Daw Suu Kyi, we will always be admiring you

There is one attribute that Suu Kyi possesses that will never change under any circumstance—her belief in non-violence adorned with a strict sense of morality. Some may say that this mode of conviction is tactless and naïve, but it is the same quality she displayed when she rejected Naypyidaw's election laws, and last year when she requested people at her trial not to mock the eccentric American citizen who had swum uninvited to her lakeside house in Rangoon.

“She would never take the cheap option, even for the sake of democracy,” a dissident in Rangoon said of Suu Kyi's mentality.

There seems little hope that Suu Kyi can significantly influence Burma's unfolding political developments as long as she remains under detention—it is an open question how many people would listen to her even if she called for a boycott of the election.

She recently said through her lawyer that Burmese people have “the right not to vote,” implying the prospect of her call for a boycott of the election in weeks ahead.

Anyway, it seems that her political clout and powerful charisma to rally people remains very much unchanged—qualities that have been recognized as crucial in breaking the political deadlock in Burma by leaders of various ethnic groups.

The regime knows that these qualities will reveal themselves again if she is released and in the public eye again. The generals will continue to view her as a major threat to their hold on power. Even after she is freed—if indeed, she is released— she will undoubtedly be subjected to alternative methods of restrictions to contain her activities.

Many observers speculate that the election will be held in October simply because Suu Kyi's sentence is due to expire in November.

There is lingering hope that one day Suu Kyi might be able to accomplish her dream of democracy for Burma, following in the footsteps of fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.

For now, her incarceration and her relentless commitment to the cause of democracy, coupled with her long separation from her children, will continue to provoke sympathy in many parts of the world. On Saturday, Suu Kyi's popularity will be demonstrated around the world in the form of rallies, marches, birthday parties and even some self-imposed house arrests in her honor. -- The Irrawaddy

We, the students, will always be admiring you, Daw Suu Kyi. You are the only for the true Democracy no matter what other poeple says. We will always respect your non-violence way.

Reference:

Kaung, Ba. The Relevance of Suu Kyi In Burma. The Irrawaddy. June 18, 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18755

Has NDF become military dog?

Khin Maung Swe, the leader of the breakaway National Democratic Force (NDF) party, said on Friday that the leaders of the dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) are prohibiting its former members from dealing with the NDF.

“The NLD prohibits its members from dealing with us [the NDF], saying it has upcoming activities for its members. We found the NLD members in some townships avoid us. They seem to decide that they'll not deal with the NDF,” Khin Maung Swe told The Irrawaddy. -- The Irrawaddy

Has NDF become military dog? If Mr. Swe is confident of himself, he should not be blaming the dissolved NLD even if the leaders of NLD are dissuading the former members to deal with NDF. If he was from NLD, he should respect NLD and its members, the democracy icons since 1988.

Reference:

Kha, Kyaw Thein. Breakaway Party Accuses NLD Interference. The Irrawaddy. June 18, 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18753

Help "Break The Silence" campaign

Amnesty International (AI) has launched an online campaign to collect enough money from donors to buy 4,000 radios to be distributed in Burma next month, according to a press release on Thursday.

"Burma is preparing for its first elections in two decades,” the statement read. “By heavily censoring the media, the ruling military junta attempts to isolate the population from independent opinions. But you can help us beat the blackout.”

AI called on its readers and members to donate £12.50 (US $18.50), which the London-based rights group said is the cost of one radio.

Calling the campaign “Break the Silence,” AI said it hopes to collect enough donations to buy 4,000 radios, 60 walkie-talkie kits and six satellite kits. -- Irrawaddy

The junta tightly controls all media in the country, including printing, Internet, radio and TV, and is notorious for its censorship and state propaganda. But radio is the only way that people can get information from outside. We can still operate radio with batteries although we do not have electricity, but batteries might cost more than electricity.

Military government had attacked and accused foreign news stations such as CNN, BBC, VOA, RFA, and DVB as radio wave killers when these news stations aired accurate news of Saffron Revolutions during September 2007.

Anyhow, let's support the campaign of Amnesty International (AI) for the nourishment of our Burmese citizens.

