit Burma? – Francis Wade
Thu 2 Jul 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

If the secretary general’s visit has little impact on the junta, it risks further damaging the UN’s credibility around the world. (more…)

 
Irrawaddy: Pitting Karen against Karen in a bloody war – Alex Ellgee
Wed 1 Jul 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

The tragedy of the Burmese army forces and Karen clashes over the past month can be seen here in Mae Sot Hospital where many Karen soldiers lie injured, many the victims of land mines or artillery fire. (more…)

 
Reuters: Q+A - Will Ban’s visit to Myanmar yield results?
Wed 1 Jul 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pledged to deliver the “strongest possible” message to Myanmar’s military regime to release all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, when he visits the country this week. (more…)

 
Washington Post: Burmese women react to brutality with inspiring courage and dignity – Laura Bush
Tue 30 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

For two weeks, the world has been transfixed by images of Iranians taking to the streets to demand the most basic human freedoms and rights. Watching these courageous men and women, I am reminded of a similar scene nearly two years ago in Burma, when tens of thousands of Buddhist monks peacefully marched through their nation’s streets. They, too, sought to reclaim basic human dignity for all Burmese citizens, but they were beaten back by that nation’s harsh regime. (more…)

 
Irrawaddy: Closer Burma-N Korea ties a serious cause for concern – Yeni
Mon 29 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Recent evidence of the closer relationship between Burma and North Korea exposes the complete failure of the Burmese regime’s diplomacy and foreign policy in the face of increasing pressure by international and regional governments. (more…)

 
Time: Why Burma may be North Korea’s best friend – Ishaan Tharoor
Mon 29 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

North Korea is great at scaring its neighbors. The isolated dictatorship carries a real nuclear threat, and tested its latest device this May in an underground bunker. Tensions in East Asia heightened this week after Pyongyang threatened “a fire shower of nuclear retaliation” if the U.S. or its allies in the region attempted any provocative action when trying to curb North Korea’s missile program. Even those with historically warmer ties to the pariah state, such as Russia and China, have bristled at Pyongyang’s latest moves. Still, North Korea may not be without friends. (more…)

 
Irrawaddy: One step forward, two steps back – Kyaw Zwa Moe
Fri 26 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi is an unofficial step in the ruling junta’s seven-step road map. It is an essential one for the generals as they look ahead to the fifth step—the upcoming election in 2010. (more…)

 
New York Times: Don’t moon over Burma – Marie Doezema
Fri 26 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

It doesn’t take a trip to Myanmar to see that measures taken by the international community against the Burmese junta are not working. Recent headlines and the trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi indicate that Myanmar continues to be mired in repression. (more…)

 
Economist: On the run – Editorial
Fri 26 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other, Editorial

GOVERNMENT troops advance. Terrorised villagers flee. Rebels fight back. For six decades this has been the rhythm of warfare in eastern Myanmar, where ethnic-Karen insurgents fight the ruling junta. The latest offensive by Myanmar’s army began in June and is unusual not in its ferocity but in its timing, in the wet season. The army, backed by a breakaway Karen militia, has managed to overrun several bases of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Since June 2nd some 4,000 civilians have fled the fighting and crossed the border into Thailand. There is talk of the rebels’ Alamo moment. (more…)

 
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe maneuvers to retain power – Aung Lynn Htut
Wed 24 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

If Burma’s State Peace Development Council (SPDC) holds a successful election in 2010, the Burmese people will lose all hope of freedom and the generals who now rule the country will retain their power. (more…)

 
Democratic Voice of Burma: Burma acts the bully on Thailand – Larry Jagan
Wed 24 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Relations between Thailand and Burma are set to deteriorate dramatically following Bangkok’s warning that the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi could all but destroy Burma’s already fragile credibility. (more…)

 
Nation (Thailand): Burmese junta uses n Korean expertise to build secret tunnels
Tue 23 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Several senior military Burmese officials have been dismissed in recent weeks following the recent publication of photographs of secret tunnels built by North Korean experts between 2003-2006 inside Burma, sources revealed. (more…)

 
Irrawaddy: Whys and Suu Kyi – Kyaw Zwa Moe
Mon 22 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Several “whys” woke me up this morning on the 64th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would wake up this morning to the sounds of prisoners’ iron shackles and the harsh shouts of wardens in the Insein Prison compound. (more…)

 
Newsweek: ‘The lady’ and the tramp; the Missouri misfit who helped bring down Burma’s future – Tony Dokoupil
Mon 22 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

For years, John Yettaw had experienced visions that warned him of events to come. Sometimes the Missouri resident ignored them and came to regret it. This time, though, he intended to act. In early 2009, the 53-year-old told friends and family that he had seen himself as a man sent by God to protect the life of a beloved foreign leader. He arranged for his kids to stay with a friend, borrowed money to buy a plane ticket and printed new business cards, as if launching a new life. He seemed calm at first, spending hours at the local Hardee’s, where he used the free Wi-Fi to download music–Gladys Knight, Michael Bubla–and Mormon sermons from Salt Lake City. But as his flight date approached, he also showed signs of nervousness. He broke down on the shoulder of his best friend, and didn’t sleep at all on his last night at home. (more…)

 
Sydney Morning Herald: Burma’s generals must free Aung San Suu Kyi and embrace democracy – Gordon Brown
Thu 18 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Today is the 64th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi. The fact that she remains under arrest is tragic for Burma and for all those who believe in democracy. The trial of Ms Suu Kyi is an absurd mockery of justice. The real injustice was not that someone broke into her compound, but that she was imprisoned in the first place. (more…)

 
New Yorker: Green and saffron – George Packer
Thu 18 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Last night, before dinner with Iranian friends, the subject of the most recent example of people power came up—Burma and its failed “Saffron Revolution” of September 2007. What were the differences between Burma and Iran? Are there conditions at work in the massive demonstrations in Iranian cities that give this movement a better chance of success than the peaceful marches of monks and ordinary civilians that were tragically and bloodily put down in Rangoon? No one can be sure that the Iranian nonviolent uprising won’t be snuffed out or manipulated into losing its energy, but we concluded that there are at least these differences working in its favor: (more…)

 
Hueiyen News Service: How can an ADC permit foreigners to hold protest rally at Moreh?
Thu 18 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

Can an Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of a Sub-Division permit some foreign organisations to hold a protest rally in a part of India, i.e.in Manipur? (more…)

 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (US): Matress Factory exhibit ‘Gesturess’ as varied as the issues it addresses – Mary Thomas
Thu 18 Jun 2009 
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other

What might a brick oven, seedlings, Engelbert Humperdinck, icons and a molecular model have in common? They’re all components of various artworks in the latest incarnation of the engaging “Gestures” exhibition series at the Mattress Factory. (more…)

 

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