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April 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
It is true: there are no guarantees. Yet in the wake of this humiliation, the
generals need a sign that reform has paid dividends – and, in particular,
that the lifting of punitive US and EU sanctions is imminent. Indeed, this
is the very issue alluded to by Mr Hague: how can we reward those rare
dictators who see the light? How do we show them that razing your towns and
killing your people is not the way to go?
Despite a clear timetable for a free and fair election in 2015, Burma is still
crippled by sanctions. In the West, caution remains the watchword. A
spokesman for Baroness Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, says there are
“strong expectations of a positive signal” when Europe reviews its sanctions
later this month, but adds that it is waiting “to see the post-election
process”.
While the EU waits, Burma’s people continue to suffer. The country currently
has some of Asia’s worst figures on child health and poverty. According to
the health charity Merlin, 70,000 children die every year from
poverty-related illnesses, while 240 women in every 100,000 die giving
birth. Tuberculosis and malaria are major causes of death. Save the Children
claims that millions of young Burmese are malnourished, just under a million
are underweight and more than a third have their growth stunted. The
country’s infrastructure is equally poor. It takes six phone calls to
complete a conversation over its outdated cables, while many of the derelict
buildings on Rangoon’s streets have bushes growing out of their walls.
It is easy – and accurate – to blame this on decades of dictatorship. Yet
while neighbouring China receives ingratiating ministerial trade delegations
from around the world, its many human rights abuses notwithstanding, Burma
gets the wagging finger of censure and only the most cautious signs of
relief.
It is true that Burma has some way to go, and that its people have been
offered the hope of democracy before. But this time, as William Hague noted
during his visit earlier this year, the transition does appear to be
“irreversible”. It seems inevitable that the sanctions will be lifted at
some point. But by dragging its feet and phasing them out rather than
sweeping them away, the West will miss an opportunity.
A generous and rapid response to these elections – whose basic fairness is
indicated by the sheer scale of the NLD’s victory – would reward Burma’s
leaders for doing the right thing. The faster the sanctions are lifted, and
the economic benefits flow, the sooner they will be able to tell each other
that their actions have served the nation. As diplomats gather in Istanbul
to plot the next moves in Syria’s depressing conflict, Burma’s former
military rulers stand – so far – as a counter-example to dictators
everywhere. Wouldn’t it be better for the West to show them, and others,
that it pays to talk?
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