Reference:
Weng, Lawi. AI Launches Radio Campaign for Burma. The Irrawaddy. June 18, 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18750

Burma Joining the Mass Destruction Allies

Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win met with an Iranian goodwill delegation at the Foreign Ministry in Naypyidaw on Wednesday afternoon, according to the state-run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar.

The report provided no further details about the visit, the first by an Iranian delegation since 2006.

Although Iran is not closely allied with Burma's ruling regime, the two countries share a similar pariah status in the international community due to their repression of internal dissent and worries about their military ambitions.

In recent years, the junta has reached out to several other nations that have been singled out for censure, including North Korea, Sudan and Sri Lanka. -- Irrawaddy

Obviously, the Burmese junta joining the Mass Destruction Allies. Since Burmese Generals are illiterate people, they will be manipulated by Iran and North Korea and will not hold back in using the weapons, thus threatening the world's security without a doubt. If UN and EU do not respond to these delegations (of Iran and of North Korea), Burma is going to be one of the nations that the world cannot control.

Reference:

Burmese Foreign Minister Receives Iranian Delegation. The Irrawaddy. June 17, 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18742

The World Prepares to Mark Suu Kyi Birthday

By Ba Kaung (June 17, 2010)

Events to mark detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday will take place both inside and outside Burma on Saturday. While foreign diplomats in Bangkok read out messages of support for Suu Kyi's freedom to Burma's opposition in exile, her supporters in Rangoon have said they will plant tens of thousands of trees in honor of their leader.

“We will plant 20,000 trees in 386 townships for our leader's birthday,” said Phyu Phyu Thin, a female leader with Suu Kyi's disbanded National League For Democracy (NLD).

Filipino solidarity activists under the Free Burma Coalition hold mock ballot papers with the image of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest action at the Burmese embassy in Makati, financial district of Manila on May 27. (Photo: Getty Images)

Other party members said they will mark their leader's birthday by making donations to Buddhist monks and providing financial support to the children of political prisoners.

On Thursday in Bangkok, a coalition of 10 Burmese opposition groups held a ceremony to mark Suu Kyi's birthday at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT). The event included diplomats from Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic and Thailand.

Canadian Ambassador to Thailand Ron Hoffmann said that Canada will continue to support Suu Kyi and Burma's democratic struggle, adding that his country has imposed the toughest economic sanctions against the Burmese regime.

Kraisak Choonhavan, a leading member of the Thai parliament, expressed his hope that—although his country is essentially supporting the Burmese regime by importing natural gas— Thailand might be in a position to pressure the regime at some time in the future. He added that he wished to be the first person to shake hands with Suu Kyi if she is released and is able to visit Thailand.

The FCCT event also marked the end of an international campaign denouncing the Burmese general election that received more than 40,000 signatures from 35 countries in two weeks.

On Saturday, supporters of the US Campaign for Burma will hold a solidarity rally in Washington, as will members of Burma Campaign for UK, who say they are calling for the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners in Burma.

“We will form a line of 18 people, wearing T-shirts spelling out the messages: 'Aung San Suu Kyi' and 'Now set her free.' We will hand out flyers with information about Suu Kyi and human rights in Burma,” said a statement from the London-based group.

This week, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemned Suu Kyi's detention in a statement, saying, “[the] continuation of the deprivation of liberty of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi is arbitrary [and] in contravention of articles 9,10, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Suu Kyi has spent nearly 15 of the last 21 years in detention. She is currently serving an 18-month extension of house arrest for briefly sheltering an American citizen last year who swam uninvited to her lakeside home in Rangoon.

The NLD was officially dissolved on May 7 after rejecting the regime's election laws which would have required it to oust its leader, Suu Kyi, from the party.

The regime is widely expected to hold a general election before Suu Kyi's sentence expires in November.

Reference:

Kaung, Ba. The World Prepares to Mark Suu Kyi Birthday. The Irrawaddy. June 17, 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18745

What happened to Sen. Webb?

It was a shocking news that a US Senator claimed a negative opinion on anti-regime news media, DVB, and a positive opinion on the Burmese junta. It cannot be denied that the junta is shaping its nuclear dream by looking at the fresh evidence from the army defector Sai Thein Win.

