Sen. Webb’s Burmese Vacation

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Sen. Webb’s Burmese Vacation

salon.com

Webb is expected to request a meeting with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his stay in Yangon (Rangoon).

Sen. Jim Webb is the first senior U.S. official in more than 10 years to visit Burma, triggering speculation that the White House may be trying to nudge the authoritarian regime there into a “new era of engagement.” The trip follows the recent ludicrous sentencing of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 more months of house arrest.

The Guardian:

The first visit to Burma by a senior US official for more than a decade has triggered speculation that the Obama administration will attempt to steer the regime towards a new era of engagement.

Jim Webb, a Democratic senator from Virginia, arrived in Burma this afternoon, days after the country’s junta sentenced the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to 18 months’ house arrest.

Webb, who served in the Reagan administration but is now considered a close ally of Barack Obama, is expected to meet the country’s leader, Senior General Than Shwe, in the country’s remote capital Naypyidaw, tomorrow [Thursday].

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TAGS: aun aung san suu kyi authoritarianism burma diplomacy jim webb myanmar regime seinfeld webb

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By hippie4ever, August 14, 2009 at 9:31 am Link to this comment

The article’s assumption is that the Obama Administration sent an emissary of its conservative wing to attempt to moderate a brutal, authoritarian junta. What if their true aim was to learn how that regime has re-established order after Burma’s recent civil unrest?

After all, a regime that reduces its population to impoverished misery must be near and dear to Obama’s “heart.” Consider how his policies have systematically benefited the rich over the poor.

The Burmese, like Americans, die by the thousands every year thanks to THEIR government’s neglect and oppression. “No money no doctor” is the rule over there too. We’ve so much in common with Burma now, including torture established as normative within an organised police state.

I think I’ll go wave a flag, or maybe get indoctrinated at Faux so I can parrot nonsense at the next Town Hall Meeting. Sure America is spreading “American Values” again, only they’re the values of fascism and totalitarianism.

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