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IHT Ed., Newsweek, General McCaffre



Subject: IHT Ed., Newsweek, General McCaffrey, NY Stocks, funding & money flow - for those who missed it

dear burma readers and activists one and all, 

a couple items.

regarding funding resources, with all that cash to blow on condos, race
cars, and $500 lunches from astounding us stock market growth,
especially over the last two years, the free burma movement, -- with
Free Burma national headlines working for publicity and attention nearly
every day, -- ought to be able to get the money it needs, even if some
big financial donors say they dont have the money. The money is out
there, so do not be afraid to ask for it. 

Don't be shy. The money-baggers aren't! Plan your program needs, and go
for it, now - before the crash! Remember, you are not going to get money
unless you ask for it, and then don't expect it, unless its the rarest
of exceptions...try your luck, but go for it, before the fat cats get
too fat and lazy, or bust.

For those who missed it, this Editorial from the International Herald
Tribune last Feb 15-16 (weekend) lead editorial top page" No Investment
in Burma". Unfortunately, as time wears on without sanctions, these kind
of battering editorials (thank the holy wits for them) seem no less
benign for their belatedness than than policy advisors on the clinton
adminstration. What is Clinton's Burma policy? Does he even have one? It
would be nice to have the DEA General "Mr." McCaffrey's briefing on the
Slorc drug barons to the 4 Congressmen, at least to US Rep Hastert. Did
McCaffrey also blow it on Burma as he did on the Mexican General
Gutierrez, Mexico's top anti-drug official, now arrested for being a
drug mobster himself, discrediting the entire DEA Mexican operation,
revealing life-sustaining secrets (undercover agents, informers, etc).
One has to ask, if US intelligence and foreign policy is so inept, are
there moles and agents within the US government protecting the drug
barons. Everyone knows that CIA moral is so low that good agents are
leaving in flock, having had their cover blown by spies. Well, is the US
government intelligence community  rotton, or just out-classed. 

After all, read what McCaffrey has to say about the Mexico mob (and
think about Burma). I paraphase: " Oh, yea, gee, sorry guys, you know,
its the old story, we trained them, like the Tatmadaw, with many of the
senior paratroopers US trained, using US equipment, in the 702
"Friendship" Airborne division, commanded by US-trained Lt Col Hla Win,
famous for killing Karen freedom fighters, and himself a graduate of the
Defense Services Academy (established by Burmese graduates of America's
West Point), and Fort Bragg, North Carolina -- the second Burmese solder
ever to attend the Special Forces Officer's Qualification course, on his
elevator ride up the ranks of brass, power and the Officer's Clubs of
the Airborne, Delta Force-style killers not unlike their brothers in
Thailand.

Well, the good General McCaffrey, described by today's IHT (WP service)
as "shocked" about his fellow General Gutierrez of the Juarez drug
cartel, is on record for calling him an "honest man" . Well, heads
should role on this intelligence blunder if its as bad as now reported.

Now the IHT editorial (excerpts) 

The Clinton administration may be nearing a decision point on Burma, the
Southeast Asian nation that has been deformed by a brutal military
dictatorship.

President Bill Clinton's top foreign policy advisers recommend
activiating a ban on new American investment in Burma. It would be an
excellent start for Mr. Clinton's new team, and give Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright evidence of American resolve that will be useful in
her visit to China in ten days.

The decision should not be difficult. Last July, Congress passed a bill
authorizing a ban on all new US investment if Burma's government harmed
or rearrested the democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or cracked down
on the democracy movement. The law, introduced to undercut a tougher
sanctions bill, was sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat,
and William Cohen, a Republican who is now secretary of defense. His
enthusiasm for invoking the sanctions is doubtful....

 ....Banning new investment should not impose a hardship on the American
business community....Unocal is the shameful exception. Pepsico has just
joined a long list of American and European companies pulling out. ...

Mrs. Albright and Bill Richardson, the new UN representative, have both
visited Burma and met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Their commitment to
protecting human rights will seem empty if they and other senior
advisers fail to urge Mr. Clinton to take action against Burma.

end
(NYT)


Finally, Newsweek magazine, in their Feb 10 issue, on Madeleine
Albright, published a centererd page photo of her with Suu Kyi, under
the portrait of Gen Aung San under an column story by Fareed Zakaria
"Europe's Past, Asia's Future".
dawn star
Euro-Burmanet
Paris
http://www-uvi-eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/
> 
> From: meglo01@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Olson, Gary L)
> 
> Closer to home, from THE NEW YORK TIMES (February 12, 1997) p.B1
> 
>    Late December through March is Wall Street's bonus-paying season and "The
> security industry's 150,000 workers in New York City are expected to pull
> down bonuses of more than $8.1 billion, 30 percent more than the previous
> high of $6.2 billion ..."  The article describes "...25-year-old
> Masters of the Universe roaming the city, ordering $12 martinis made with
> Ketel One vodka at the Four Seasons Hotel bar and $125 tasting dinners at
> Nobu in TriBeca..."
>    The sums vary but "...the nearly 200 partners of Goldman, Sachs &
> Company made between $4 million and $8 million apiece..."  As a whole Wall
> Street's total profits last year were a record $12.5 billion.
>    One anonymous Wall Street analyst describes the longstanding bonus system
> thusly: "In a five-minute meeting, they give you a piece of paper with a
> number on it.  It's awesome. In some cases it's five, six or seven times your
> salary, your whole salary in one payment. Since many people on Wall Street
> derive psychic pleasure chiefly from their earnings, it's a lot more
> significant than, say, a schoolteacher finding out she got a 3.5 percent
> raise. It is the score."
>    The writer goes on to describe young investment bankers using their
> bonuses to pay cash for $1.9 million condominiums, $60,000 summer rentals
> in the Hamptons, and $179,000 Lamborghini Diablos.
>     A certain Jeffrey Leeds, one of the very few on Wall Street to openly
> question the huge sums and lavish spending, observes "It's obscene. Of
> course it is."
>   - Gary Olson (Brennan Chapter, Lehigh Valley, PA)
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> REPLY FROM: Olson, Gary L
> From: Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> >WORLD BANQUET
> >
> > A recent meeting of directors of the World Bank elevated
> >lavish living to new heights.
> > An estimated $10 million was spent on 700 social events
> >during a single week in Washington.  The piece de
> >resistance was a formal banquet served to 10,000 guests.
> >The seven course menu began with caviar, proceeded through
> >lobster, duck, artichoke bottoms and hearts of palm,
> >culminating in chocolate with raspberry coulis and flaming
> >coffee.
> > Following dinner, World Bank president Barber Constable
> >urged the directors to continue "to look at the world
> >through the eyes of the most underprivileged.  We are here
> >to serve their needs."
> >
> > -- David C. Kortne, "When Corporations Rule the World,"
> >     cited in the December/January issue of the CCPA Monitor.
> >
> >