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Wikileaks of special interest on Burma/Myanmar
1992 - 2009 collection of US Embassy Rangoon cables Latest Wikileaks on Myanmar from London - 4 February 2011 1. 15 October 2007 - London: "Gordon Brown to issue letter to G7and IFIs on Burma" The latest Wikileaks on Burma/Myanmar, this time from the US Embassy in London reporting on discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Comment is by Derek Tonkin. Document 6 (the most recent) is possibly the most interesting. The FCO acknowledge that "the EU was struggling with its Burma policy" and that "the very robust domestic UK lobby on Burma hamstrings much of what the Foreign Office can do because it presses UK politicians to maintain a strong, hard-edged line on Burma." The cable also confirms the known US stance that "the regime needs to make progress before sanctions should be reassessed." Comment: By "making progress" the US means political reform. But this will only happen as and when the regime decides - because the entire Western sanctions regime makes no significant impact. This highlights the continuing impasse and the general malaise of current Western policy. Indeed, Western policy is based on the myth that in present conditions the military regime might respond. They won't. So why continue with policies which are bound to fail? Document 1 is worthy of note because it reveals PM Gordon Brown interested in seeking to use economic measures to promote democracy. This is however interpreted by the US Embassy as "opening a discussion of economic inducements" which Gordon Brown thinks might push Myanmar towards democracy. Comment: This is a fallacy. It was tried before - in action stemming from the Chilston Park Conference in 1998 - See Page 87 The request to the US Embassy for information about the effectiveness of the Jade Act would have been met later in the year when the US Government Accounting Office produced in September 2009 a pretty devastating report on the general ineffectiveness of the Jade Act: Document 4 shows that it was the British Embassy in Rangoon which compiled (from Myanmar Yellow Pages) the original list of 1,207 enterprises targeted in the February 2008 sanctions, not because of their affiliations with State, military or crony interests but because they were in targeted sectors of the economy, including furniture and jewellery. That is, not targeted, but generalised sanctions. Comment: So we now know whom to blame for the inclusion of e.g. the eight silversmiths of Pakokku and numerous pro-democracy supporters, simply because they happened to be in yellowpages.biz rather than in yellowpages.com or yellow pages.net. The UK Embassy in Rangoon were indeed "trying to cull this list down". Document 2 identifies the hawks and the doves on sanctions in the EU. The hawks include the UK, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Ireland. The doves include Germany, Austria, Italy and Portugal. Italy and Portugal are said to be "philosophically" reluctant that sanctions can have an impact. Comment: I would counter that everyone - including the hawks - knows full well that sanctions have been a failure, and even worse - counterproductive to EU interests. But this again highlights the EU dilemma, that their interests in Burma/Myanmar have been subordinated to their principles, which ought to concern the Coalition Government in the UK. In order to maintain the illusion, it becomes vitally important that no study on the effectiveness of sanctions should ever be released. I recognise that both the US and UK administrations struggle under the pressures of domestic political imperatives to give shape and meaning to controversial ministerial and congressional demands over Burma/Myanmar. When however US Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell recently told reporters that: "Several Southeast Asian nations have come out saying it's time to lift sanctions. We have stated very clearly we think that that is obviously premature", many might feel that it was not so "obvious" to anyone anymore. "Aftenposten" Wikileaks published on 4 February 2011 Wikileaks published "The Hindu" (India) in March 2011 Miscellaeous Wikileak articles by Simon Roughneen |
Special Themes
• International Crisis Group• Google Map of Yangon
• Myanmar CSO Statistics
• ILO in Myanmar
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