Myanmar; a bi-partisan issue in Washington

As I wrote last Friday, the protests here in DC were generally bipartisan, with the exception of some extreme single-minded groups. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon, it’s shaking out that way on Pennsylvania Avenue, too;

Myanmar’s democracy movement has emerged in a political environment polarized by the Iraq war as a rare unifying cause, bringing together Democrats and Republicans and groups as varied as Hollywood stars and evangelical Christians.

But a number of foreign diplomats and lobbyists have voiced concerns that the White House, buoyed by nonpartisan support, could overreach in its drive to defend Myanmar’s democracy activists and hurt its cause.

One issue being debated at the White House, apparently, is Chevron’s close ties to the military junta;

One area critics point to is the White House’s talk in recent days that it may force U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. to divest itself of its stake in a Myanmar energy project. Chevron’s Yadana gas pipeline serves as a major source of hard currency for the Myanmar junta, and human-rights activists charge it has contributed to human-rights abuses inside the country, a claim Chevron denies.

Forcing Chevron to sell might not necessarily work in the democracy activists’ favor, said one industry official working with Chevron. Any sale of the company’s stake likely will bring profits to Myanmar’s junta, the official said, while allowing a country like China to take it over.

“You wonder if the White House is going to think any of this through,” the official said. “Or are they going to be cowboys” in an effort to support the Burmese?

I guess some extreme elements on either side need to get their shots in occasionally. President Bush can be assured, though, that whatever he does will be the wrong decision in time for 2008 election. That’s not a partisan statement, just a simple truth. The same type of simple statement I made after the economy started tanking in the Clinton Administration and after 9-11. No matter what a Republican president does, it’s always the wrong thing. Bipartisanship only lasts as long as the Democrats look good at it.

WSJ’s James Hookway writes about the events over the weekend in Myanmar;

Much of the world has looked on with a mixture of revulsion and puzzlement as Myanmar’s military rulers cracked down hard on pro-democracy protesters, leaving at least 10 people dead and locking down the main city of Yangon under tight security.

Over the weekend, troops used clubs, warning shots and tear gas to disperse the few hundred demonstrators who ventured into the streets.

With the protests controlled, at least for the moment, Myanmar’s military bowed somewhat to international pressure by allowing a United Nations special envoy into the country on Saturday to meet several cabinet officials, though not senior generals that run the country. His mission: to persuade the rulers to negotiate with political opponents instead of crushing them.

At least the UN is moving on this somewhat – a little faster than they moved on Darfur. CNN writes;

The U.N. envoy plans to tell the junta leader Senior General Than Shwe “about the international outrage over what has happened and will urge him to talk with various people and try to resolve the problems peacefully,” Shari Villarosa, charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, told CNN Sunday.

The United Nations was uncertain as to when any meeting with Shwe might take place.

The Pope also sent a message of support to the Burmese;

Pope Benedict XVI offered support to the citizens of Myanmar, The Associated Press reported. About 1 percent of the population are Catholics, according to AP, and 3 percent follow other Christian denominations.

And the Japanese are considering sanctions;

On Monday Japan’s chief Cabinet spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said Japan, Myanmar’s largest aid donor, is mulling sanctions or other actions to protest the junta’s crackdown, which left a Japanese journalist dead, chief Cabinet spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said.

AP reports light action on today in Myanmar;

A U.N. envoy made a last-ditch effort to meet Myanmar’s top military leader Monday, hoping to persuade him to accept the people’s demands for democracy. On the streets, troops removed road blocks and appeared to ease their stranglehold on Yangon following the largest protests in two decades.

After days of intimidation that snuffed out the public demonstrations, soldiers and riot police redeployed from the city center to the outskirts Monday, but were still checking cars and buses, and monitoring the city by helicopter.

Somehow, if the junta is still in power next November it’ll be this president’s fault – and somehow it’ll be because of the war in Iraq. I’m not being partisan, just an honest observer.

Category: Foreign Policy, Politics