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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, US Congressma
Subject: Re: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, US Congressman Campbell
Dawn Star wrote:
>
> Daw Aung San Suu Kyi puts US Congressman in his place.
>
> Democracy
> > leader Aung San Suu Kyi (``phenomenal, great
> > presence, I have nothing but admiration for her'')
> > attributes this decrease to drought. She told Campbell
> > that the junta, if it had the will, could stamp out poppy
> > production as it has stamped out human rights. She
> > says that nothing but humanitarian aid should come
> > into Burma, that when the government falls, the
> > tribes will be part of the political process and won't
> > need bullets, or drug money to buy them. The West
> > will want to invest in a democracy.
> >
> She tells it like it is to this congressional upstart. "Great presence".
> I am ashamed that the US Government could have a representative who
> would talk like some television studio kid. But hell, read NORMAN MAILER
> on America today, and you'll understand. A Nobel Peace Prize laureat and
> perhaps the greatest women leader in the world, and for that matter,
> heads and shoulders above so many men. In fact, off hand, I cant even
> think of one man of her stature. Perhaps the His Holiness the Dalai
> Lama, but that's not fair, really, he's a Godhead, but really a cool and
> kindof neat guy. I met him half a dozen times...personally, and alone.
>
> No, Campbell had an opportunity to stand tall in the world spotlight,
> and what does he look like, a little man, who missed his opportunity.
> Thats not good politics, and it serves the interests of the generals,
> who do that all the time.
>
> dawn star
>
> > NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE
> > Quandary on Burma and Drugs>
> > Lewis Dolinsky
> >
> > Wednesday, December 15,
> > 1999
> >
> > Members of Burma's junta, including one of its big
> > three, were pleasant to South Bay Republican Tom
> > Campbell when he met them recently in Rangoon.
> > They want an end to the U.S. ban on new investment
> > in Burma; he wants opium poppies eradicated, or at
> > least a serious attempt. If drugs really can be stopped
> > at the source, he came to the right place. As much as
> > 50 percent of the world's heroin originates in Burma,
> > much of it in areas where the junta has negotiated
> > ``uneasy truces'' (Campbell's phrase) with tribal
> > armies.
> >
> > Campbell and two other congressmen -- Democrat
> > Donald Payne of New Jersey and Republican John
> > Cooksey of Louisiana -- were escorted to northern
> > Burma by Colonel Kyaw Thein, who had negotiated
> > many of the cease-fires (which do not include the
> > Karen ethnic group). When Campbell's party
> > reached territory held by the NDAA (National
> > Democratic Alliance Army), the colonel stopped
> > answering questions and the NDAA started doing
> > the talking. ``I went in with the government,''
> > Campbell said in a telephone interview, ``but they
> > (the tribesmen) were the law.''
> >
> > Legitimate enterprise in these areas is geared not to
> > Rangoon but to China. In Mongla, Campbell saw a
> > casino and tourist hotel, a Catholic church and
> > Buddhist pagoda. A sugar factory had shut down;
> > China has plenty.
> >
> > Campbell doesn't want to be a ``one-day wonder''
> > (instant expert), and he is vague on some details. But
> > he notes that farmers could grow buckwheat or rice
> > instead of poppies, but then what? There are no
> > roads to get a crop to Rangoon. If the Chinese don't
> > want it, there's no buyer. But there is always a
> > market for opiate. A middleman comes to the door
> > and pays up front, though not generously.
> >
> > Poppy cultivation has dropped in Burma. Democracy
> > leader Aung San Suu Kyi (``phenomenal, great
> > presence, I have nothing but admiration for her'')
> > attributes this decrease to drought. She told Campbell
> > that the junta, if it had the will, could stamp out poppy
> > production as it has stamped out human rights. She
> > says that nothing but humanitarian aid should come
> > into Burma, that when the government falls, the
> > tribes will be part of the political process and won't
> > need bullets, or drug money to buy them. The West
> > will want to invest in a democracy.
> >
> > Campbell has no reason to think that the junta will
> > fall. He acknowledges that investment needed to
> > provide roads to get rice to market will shore up a
> > brutal regime that voided elections won by Suu Kyi's
> > party in 1988. He also knows that elements within
> > the government and military profit from drugs;
> > Burma runs on drugs. But he was told by neighboring
> > Thailand's deputy foreign minister, Sukhumbhand
> > Paribatra, ``We don't approve of the government of
> > Burma, but we do work with them on drug
> > eradication and you should be open to doing the
> > same.'' Campbell is undecided. A meeting with the
> > State Department on Monday may help make up his
> > mind.
> >
> > Since returning December 2 from his Asian tour -- a
> > day in Thailand, five in Vietnam, four in Burma --
> > Campbell has been running hard for the GOP Senate
> > nomination to oppose Democratic incumbent Dianne
> > Feinstein. Burma policy is not expected to play a big
> > part in that election. Drug policy might.