Sen. Webb, I do not know what the junta did to you, but I am certain that every Burmese in US are having strong opinion against you right now. The regime's officials are good at bribing, so I hope you are not also a victim of the bribery.

Sen. Webb, Regime 'Talking from Same Script'?

By Ba Kaung (June 15 2010)

It's now clear that the relationship between the Burmese regime and US Sen. Jim Webb is unique, and his position as a strong advocate for US engagement with the generals has not changed, in spite of recent allegations that the junta is trying to acquire nuclear weapons. Webb's relationship with the regime might even have been strengthened.
Many wondered if the relationship was damaged after the Democratic lawmaker said he would seek clarification on the report that Burma was acquiring a nuclear program—a report which compelled him to cancel his scheduled visit to Burma early this month, when he also called for the appointment of a US special envoy to Burma.

But, last week both Webb and the regime spoke out in rejecting the conclusions of the report, citing similar reasons as if they were talking from the same script.

On Thursday, Webb pointed out in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the Oslo-based Burmese exiled news service Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which alleged that Burma had a nuclear program, is a US-funded media organization, insinuating that the US government should be held accountable for the nuclear report.

Three days later, on Friday, the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the DVB as “a killer broadcasting station” that survives on US aid from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and that the report was issued by anti-Burma elements in collaboration with other news media for a political purpose.

The DVB deputy executive in Norway defended the station's report, saying that the organization functions independently, and, although 10 to 15 percent of the organization's funds comes from the US government, its main financial backers are European countries such as the Netherlands.

Some observers noted that while it is not uncommon for the regime to accuse Burmese exiled newsgroups in such a way, it is unusual for an American senator to make a similar point.

Also, regarding an earlier news report that Burma might have violated UN Security Resolution 1874 imposed on North Korea by receiving alleged shipments of military items from North Korea in 2009, Webb said that it was an “unsubstantiated” allegation raised by the US top diplomat for Asia, Kurt Campbell. By the same token, the regime defended itself by saying that it had only imported cement from North Korea during the alleged transaction.

While Webb said that the new nuclear allegations had “frozen any prospect of further engagement with Burma,” the regime's media noted on Friday that the “unfounded” nuclear allegations surfaced at a time of resumption of engagement between Burma and the United States.

Even though there may have been no direct discussions between Webb and Burmese government officials, informed sources said that there is regular contact between him and the regime aided by overseas Burmese who support the junta.

Based on his sources, Webb told the Asia Society last week that Burma's election, whose date is yet to be announced, would probably be held on Oct. 10, adding that the election should be viewed as a step forward for Burma.

When Webb made his first official visit to Burma in 2009 and met with the reclusive regime's chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, opposition figures said he did not mention the more than 2,000 political prisoners languishing in prisons and human rights violations against ethnic minorities.

Since that visit, Webb has not enjoyed support among many Burmese democracy activists, who say that his primary concern is countering Chinese influence in Burma through US economic investment in the country.

Nevertheless, Webb is not mistaken in pointing out the growing Chinese influence in Burma, as seen by the recent visit by Chinese Primer Wen Jiabao, during which 15 cooperation agreements were signed covering areas such as natural gas imports, a trans-Burma gas pipeline, hydro-power dams and foreign aid.

And according to the latest reports, Chinese political influence might have been a factor in the regime's recent easing of pressure on ethnic cease-fire groups on the China-Burma border to join the regime's border guard force plan.

Given these realities, Webb's position for greater engagement with the regime to counter China's growing influence is not likely to change. In doing so, Webb frustrates Burmese pro-democracy activists and delights the regime, which will soon probably reward him with another personal meeting with Snr-Gen. Than Shwe.

Reference:
Kaung, Ba. Sen. Webb, Regime 'Talking from Same Script'?. The Irrawaddy. June 15, 2010.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18724&page=1

Absense of Burmese Deputy Defense Minister from Shangri La Dialogue

Burmese Deputy Defense Minister Maj-Gen Aye Myint was absent from the 9th annual Shangri La Dialogue, an Asia-Pacific security summit held in Singapore on June 4-6.

