The Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, or Burma, as it is sometimes called, is a nation presently stuck at a crossroads that carries a historical significance of the greatest magnitude. The country has been dominated by military rule for the better part of the past half century and has committed the most violent of acts to keep it that way. This type of society is one in which a modern-day America has promised to assist, and recent actions taken by the desperately eager Burmese citizens have established a necessity for us to do so.
Over the past few weeks, a push for change has drawn many Burmese citizens to the streets, led by the highly regarded Buddhist monks and their political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the party leader of the National League for Democracy. Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been under house arrest under arbitrary terms of the Myanmar legal system. She has fought hard for the democratization of her nation and the freedom of her people. In fact, Ms. Suu Kyi was elected prime minister in 1990 when the military junta allowed a one-time general election. Although she won handily, she would never gain the office for which she was elected; instead, she was locked in a prison cell.
Such a reprehensible denial of the democratic process cannot be and has not been accepted by the American government in recent history. To envision this, imagine what actions the Bush administration would have taken if North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had been demolished in a national election in favor for a democratically inclined leader. We would have forced the change to take place; yet in Myanmar, almost 20 years have passed since Ms. Suu Kyi was elected, and the oppressive military government still reigns supreme.
The message from the Burmese people has been simple: They want democracy. Throughout the last 20 years, they have voted for a representative government and have undertaken the arduous task of nonviolent resistance against an oppressive regime to fight for it. The results of their protest sent chills down the spines of peoples all over the world. This past week, while a group of citizens and monks were involved in a peaceful street demonstration near the location of Ms. Suu Kyi's detainment, the Burmese military opened fire, brutally murdering nine people, while beating and detaining countless others. Most of those killed were peace-preaching Monks who ordinarily hold so much sway in this extremely religious nation.
In an age in which the Western world, and especially the United States, seems to believe that we are predestined and ordained to spread democracy and freedom to the world, Myanmar makes a perfect case for us to intervene. If President George W. Bush is sincere in his desire to spread the word of democracy and bring freedom to peoples throughout the world, he must force the hand of the Myanmar military government in a way that exceeds economic sanctions. Mr. Bush has assumed a mandate to democratize in the past. Yet, he did so in a situation in which it was seemingly impractical to attempt such an endeavor. The case of the Burmese people is different. The most important element of a democratic revolution is that the citizenry desires change. In March 2003, this was not evident in the Iraqi people. While their desire for the ousting of Saddam Hussein was genuine, they had made no specific request for a democratic, representative government. Despite this, Mr. Bush apparently understood his mission was important enough to overlook this fact.
To prove to the world that his undertaking of a forceful push to democratize Iraq was for the positive intention of improving people's lives, Mr. Bush must step forward and assist in the Burmese push for change. In order to show us that he did not overthrow the Iraqi government for ulterior motives, such as oil or redemption for a certain family member, he needs to do whatever he can to free Ms. Suu Kyi and put her in the office to which she was elected. If he does nothing in the 15 months that remain in his tenure as leader of the free world, his major ideological flaw will be exposed.
Myanmar represents the perfect case for justifiable foreign intervention: The people want the change, the government is committing unconscionable acts that force the outside international community to act, and — if the morality of the situation is not important to you — the notion that a democratic nation in Southeast Asia is strategically beneficial for the United States.
It is still possible, as my inner optimism forces me to consider that Mr. Bush has had good intentions throughout his term as president. I can understand his idea that a free Iraq will serve as a beneficial example to the Middle East, and I want to believe that he had a desire to give the people of Iraq a sense of freedom. Well, now he has a chance to prove just that. I will watch closely to what our president does and how seriously he approaches the conflict in Myanmar, for it may just shine a bright light on his entire presidency.
Ben White ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and sociology.
