Burma needs Obama's help

[Forkboy]

WHEN CYCLONE NARGIS came roaring into Burma's Irrawaddy Delta last May 2, 138,000 people died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless and destitute, and the world saw the human rights horrors that the people of Burma confront under a rogue military junta. A year later, that regime remains in place. The Obama administration should press harder for change.

The junta's reaction to Nargis was appalling. Corrupt, paranoid generals wasted weeks rebuffing humanitarian aid from US Navy ships offshore, apparently fearing a plot to overthrow their regime. Then they arrested Burmese civilians and Buddhist monks who tried to organize a homegrown relief effort.

The calamity showed that Burma's plight is not simply a matter of economic under-development. The generals receive payoffs from Chinese companies doing business in Burma and royalties from Western energy companies extracting natural gas. Burma suffers not from a lack of foreign investment or assistance but a lack of freedom.
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While President Bush spoke strongly for the cause of human rights in Burma, the worldwide goodwill that President Obama now enjoys gives him a chance to do what his predecessor couldn't. Obama should forge a broad consensus demanding the release of all political prisoners and dialogue between the junta and the Burmese dissidents it now represses.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/04/30/burma_needs_obamas_help/

[ananda]

1. It's M Y A N M A R !!!

nt

[Xithras]

2. The English name of the country is Burma

Nations may call each other whatever they want, and they may also call THEMSELVES whatever they want. I have no problem with the fact that they changed the name of their country to Myanmar, but I also have no problem with the fact that the English language version of their name is Burma.

Keep that in mind the next time you refer to the National Republic of Deutschland using the English name "Germany", or refer to the nation of España using the English word "Spain". Or how about al-Maġrib, better known to English speakers as "Morocco"? Polska is the true, legal, end legitimate name of the nation we call Poland, and few Americans would recognize that the nation of Nippon-koku is actually Japan. If I told you that I wanted to take a vacation to Zhongguo, would you have any idea where I was going? I'll send you a picture of me standing on the Great Wall while I'm there, after I visit the Forbidden City.

This isn't just an English thing either. Every language in the world uses it's own terms to refer to other nations and ethnic groups. In France, Germany is referred to as Allemagne.

There are more important things to stress out over.