The 2003 invasion of Iraq has enabled two
important realizations. First, that imperial
powers only act to preserve their interests, and
second, that humanitarian intervention - or rather
humanitarian imperialism - is touted and
encouraged by the media and official circles to
circumvent the true self-serving intents of
aggression.
Many Americans are still under
the impression that Iraq harbored al-Qaeda,
developed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and
threatened America’s
security. But who can blame them? Compare the
relentless campaign of fabrication and half-truths
prior to the invasion - courtesy of President
George W Bush’s administration and its willing
allies in the media - to the dismal follow-ups on
whether such military adventurism actually
achieved any of its declared objectives.
Every facet in America’s propaganda
machine was in ceaseless motion to make a case for
war; aside from the obvious pretext, Iraq’s
horrors under Saddam Hussein were repeatedly
emphasized. Also showcased were Iraq’s exiled
elites, who "proved" that the US war was compelled
by the desperate pleas of the Iraqi "masses".
Forget the actual masses subsequently butchered
with impunity during the US occupation.
Compare again the attention given to
Saddam’s victims to the subsequent attention given
to the victims of the US war - estimated now by
some to number around one million - who were not
even validated as victims, but instead presented
as grateful beneficiaries. A few months into the
invasion, a leading US neoconservative claimed to
me in an interview that the Iraq democracy
experiment was so successful that “Iranians are
calling me at my office, angrily saying, how come
you liberated the Iraqis and are yet to liberate
us?”
So why aren’t the US and Britain
responding to the humanitarian situation in
Myanmar with the same determination which they
exhibited for Iraq, and now Iran? Why haven’t
media pundits rushed in to make a case for war
against the brutal regime of Myanmar’s Senior
General Than Shwe, who has denied his people not
only political freedom but also the basic
requisites for a dignified life?
Extravagant abuses To maintain
their extravagant lifestyles in the midst of
crushing poverty, the ruling junta’s generals
jacked up fuel prices by 500% in mid-August. This
provoked even Myanmar’s Buddhist monks - legendary
symbols of peace and abstinence - to demonstrate
en masse, demanding among other things greater
compassion for the poor. The protests which
started on August 19 culminated late last month
into massive rallies of hundreds of thousands.
The mainstream media correctly drew
parallels with Myanmar’s 1988 uprising, when
students in Yangon triggered nationwide
demonstrations that were suppressed brutally by
the army, claiming 3,000 lives. Than Shwe became
the head of the junta in 1992 and has since ruled
with an iron fist. However, his subversion of
democracy was not a strong enough reason to
prevent large multinationals from seeking
lucrative contracts in the natural-gas-rich
country.
He and other senior junta members
have accumulated massive wealth, sent their
children to top-notch Western universities and
roamed the globe doing big business deals while
the Myanmar people endure crushing poverty. This
eventually led to the most recent revolt, which
was once again crushed by soldiers without
remorse. The number of dead this time, like last
time, remains unknown. The junta claims only 10
people were killed in clashes while some
exile-based opposition groups have put the figure
in the hundreds. Thousands have been arrested and
many monks have reportedly been beaten and
tortured in detention.
From a media
perspective, no revolution could be as sentimental
or visually appealing. But, of course, it takes
more than tens of thousands of monks leading
hundreds of thousands of the country’s poor in
mass rallies to make Myanmar relevant for long.
Western leaders have paid the necessary lip
service. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
decried the use of violence against protestors and
demanded European sanctions.
President
Bush declared that Americans “stand in solidarity
with these brave individuals”. Israel, on the
other hand, denied its historical military links
to the junta, despite much contradictory evidence.
It justified its unwillingness to influence the
situation on the grounds of nostalgia - Myanmar
was the first South Asian country to recognize
Israel.
The United Nations sent its envoy
to Myanmar to meet Than Shwe and was left waiting
for days before he was allowed to express the
concerns of the international community. In a
break with protocol, he left the country without
debriefing local diplomats.
Strategically,
Myanmar is as important to China as the Middle
East is to the US. China cares more about the
political stability of its neighbours than human
rights and democracy; the US cares about such a
nuisance insofar as it affects its ability to
serve and maintain its own military and economic
interests. Under no circumstances will China allow
America a significant role in Myanmar, a country
with which it shares a 2,000-kilometer border. The
US, on the other hand, pays lip service to
democracy in Myanmar, and its continued support of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy (NLD) is aimed
mainly at maintaining a foothold in Myanmar for a
possible future role should tensions heat up with
China.
Humanitarian imperialism has often
proved more destructive than the injustices it
supposedly addresses. But expect none of that in
the case of Myanmar, because intervention does not
serve the interests of the main influential
parties - not the West’s, nor China’s, nor
Russia’s. We may see a few sentimental meetings
between Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of
the generals, and perhaps a few gestures of
goodwill by the latter, at the joint behest of
China and the West.
But they will bring no
sweeping reforms, no meaningful move towards
democracy or respect for human rights. These can
only be achieved by the people of Myanmar
themselves, by their monks, political and civil
society activists and ordinary citizens. If Iraq
has been a lesson of any worth, it is that the
Myanmar people are much better off without
American bombers or British napalm. True reforms
and democracy can only come from within, from the
closed fists of the determined dispossessed.
Ramzy Baroud
(www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been
published in many newspapers and journals
worldwide. His latest book is The Second
Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's
Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
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(Copyright
2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
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