Response to The Washington Post, My (r)

[kabaraye@xxxxxxxxxxx]

To all journalists and international news medias -

The Myanmar Embassies around the world are not representatives of the 
people of Burma , but rather the mouthpieces and errand boys of the 
military dictators in Rangoon.

That they have no problems with lying through their teeth ,knowing fully 
well what they are spouting is totatlly ridiculous and bears not a shred 
of truth, is typical of a regime that has to survive on distortion and 
manipulation of facts to serve their purposes. That purpose being, to 
survive at all costs.

The unwary  should read such messages and news with caution , and those 
who know what's really going on can marvel at the stupendous amount of 
misinformation the emabassies can conjour.

It is however very important for higly respected and credible news 
agencies and journalists , to share the facts they uncover about Burma's 
regime and let the world know what is really going on as the pen is 
mightier than the sword. Burma's salvation rests a lot upon "outside 
help" of which the news media is one of the important factor and 
dissemination of the truth for all to know , is crucial.
A continued interest and coverage of things pertaining to Burma should 
be kept up to serve as an unrelenting pressure on the military thugs. 
Believe it or not, the exposure of their activities or noteriety has 
already begun to have an effect but the road is still long.

KA



>Date: 14 Sep 1998 21:54:05
>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: enmasse_1@xxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: Response to The Washington Post, Myanmar Emabssy 
Washington DC.
>To: Recipients of burmanet-l <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>Re: Response to The Washington Post, Myanmar Emabssy Washington DC.
>===================================================================
>
>>The Post errs in stating that the military lost to the NLD in the 
>>election held in 1990. The fact is that the military which was 
>>compelled to assume the reins of state in September 1988 following 
>the 
>breakdown of civil order in the country, responded to the >expressed 
>wishes of the people by bringing to an end nearly three >decade of 
>socialist rule. It did not contest the 1990 elections. >Rather, as the 
>only organized entity in the nation, it acted as an >arbitor.
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Hi OKKAR,
>
>
>The response from the Burmese Embassy, Washington DC as well as yours 
>are complete cover-ups. Why did the military had to kill thousands of 
>peaceful demonstrators who were simply expressing their wishes to bring 
>an end to nearly three decades of socialist rule in the country?. What 
>you all said did not add up. 
>
>You failed to mention that it was the BSPP government with the help of 
>DDSI that had deliberately created conditons that appeared to look like 
>a breakdown of civil order in the country to justify for yet another 
>military coup to protect Ne Win and his cronies.  
>
>You also failed to mention how people have voted in the May 1990 
general 
>elections. (We all know that SLORC did not dare to take part in the May 
>1990 general elections. Even the 'NUP' which received much backing from 
>the SLORC did not even win a seat.) If you look at the results of the 
>May 1990 general elections you will see how people had voted to express 
>their wishes peacefully again to bring about an end to the military 
rule 
>in Burma. And that's what is exactly happening in Burma, right now.
>
>So, according to your point of argument, there is no use in fighting 
>against the wishes of the people of Burma. This is something that you 
>could not keep it covered. The day will come when the SPDC had to go. 
It 
>is not a matter of 'if' but how peacefully it will go and when. You 
will 
>see. 
>
>
>Minn Kyaw Minn
>============== 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>From notes@xxxxxxx Mon Sep 14 18:51:18 1998
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>>	Mon, 14 Sep 1998 18:46:26 -0700 (PDT)
>>Date: 14 Sep 1998 17:56:42
>>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>From: OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx
>>Subject: Response to The Washington Post, Myanmar Emabssy Washington 
>DC.
>>To: Recipients of burmanet-l <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>Message-ID: <c0755dbb.35fdba41@xxxxxxx>
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>>
>>                          EMBASSY OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR                     
>>                                        WASHINGTON,  DC 
>>                                                                   
>>PRESS   RELEASE      13 /  98  		14  September 1998
>>
>> 
>>	
>> Myanmar Embassy's Response to The Washington Post
>>
>>
>>		It is a sad commentary of our times that The Washington Post ( 
>Editorial,
>>September 14), chooses to trash Myanmar, notwithstanding the political 
>and
>>legal maelstrom that imperils the White House.  While Americans are 
>busy
>>worrying about whether the President can avoid  impeachment or 
survive,
>>unimpeached  in an increasingly untenable situation, the Post flies 
off 
>on a
>>tangent and devotes an entire editorial column to denigrate Myanmar. 
>This
>>attempt to deflect attention from the growing crisis at home makes a 
>statement
>>about how the US is failing to live up to the high standard expected 
of 
>it.
>>
>>		The Post does a great disservice to its readers by not checking 
facts 
>before
>>rushing to decry the " crackdown " in Myanmar. Had the Post bothered 
to 
>follow
