A new BBC story reports accusations that the Burmese (Myanmyar) military is using chemical weapons against the rebel freedom fighters there.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4467471.stm
A look at the Burmese situation shows us everything we were promised for a war with Iraq, but the Bush Administration has been fairly quiet about Burma.
Burma is led by General Than Shwe. This is a man even the fluff Sunday insert Parade magazine saw fit to put on their list of the world's ten worst dictators in February of this year. He was third after only Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Kim Jong Il of North Korea.
The last free election in Burma was held in 1990. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's party won 81% of the vote. 73% of the population had voted in the election. The military put the vote aside and resumed control. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for much of the time since then.
Burma's population is 68% Burman. There are seven main ethnic minorities and they all have their own rebel armies. Among these groups are the Shan, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Chin, Kachin and Rakhine.
Burma is mostly Buddhist. The 300,000 Buddhist monks have also formed an oppostion group to the army.
Sounds like a country ripe for change, right? We have a bad dictator using WMDs against ethnic minorities and repressing the democratic will of his people. All we're missing are the outrageous claims of ties to Al Qaeda. Oh, and the oil. Actually there IS oil and it is among the main reasons we aren't involved.
Unocal is a U.S. petroleum company that built a natural gas pipeline across Burma. A United States judge found there was significant evidence that the company conspired with the Burmese government to use slave labor building it. Unocal settled the case rather than let it go to a jury.
Which other U.S. petroleum company was involved with the pipelines? Halliburton, of course.
Shortly before the election, Dick Cheney admitted on the Larry King Live! show that Halliburton had done contract work in Burma. Cheney defended the project by saying that Halliburton had not broken the U.S. law imposing sanctions on Burma, which forbids new investments in the country. "You have to operate in some very difficult places and oftentimes in countries that are governed in a manner that's not consistent with our principles here in the United States," Cheney told Larry King. "But the world's not made up only of democracies."
So we find Burma a country where U.N. pressure could make a difference. Where a true coalition and stiff sanctions could affect the government. Where the U.S. could let a country like Australia lead peacekeeping efforts with troops from neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.
I'm not saying it would be anywhere near easy. Obviously, the best approach is the one that should have been used in Iraq. Ratchet up the international pressure until they give.
So when should you expect to see President Bush make Burma an issue? Once their government is on the wrong side of the petrodollars.