BOB GRAHAM
Tampabay.com, Florida
December 12, 2007

The United States should work with the United Nations to improve conditions for the Burmese people.

Ask an American what he or she knows about the nation of Myanmar, and you are likely to receive a blank stare in return. Most of us know little about the geographically largest country in Southeast Asia.

But that may soon change, and in dramatic fashion. At a time when neighbors like India, Thailand and Vietnam are joining the global community and realizing increased economic growth and political freedom, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has not moved beyond the isolation, extreme poverty and human rights abuses that have gripped it for the last half century. This dangerous mix could easily produce an explosive upheaval not seen in Southeast Asia for decades.

In October, I visited Myanmar for the first time. Nearly 20 years ago, the ruling military junta renamed the nation - a designation that Burmese opposition groups and some foreign governments do not recognize.

The signs of trouble were evident from my first bus ride in the nation's largest city, Yangon (formerly called Rangoon). Our tour guide would not discuss everyday living conditions, even though they were clearly demonstrated by the moldy and deteriorating buildings lining the dirt streets of the city.

The guide's reticence was understandable. One month before, Burmese citizens were violently reminded to watch what they say. In September, Buddhist monks led tens of thousands of fellow citizens in protests against the harsh dictatorship. The military's response was devastating. According to one account, thousands of protesters were massacred, their bodies dumped in the jungle. A thousand more were sent to Myanmar's infamous prisons, which are known for torture. Soldiers raided monasteries nationwide. I saw few monks during my visit.

Economic conditions mirror the political deterioration. Sixty years ago, Myanmar was the most literate and prosperous country in Southeast Asia. Today, the per capita annual income is $174, compared to its neighbor Thailand's $3,155. Myanmar has a substantial underground economy which primarily benefits the military leaders. Once referred to as the "Harvard of Southeast Asia," the University of Rangoon is now padlocked. Thousands of school-aged children beg on the streets rather than learn in classrooms.

The Bush administration has not made the situation any easier with several missteps. For example, we have clumsily outsourced our diplomatic responsibilities by encouraging Myanmar's neighbor China to push reform. This request ignores that China's main interest - commerce - depends on the military junta's goodwill. Nor will the monks in prison be reassured to know that we have asked the same Chinese rulers who produced Tiananmen Square and other human rights abuses to advocate for their well-being.

Conversely, though we have recently taken steps to strengthen U.S.-India relations, and India shares a 700-mile border with Myanmar, we have not effectively pushed the Indian government to take a more active role in improving conditions for nearly 50-million people to its west.

Worst of all is the perception that the United States should not even try to succeed diplomatically. Some Burmese reformers have suggested that we use our armed forces to liberate their country just like Iraq. We are seen as a power with no capability other than military might.

The best way for the United States to correct its missteps and change perceptions would be to work with other concerned countries through the United Nations. It was November before U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinhiero was allowed in Myanmar for the first time in four years. He and others are working to establish a genuine national dialogue among ethnic minorities, prodemocracy reformers and the military, and to create space for humanitarian relief agencies to feed the one-third of Burmese children who are malnourished.

The Burmese people are gentle, with an ironic sense of humor. When asked why so many have bad teeth, they say it is because they cannot open their mouths. The international community has an obligation to free the Burmese to flex their jaws - and improve their lives.

Bob Graham is a former U.S. senator from Florida.

then, when ur elephant starts to fly?

Ref: Myanmar needs our help.

BOB GRAHAM
Tampabay.com, Florida
December 12, 2007

“ The United States should work with the United Nations to improve conditions for the Burmese people.”

It is a very good suggestion. It may work provided United States is sincere and honest. United States at the moment is treating Myanmar as rouge nation. Which means Myanmar is considered as enemy. Myanmar is neither a friend or a foe to United States. If United States does not want Myanmar as a friend, then Myanmar has to friends somewhere else, somebody else.

We have seen that United States has no respect for the United Nations. Everyone in the world knows that. United States is a very powerful nation no doubt about it. United States should not forget that it was David who killed Goliath . It was Ho Chi Minh who kicked United States out of Vietnam. It was the little people of Indo China who ousted the French from that part of the world.

Today all other nations are living in double fear. They are caught between two kind of terrorists. They are trying their best not to upset any terrorists.
The world with George W Bush in the White House of the United States is not a safe place. The future leaders of the United States after George W Bush must work very hard to get back the trusts of all nations, before United States itself becomes isolated .

2008 , United States may be different with new President. It may change its foreign policy. May be then US may treat Myanmar as“ equal partner ”. Myanmar may be different by then.

At the moment if US cannot help Myanmar, it should not disturb her, leave her alone. Myanmar can do very well without US, thank you.