The summit brings together defense ministers, academics and security experts to discuss Asia-Pacific security issues, including weapons of mass destruction, biological weapons and humanitarian and disaster relief.

Aye Myint's absence came as fresh evidence of Burma's nascent nuclear weapons program was revealed in a documentary aired on the Doha-based Al Jazeera television network on Friday. -- Irrawaddy

Must not every Deputy Defense Minister attend Security Summit? This is totally an ignorance to other countries in Asia, and this is an absolute evidence that Burmese junta is creating nuclear weapons. If the regime does not relate nuclear armaments, Maj-Gen Aye Myint should be boldly attending the 9th annual Shangri La Dialogue.

Though, it is interesting that nobody mentioned Burmese junta's nuclear plans at the Summit. Are these nations scared? Are they afraid that they will be the targets of Burma in future?

Reference:
Naing, Saw Yan. Burma's Deputy Defense Minister Skips Security Summit. The Irrawaddy. June 5, 2010.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18636

Junta's Covert Nuclear Plans and Burma, Ignoring Nuclear Disarmament

The Burmese junta’s ambition to become a nuclear power is a threat to regional security, according to a documentary by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which alleges that Naypyidaw is developing nuclear weapons and a missiles system with help from North Korea.

Quoting experts and defectors, the documentary, which was aired by Al Jazeera on Friday, said that if the junta achieves its goal, Burmese missiles could target neighboring countries, as well as threatening US military activities in the Indian Ocean.

Burmese army defector Maj Sai Thein Win, who is a missiles expert, said the junta is constructing nuclear and missiles facilities at at least two sites in Magwe and Mandalay divisions in central Burma.

“They [the junta] really want a [nuclear] bomb. That is their main objective,” said Sai Thein Win in the documentary. “They want to have rockets and nuclear warheads.” -- Irrawaddy

Should not UN be very strict with its UN Nuclear Resolutions? Thanks to Major Sai Thein Win, the world could apprehend the evil nuclear plans of the junta. Anywhere in Burma is not a safe place to live anymore. International must interfere or Burma will be the second North Korea in a couple of years. Hopefully, Rangoon, where most politicians live, will not be the target of the nuclear warheads. I care more about people in Rangoon or anywhere else in Burma than neighboring countries or the US military fleet in the Indian Ocean.

Reference:

Moe, Wai. Burma's Nuclear Ambitions 'Threaten Regional Security'. The Irrawaddy. June 4 2010. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18628

Roughneen, Simon. Evidence Points to Burma's Nuclear Weapons Intent. The Irrawaddy. June 4 2010.http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18622

Tunnels in Burma -- Resurfaced

The Burmese military regime is constructing a tunnel in Rakhine Yoma, some 80 km west of Padan Township in Magway Division, local sources said. The tunnel is 50 feet wide and 50 feet high, a worker from the project said, and is being supervised by North Korean technicians.

On Friday, fresh evidence of the regime constructing a secret network of hidden bunkers and tunnels across the country surfaced. According to an investigative film by an exiled Burmese broadcaster, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which was aired by Al Jazeera on Friday, some tunnels are marked as substations for fiber optic cables and are part of a plan to provide the military with a secure nationwide communications network.

“They are constructing a tunnel ... a huge tunnel. Many tunnels all over the country,” said Sai Thein Win—a former defense engineer and missile expert who recently defected from the army—in the film. The documentary also revealed bunkers alleged to be used as secret military storage facilities and command centers in case of aerial attacks. -- Irrawaddy

Tunnels again! Before this new evidence from former Major Sai Thein Win, tunnels are believed to be the hiding places for the generals of junta when US aircrafts come. Experts referred these tunnels as rat-tunnel defense used by Vietnams when they fought US in World War II.

Now, these tunnels are proven to be not only bunkers, but also nuclear missile-silos. UN and EU should have closely and tightly scrutinized these rats (generals) since North Korea's ship carrying weapons anchored at Burma shore in June 2009.

Because of these negligence, Burma is going to be a second North Korea and Burmese citizens are in danger of nuclear side-effects and consequences.

Reference:
Paing, Yan. Junta Constructing Tunnel in Magway. The Irrawaddy. June 4, 2010.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18626