Hope or dread in Burma? Visit from Clinton

Hillary Clinton: "We came, we saw, he died, ha ha ha!" The goal is US empire. Who's next?

BALI, Indonesia (AP) - Seizing an opportunity for historic progress in repressive Burma (Myanmar), Pres. B.S. Obama is dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the long-isolated nation next month in an attempt to accelerate fledgling reforms.

The move is the most dramatic sign yet of an evolving relationship between the United States and Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has suffered under brutal military rule for decades. Obama said Friday there had been "flickers of progress" since new civilian leadership took power in March.

(AP) More

Responding to signs of reform, Myanmar's main opposition party, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, decided on Friday to register again for future elections after boycotting last year's voting.

"If Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America," Obama said as he announced Clinton's trip while on a diplomatic mission to southeast Asia. Clinton will be the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years. More

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Our Mess in Iraq: But "we meant well"!

Wisdom Quarterly, Peter Van Buren, National Geographic

National Geographic's "Inside the [US War on] Iraq" about Operation Enduring Free[trade for the Oil Industry]

Empire is a funny thing. Of course, no one we colonize is laughing. Killing in the name of [fill in the blank].

But some of us (outside the gun and bomb wielding military) can at least say, as State Dept. employee Peter Van Buren does in the title of his new book, "We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People."

Bush lied to invade Iraq then claimed no link to 9/11.

Efforts in our name go from from to preposterous to sinister. Our efforts to make up for illegally targeting civilians and bombing an independent nation back into the Stone Age could not be remedied by bureaucrats. "Nation building" on the ground was contradicted by our illegal occupying force.

(WeMeantWell) We Meant Well author Peter Van Buren discusses life in Iraq as a State Department Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) leader and his time at FOB Hammer, stationed alongside Bradley Manning.

Our government was (is) there to systematically steal oil and exert undue influence on the geo-political Middle East. And other than crippling debt, what do we have show for it? Many American citizens actually believe the propaganda that we were there to "help" Iraqis suffering under an out of control dictator we installed, armed, and betrayed. No wonder everyone there and most people here say, It's time to get out! Enough damage has already been done!

Of course, we were always there for other reasons. And we will be staying for a long time, even if we "officially" withdraw. Our bases, clandestine agents, and newly installed dictators are not leaving anytime soon.

• Peter Van Buren: "Freedom isn't free at the State Dept."
• AUDIO: The greedy battle for Iraq's hearts and minds (NPR)
  

  

The only State Dept. employee who may be fired because of WikiLeaks
One morning earlier this month, a man named Peter Van Buren was seated inside a drab, windowless interrogation room at the State Department and grilled for an hour and a half by agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the department's internal enforcers. The agents told Van Buren [author of We Meant Well] that he was under investigation for exposing classified government data... "Name names!" the agents demanded.

UN envoy meets with Burma's Suu Kyi

Tomas Ojea Quintana, center, U.N. special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, leaves after meeting with Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, right, at her home on Aug. 24, 2011, in Rangoon (AP/Khin Maung Win).

RANGOON, Burma (AP) — Burma's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi says she is encouraged after meeting with the U.N. human rights envoy to Burma (Myanmar).

She says Wednesday's 90-minute meeting in the former capital with Tomas Ojea Quintana and leaders of her disbanded National League for Democracy party focused on the country's more than 2,000 political prisoners and other human rights issues. She says Quintana has a "genuine will to help improve human rights conditions in Myanmar."

Quintana says he has had "fruitful meetings" with government ministers and representatives of political parties. He will brief the media Thursday. His five-day visit to Burma is his first since a nominally civilian [still militaristic authoritarian] government took power in March. He was refused a visa for over a year.

• uscampaignforburma.org
• burmaitcantwait.org

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India trying to woo Burma from China

Harsh V. Pant (special to The Japan Times)

LONDON — Even as a senior Burmese diplomat in Washington has defected, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has suggested that some people, both at home and abroad, have deceived themselves into thinking a new government has brought change to her country.

Political dynamic is undergoing a slow transformation in Burma (aka Myanmar) and the neighboring states are being forced to respond accordingly.

USCampaignForBurma.org

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna was in Rangoon (aka Yangon) last month to engage the new civilian government which came to office in March. His visit came a year after the visit of Myanmar's reclusive military leader, Gen. Than Shwe, to India.

[As a ruthless military dictator supported by relatives in China, Than Shwe] heads the State Peace and Development Council. India rolled out a red carpet for him and signed a raft of pacts including treaties on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, counter terrorism, development projects, science and technology and information cooperation. More

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Tour by Burma's Lady could cause riots

US Campaign for Burma

RANGOON, Burma (Reuters) A possible tour of Burmese by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could cause riots, state media warned on Wednesday (June 28, 2011), implying she would be responsible for her own safety.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is planning her first trip outside the former capital Rangoon/Yangon since she was freed from home detention last year just after elections to end army rule. [They capital was moved by the country's dictators to a private city built from scratch called Naypyidaw.]

The military still effectively controls the government.

Uppatasanti, a replacement Shwedagon Pagoda in Nyapyidaw

"Her followers and supporters are gushing that the icon must keep in touch with the public. They seem willing to exploit the public. They also propagate that the government is responsible for security of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on her trip," a commentary in all three official newspapers said.

"We are deeply concerned that if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi makes trips to countryside regions, there may be chaos and riots, as evidenced by previous incidents," it added.

"Daw" is an honorific in Burma for women.

In 2003, in an episode now known as the Depayin Massacre, Suu Kyi's motorcade was attacked by pro-junta thugs and 70 of her supporters died in what was seen as an assassination attempt. More

The Lady, Burma's Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

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China cracks down on rioting migrants

China tries to restore order after migrant riots

BEIJING (LA Times) - Chinese authorities struggled to restore order Monday after migrant workers, angry over the manhandling of a pregnant vendor, overturned police cars, smashed windows, and set fires near the southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou.

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Burmese president meets Chinese military

Xinhua, English.news.cn
Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou (L) shakes hands with Burmese president U Thein Sein at the President's House in Burma's new capital Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, May 13, 2011 (Xinhua/Myanmar News Agency).

NAY PYI TAW, Burma - Myanmar president U Thein Sein met with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou in China Friday with the two sides exchanging views on issues of common concern.

U Thein Sein expressed delight to see major progress achieved in the two countries' cooperation in various sectors, including frequent reciprocal visits at high level.

The visit of Xu soon after Myanmar's formation of the new government has actively reflected the friendly relations between the two countries and the two armed forces, he said.



He added that strengthening of Myanmar-China unity and cooperation not only conforms to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also contributes to the development and stability of the region.

On the occasion, Xu said 61 years after the two countries established diplomatic relation, bilateral ties have always maintained a healthy and stable development. More

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