Myanmar is a member nation of the UN, can UN treat Myanmar as “ equal partner ” ? Are the Myanmars little people?
At the same time what United Nations can do is to urge all countries near and far not to exploit too much on Myanmar, not to undermine or manipulated the people of Myanmar. They should help Myanmar as much as they can. As free and independent sovereign nations. They should not take anybody’s dictations.

They should be free to do so in the Free world.
Whatever it is what Bob Graham said it very well . very considerate. But I would like to add a few more words “ nobody should create Myanmar situation to get worsen ”. When United States and its allies went to Afghanistan, or when they went to Iraq, they destruct those countries more than they construct.

Myanmar had learn it lessons long before Afghanistan and Iraq. During 1942 -45.
How it was to have foreign power on her soil. With the puppets such as U Saw and U Paw Tun, not to forget U Ba Maw.

Myanmars needs help, genuine help. Myanmar has nothing tom pay back in return Do not expect the return. Myanmar never seek help from anyone because Myanmar did not want strings around her neck. Myanmar had learnt a lot on this. Myanmar also knows there is nothing free, Myanmar knows there is always a price to pay. The price Myanmar cannot afford to pay . As simple as that.

On the other hand Myanmar to get help depends largely on the people of Myanmar. There are so many Myanmars, in fact too many Myanmars. International community does not know which Myanmar it should help. The countries in the so called international community also have their favourite Myanmars in Myanmar.

So the problem is they want to separate one Myanmar from another Myanmar and they may help their own favourite Myanmar, but not any Myanmar. Like they did to Yugoslavia . Broken the country into pieces. So that they can help their own favourite.

That alone is against Myanmar. If we go back to a few years before Myanmar’s Independence we will see them very clearly. Myanmar had come a ling way Myanmars paid the price with their lives, sweat and tears to be Union of Myanmar independent sovereign nation. When European are working for unity of Europe . Some of the countries are trying to break other countries up.

That is the problem for Myanmar. It cannot afford to be broken into pieces. Disintegration they call it. That is not what Myanmar wants. That is not what Myanmar need. Iraq is divided in to three parts, Basra, Bagdad and Kurt

In the history of Myanmar, this is the only time that Myanmar is relatively in peace. Even during the British time and during a short time of the Japanese Myanmar was on fire. Revolting against the British, resistance against the Japanese. Many Myanmars were executed by the British, because they were freedom fighters.

I don’t blame the Americans for not knowing Myanmar or where it is. Why should they know? Myanmar is not their business. Myanmar got nothing to do with them. Most American are minding their own business. Most do not know what their government is doing. Even if they know there is nothing they can do about it. They can shout, they can run about, that’s all they can do nothing much. They go to the polling station every five years or so to cast a vote, as a routine, as a duty.

On the other hand, good or bad Myanmar is well known to the world since 1988. If the Americans or some other people do not know it, that is tough. What can I say, , American are ignorant, uneducated , lack of knowledge. Well let us settle it with,“ not everybody know everything, we are ourselves one way or the other ignorant”

“ economic growth with political freedom. Well said again That’s what SPDC was talking about . Economy developments come first followed by the political freedom. Myanmar opposition does not agree to it. They said political freedom must come first. Myanmar’s economy is assassinated by the so called international community. In a figure of speech Myanmar is being choked to death at least suffocated with the beliefs and Ideas. Why Myanmar cannot move beyond the isolation has many reasons. Mainly because Myanmar leader are not united. and Myanmar is being pushed away by the same international community, while this same international community is being very friendly with the communists, and other dictators. In other words other non-democratic countries, which are abusing human rights., much worse than Myanmar.

Having said that, “ dictatorship “ and “ the human rights “ differ from one interpretation to another, one translation to the other. Who is a dictator who is abusing the human rights depends on who he/she is what wealth and what power including (military power) he/she has.

Myanmar is Myanmar, it always been Myanmar. Only the English spoken people call Burma. Burma is not even the English word. In fact it is Indian word Birama. So Myanmar is known as Burma for the British Raj who were ruling in India. It is written as ‘Myanmar Naing Gan Daw’ on the Royal seal of Thibaw

Those who does not know the history are talking all rubbish. I have nothing to say against the foreign governments who did not recognised Burma as Myanmar, because Burma is an English word which came from India . This is an English speaking world. (Myanmar) was annexed as part of India by the British. Burma (Myanmar) was separated from India by the Burma act of 1935.

There are Myanmars who are being called Tom, Dick, or Harry, Paul or Simon, Peter or Joseph or Isaac or Mary because English speaking people cannot pronounce the Myanmar names.

