http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/17/113050/64 Troubled Burma - The Washington Connection by truong son traveler Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 08:30:50 AM PDT This diary is inspired by a recent article written by William Engdahl which was published in Asia Times Online.
As we read last month the trigger for the mass demonstrations led by the Buddhist Monks in Myanmar, or Burma if you prefer, was fuel costs which were increased by 100% to 500% when the government ended subsidies for gasoline and other types of fuel. Engdahl tells us that the UN estimates overall inflation had increased by 35% in this very poor country where people spend about 70% of their income for food. There is more to this story than meets the eye. Behind the recent CNN news pictures of streams of monks marching in the streets of the former capital city, Yangon, calling for more democracy, is a battle of major geopolitical consequence. What is not so well known is that Burma is also on the Bush Administration's hit-list for regime change. And, we can dismiss the idea that it has genuine concern for democracy, justice and human rights for the oppressed. Iraq and Afghanistan are sufficient testimony to the fact Washington's talk of democracy is cover for a different agenda. a.. truong son traveler's diary :: :: b.. Some readers might be familiar with the National Endowment for Democracy. NED is funded by Congress which has oversight, however NED in turn funds other organizations which are unaccountable. The topic of NED is worthy of a separate diary but for now we'll provide some basic information on NED activities and on their agenda in Burma from the link above. During the late 1970s there was new thinking at the highest levels of the U.S. foreign policymakers, that ugly murderous military dictatorships of the 1970s were really the best way to preserve U.S. interests in these countries - U.S. interests being defined traditionally as unfettered access to the primary products and raw materials, to the labor and to the markets of foreign countries. (Think Iraq, Venezuela, Iran) This new thinking led to the establishment in 1983 of the National Endowment for Democracy. NED regularly provides funding to opposition candidates in elections in countries other than the USA. According to Allen Weinstein, one of the founders of NED, "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA". NED has principally supported candidates with strong ties to the military and who support the rights of U.S. corporations to invest in those countries with minimal restriction. The NED has not supported candidates who oppose investments by U.S. corporations or who promise restrictions on investment rights of U.S. corporations. A list of former and present members of the board of directors includes Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Frank Carlucci, Zbigniew Brzezinski, General Wesley K. Clark, Paul Wolfowitz and Vin Weber. NED was present and had an active part in directing the protests last month in Myanmar. In fact CNN mentioned their presence and activities in one of their broadcasts. The State Department also admits to their presence. The protest "concert master", per Engdahl, was Gene Sharp who is the founder of an organization funded through NED, called the Albert Einstein Institution. So why is remote Burma, a small country about the size of Texas, in Southeast Asia, be of such interest to the US? One reason, as it was with Somalia, which suffered a recent regime change orchestrated by Washington - Geopolitical control, writes Engdahl. ... control ultimately of the strategic sea lanes from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea. The coastline of Myanmar provides naval access in the proximity of one of the world's most strategic water passages, the Strait of Malacca, the narrow ship passage between Malaysia and Indonesia. The Pentagon has been trying to militarize the region since September 11, 2001 on the argument of defending against possible terrorist attack. The US has managed to gain an airbase on Banda Aceh, the Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base, on the northernmost tip of Indonesia. The governments of the region, including Myanmar, however, have adamantly refused US efforts to militarize the region. And of course there is the China factor: The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is the shortest sea route between the Persian Gulf and China. It is the key chokepoint in Asia. More than 80% of all China's oil imports are shipped by tankers passing the Malacca Strait. ...each day, more than 12 million barrels in oil supertankers pass through this narrow passage, most en route to the world's fastest-growing energy market, China, or to Japan. The US State Department, operating from across the border in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is actively training and providing funding for fostering regime change in Burma. China reacting to what it sees as US militarization of the Middle East has recently put a lot of money into Burma, and like the US in the Middle East, energy and military security, not human rights concerns, drives their policy. China has also helped to build infrastructure in Myanmar including railroads and roads and has been allowed to station troops in Burma. Engdahl reports that: Myanmar is an integral part of what China terms its "string of pearls", its strategic design of establishing military bases in Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia in order to counter US control over the Strait of Malacca chokepoint. There is also energy on and offshore of Myanmar, and lots of it. The unanswered question is what will become of the people of Mynanmar? If Iraq and Somalia are to held up as examples I would judge that they would be better off under the more local, Chinese, influence. Either way it is unfortunate for them and in the end they will not likely have much say in how future events will unfold.
