Washington Post...

More Than Talk for Burma
Where's the 'intensification' to aid a courageous people?
Friday, October 12, 2007; Page A16


ONE WEEK AGO the U.N. Security Council met to consider a bloody crackdown by Burma's dictatorship against Buddhist monks and others who had been peacefully protesting in favor of democracy. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the use of force "abhorrent and unacceptable" and urged Burma's rulers to "take bold actions towards democratization and respect for human rights." Mr. Ban's special envoy to the country, having returned from a visit to the Southeast Asian nation, relayed "continuing and disturbing reports of abuses . . . including raids on private homes, beatings, arbitrary arrests and disappearances." He said he had found "accelerating impoverishment" in Burma (also known as Myanmar) and "deep and widespread discontent." He promised an "intensification" of diplomatic efforts.

Since then, we haven't seen much in the way of intensification. The Security Council did issue a unanimous statement yesterday that "strongly deplores" the regime's violence. But it's still not known how many monks and others have been killed and how many arrested; the regime claimed to have released more than 2,000, without disclosing how many had been swept up in the first place. There's been talk of sanctions, of an arms embargo, of the need for united action, of sending the special envoy back -- but so far talk is all it's been. First lady Laura Bush has spoken out, but we haven't heard much from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Burma's dictator, Than Shwe, named an underling to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, who -- by virtue of a landslide victory in a 1990 election that the regime refused to honor -- is Burma's rightful leader. But no meeting has taken place.

The strangest statement at that U.N. meeting a week ago came from China's ambassador, who noted with satisfaction that the situation in Burma was "calming down thanks to the joint efforts of all parties." If by "joint efforts" he meant the decision by one side to shoot and bludgeon, and by the other to submit to shooting and bludgeoning, that was true. But even stranger, perhaps, has been the silence emanating from India, the world's largest democracy and the birthplace of Buddhism. As long as India and Southeast Asian democracies put commercial interests ahead of principle, progress will be slow.

The Nobel Peace Prize is due to be announced today, 16 years after Aung San Suu Kyi herself was the recipient. In all those years, spent mostly under house arrest, she has remained true to the ideals of democracy, reconciliation and nonviolence. Perhaps, in the midst of celebrating this year's winner, global leaders will pause to think about whether they could do a bit more to support her and her unspeakably courageous comrades.