If somebody wants to know. The so called ‘White Paper ‘ 1935 Burma Act. the British had drafted a constitution for Burma . The hill areas of Burma where inhabited by the Chins, Shans, Karens, Kachins and other non- Burmese races would be excluded from Myanmar proper. That was the great idea of the great people of Great Britain for some Great Myanmars in Myanmar, sorry to say..

People of Myanmar like any other people of other countries, they may quarrel, they may have a row, they may even fight among themselves. But they are all Myanmars. Since the olden days before British were in Myanmar all people in Myanmar are Myanmars as one people in one nation which was Myanmar.

The fire which was started by the British is still burning. In 1947, when KNDO went under ground they went with their racial view against Bamars.

Some people in their own way interpreted that Burma belongs to Bamar group only. That alone shows how narrow minded they are , their attitude towards Bamars or other races in Myanmar. These are the same people who once joined hands with the Thai and tried to destroyed Myanmar. These are the same people who lend their hands to the British and Americans to destroy Myanmar.

The question which Myanmar are the United States going to help?

As far as Myanmar opposition is concerned, the Myanmar oppositions does not even know the horse they are riding is a mare or a stud. They are opposition , they have to oppose whatever SPDC does. That is their job.

The human right abuses in Myanmar by the opposition is far worse then SPDC , far greater then the SPDC. The human rights abuse of SPDC may be limited to individual.. But the human rights abuses by the NLD led by Ma Su Kyi is effecting the whole country 52 million people and the next generations.

To know what is happening in Myanmar today, one has to look at what did happen in Myanmar yesterday.

Myanmar had been conquered by the foreign powers who had the military might. British and the Japanese. In the end the people of Myanmar kicked both of them out. That may also be one of the causes for the international community does not want to help Myanmar. They don’t trust Myanmars unless they can totally control them.

Some Myanmar seek outside help. That is nothing new. Ko Aung San himself seek Japanese help. U Nu and his followers seek US help when he was exile in Thailand.

British and anglophiles thought Myanmar wouldn’t dare to do without the Japanese. Because they did not know about Myanmar. Without outside help Galuna Razar Saya San from Tharawaddy had done it, Thakin Pho Hla Gyi had done it and many more. Myanmars had made up their minds, prepared and ready for the resistance with or without British., with or without the Japanese.

For your information. Ko Aung San himself joined the resistance in later part only where Ko Than Tun and Ko Kyaw Nyein had already started. But Ko Aung San got the credit. Just like in 1988, students had started , Ma Su Kyi get not only the credits but all the prizes and the monies which came with them.

Senator Bob Graham from Tampabay should know that the American were in Burma not to help Myanmar but to help the Kuomintang Chinese as I have stated in the other message.

When I hear you saying US should help Myanmar, I am scared and shit. What is it this time. U Khun Za died not very long ago. Wa who are the descendants of the
White Chinese are still running the heroin business.

As I have said above, Myanmar needs helps from any one , but who will help them.
The so called international community, not only reluctant to help, but also they don’t like others to help Myanmar.

There are almost no foreign investments in Myanmar, almost none. Myanmar cannot create jobs, Myanmars going abroad with many reasons. Those who are going abroad will be safe only when they became dissidents. They will be harassed, intimidated by those exiles already abroad if they don’t join the protest march and demonstrations. Some of them are even accused as SPDC’s spies.
These Myanmars working with low pay, well below national minimum wage no day off . No work, no pay including in England. Does anybody care?

There are few foreign companies in Myanmar especially from ASEAN. Myanmar has not many choices to impose strict labour laws on those firms. The Myanmar workers have to work seven days a week without holiday. Holidays never heard of it in Myanmar . They have no labour rights. These companies are from outside Myanmar, where the international community thinks they are honouring full labour rights. . But international community ( labour organization ) putting pressures only on Myanmar and sometimes they threatened to expel Myanmar from the organization.

Myanmars are very quiet , gentle, yes but they are ignorant, because they are very simple and very honest. They trust other people. They are whatever will be will be kind of people, most of them are Buddhists. Others taken advantage on them.

Since 1990 there were political parties in Myanmar of all names but there is no party to be called Bamar political party. Yet Bamars are the majority in Myanmar.
Bamar and other ethnic Myanmar races are under attack everyday by some racist ethnic groups. The worse are the groups which were led by those who served with Joseph Stilwell, or Wingate or Slim.

The people of Myanmar have bad teeth, because they cannot open their mouth, said Bob Graham. What Bob does not know is when those who opens their foul mouth, ,it smells.

Thunderbolts.<br><br>Post edited by: thunderbolts, at: 2007/12/16 13:26