>>up on the allegation that some 700 NLD members have been detained in 
>recent
>>months, it could have easily ascertained that the charge is baseless 
>and that
>>it is nothing but a ruse to ratchet up pressure on the government. By 
>now
>>everyone familiar with the tactics of the opposition groups must 
>realise that
>>they are not adverse to exaggerating figures to suit their ends. In 
>1996, they
>>claimed 300 were detained ; last year 400; this year 700. The figure 
>keeps
>>growing by geometric progression. When will the deception end ? The 
>fact is no
>>NLD member has been arbitrarily detained or charged with a crime in 
>recent
>>days. Let alone being dragged from  bed in the middle of the night. 
>What may
>>have prompted the government's detractors to raise a hue and a cry is 
>that
>>some NLD members were recently invited to government guest-houses to 
>discuss
>>matters relating to the unlawful attempt of  that party to 
unilaterally
>>convene a parliament. It's not hard to imagine what would happen if 
>each of
>>the 10 registered political parties in Myanmar decided to take such 
>measures
>>unilaterally.
>>
>>		The Post errs in stating that the military lost to the NLD in the 
>election
>>held in 1990. The fact is that the military which was compelled to 
>assume the
>>reins of state in September 1988 following the breakdown of civil 
order 
>in the
>>country, responded  to the expressed wishes of the people by bringing 
>to an
>>end nearly three decade of socialist rule. It did not contest the 1990
>>elections. Rather, as the only organized entity in the nation, it 
acted 
>as an
>>arbitor.
>>
>>		From the outset the military has been striving  to fulfill  the  
>aspirations
>>of the people for a democratic society. It abolished the single-party 
>system
>>and allowed the formation of political parties.  It promptly replaced 
>the
>>centrally-planned economic policy of the past, with market-oriented 
>policies
>>and sought foreign direct investment. 
>>
>>
>>The Post conveniently forgets that it was the military that proceeded 
>in 1990
>>with its plan to allow the Myanmar people to elect representatives to
>>participate in the government's proposed National Convention to draft 
a 
>new
>>constitution. That was what  the elections  were for and not to form a 
>new
>>government as a NLD and its supporters in the West now claim. It 
should 
>be
>>recognized that Myanmar had no constitution at all at that time.
>>
>>Out of the 235 political parties that sprang up in 1988 only 93 were 
>able to
>>field candidates in 1990. A fact often overlooked by the West is that 
>Aung San
>>Suu Kyi was herself not eligible to stand for elections.
>>
>>	The allegation that the Myanmar Government engages in forced labour 
on 
>a
>>massive scale is spurious. The fact that a commission of the ILO 
>ritually
>>concludes that something is amiss in Myanmar based on stories fed to 
>those
>>sitting in Geneva does not necessarily make it so. Reports of recent 
>visitors
>>to Myanmar stand in stark contrast to tales disseminated by those who 
>have an
>>axe to grind. 
>>
>>	As regards the economy, Myanmar like others in the region has not 
been 
>immune
>>to the financial crisis. However,  it has been able to shield its 
>economy to a
>>large extend because it is not yet linked to the global economy as 
some 
>of its
>>ASEAN partners and because it has always favoured a prudent policy of 
>self
>>reliance. True, the World Bank recently declared the country 
ineligible 
>for
>>new loans because it has not repaid past  ones. But has the Post 
>stopped to
>>ponder why Myanmar, which has been faithful in meeting its repayments 
>to IDA
>>up until very recently,  decided to suspend the further repayments ? 
>The
>>answer lies in the attitude adopted by the major shareholders 
vis-a-vis
>>Myanmar. All loans to Myanmar have been suspended since 1987. The 
>Bank's
>>reason for suspension of lending was a determination that Myanmar was
>>unwilling to modify the highly distortionary economic policies that 
the 
>Bank
>>concluded created an environment in which external aid resources could 
>not be
>>efficiently utilized. Eventhough Myanmar has now opened its doors and 
>the
>>situation has changed, the Bank has not revised its stand. This is due 
>not to
>>technical difficulties between the Bank and the Myanmar Government but  
>to the
>>US policy blocking loans to Myanmar from all international financial
>>institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary 
Fund 
>( IMF)
>>and the Asian Development Bank ( ADB ).
>>
>>	In the circumstance,  the Myanmar Government took a decision to 
>postpone
>>repayment on outstanding loans until the World Bank treats Myanmar 
like 
>other
>>members and resumes lending. The amounts  involved are not significant 
>and
>>Myanmar hopes to resume the payments sooner rather than later.
>>
>>	Unilateral sanctions have never been successful and the case of US 
>sanctions
>>against Myanmar is no different. The slack created by the departure of 
>US
>>investors has been taken up by others from the ASEAN and  Europe. US 
>ranks
>>only fifth on the list of foreign investors. All that US sanctions 
have
>>accomplished is to deprive Myanmars  working in textile mills and 
>tourist-
>>related industries of their livelihood.
>>
>>	It is indeed odd that the Post should be seeking to take issue with 
>the
>>Myanmar Government at a time when the entire world is focusing on the
>>President's moment of reckoning. Surely, it is time to stop demonizing 
>the
>>Myanmar Government and come to grips with reality. 
>>
>>
>>
>>

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