The Hill News

Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.), perennially oblivious to the brutality of the Burmese military government, has always opposed United States economic sanctions on the junta. Despite his attempts to gut them, U.S. sanctions were not only maintained but strengthened and are beginning to produce important results.
 
Now, in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, Senator Webb is attempting to use the progress made in the April 1 elections as a pretext for repeating his call. In other words, he was first against them because they were supposedly not working and now he is against them because they are. This, despite clear evidence that the regime continues to make war on many of its citizens, recently attacking and killing ethnic minorities in Kachin State.
 
It’s certainly promising that some advances toward a more democratic Burma have been made. This progress should be encouraged. However, there is so much yet to be accomplished and we must recognize that t! his is the beginning of the road, not the end. The small steps forward on democracy can easily be undone and there are still ongoing and widespread atrocities being perpetrated by the army in Burma’s ethnic national states.

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