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Originally Posted by abaya
Due to my Carmen Sandiego-ness, had to check out for a while... I'll keep checking on the thread as it develops, but I may be out of commission/connection until Monday. I like the discussion so far, however... let's keep talking.
Which Western nations are calling for the US in particular to do something? Maybe I missed this in the news, but I don't think anyone is handing the entire responsibility over to the US. As I've said before, I am not saying that the US should be the world police, nor should anyone be asking us to do so. If anything, we've taken that duty upon ourselves, not because people asked us to, but because it was in our interests to do so.
But what pisses me off (and thought I had made clear in several posts, but apparently not) is that the US *preaches about democracy and uses it as an excuse to go to war* but does shit-all to ACTUALLY intervene when democracy is the exact matter at hand. If we just went about intervening only when it mattered to us, without all the crap rhetoric about freedom and whatnot, then fine... I'd be a little less pissy about this issue. Once again, at least we'd be consistent.
Yes, I think the EU should be sending troops as well. I think EVERYone should be sending troops, or something... whatever it takes to stop this junta, as it ought to have been done anytime in the last 35 years.
We could have all pleaded innocent before the advent of instantaneous news, as I said earlier... but now, there is just no excuse. We all know what's going on there. Inaction is a form of complacency. The only people who can be said to be effectively ACTING and resisting these assholes are those very monks and civilians on the street in Yangon... and it appears that they are utterly alone, and are going to be shot or beaten and imprisoned, alone. Yay, one more point chalked up for oppression.
I believe the UN is sending a special envoy to Burma, arriving on Saturday (what good that does, don't ask me, but at least they are sending someone/thing). No one is pointing fingers at the US, except for me... and that's only because this is one stinking shithole of hypocrisy, if I've ever seen one. I thought it was bad enough with the Lebanese/Israeli summer war... but this is just unbelievable. We either need to stand down on our pro-democratic bullshit, or stand up and do something about it. There are just no two ways about it, if you ask me. We either mean what we say, or we don't.
Charlatan gets my point here:
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We should have stepped in years ago when Aung San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest by the military junta.
We can't expect China to step in, as much as we would wish them to, simply because their human rights record, especially in relation to Tibet, is less than spotless. They have no loyalty to democracy, and they're just beginning to see the benefits of a free market economy. There is no reason to expect them to be as horrified with the happenings in Burma as we are. Just look at Tianamen Square.
Japan is too embroiled in corruption scandals and the resignation of their PM to go far with this. They have problems at home that need taking care of. On the other hand, Japan has powerful allies who aren't going to be pleased with the death of one of their citizens, especially in the West.
This honestly couldn't have happened at a worse time, in terms of global political climate. The United States is stretched thin in Iraqistan, and we're not going anywhere else soon, as much as we would like to help others. The most we can hope to achieve is to pressure the UN to step in and do something, and to follow through with economic sanctions, while also urging UN members in the region to do their best to pressure Burma diplomatically and economically to clean up their act.
I am discouraged by the most recent news from the region, especially in regards to further restrictions on Internet access and further blocking of websites that show the political unrest in Burma. I already fear we are too late to put an end to this turmoil, and we are too late to really help the Burmese people.