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Paul was right and Pat wrong

Bangkok Post
April 16, 1998

Re: the ridiculous letter of Pat James (Apr 4) and the superb letter of
Paul Webb (Apr 7). Yes it certainly does appear that Pat James is either a
stooge-mouthpiece for Slorc or a "pseudo-moderate", a hard-line
right-winger pretending to be "neutral". 

Such pseudo-moderates have been a considerable source of trouble and
confusion for Burma watchers for several years. As Paul Webb rightly
pointed out, they seem to idle away their time in absurdly sheltered
life-styles such as the "safe, quiet utopia"

Pat James describes his family enjoying, then get angry at any criticism of
Slorc's "unbelievable" violence and accuse the NLD of being extremists with
no legitimacy to govern.

Pat's claim that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has "no qualifications for
leadership" is absurd. The daughter of martyred independence hero Gen Aung
San, she is well known as a diplomat with intelligence and knowledge of
politics, history, culture and the internationally accepted norms of
diplomacy. This is obvious in her many writings that had to be smuggled out
of Burma past Slorc's probing censors. 

That is already more than anyone can say about any Slorc general. She also
has considerable first-hand experience in Burmese politics, is
multi-lingual and has extraordinary presence, charisma, patience, efficient
management ability and is highly perceptive of people. Certain of those
qualities have saved her life in the past.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections, known to be free and
fair, but the result (81 percent for NLD, 96 percent against the status
quo) was ignored by Slorc, which refused to relinguish power. Its generals
have refused to engage in any dialogue with the NLD or Mrs Su Kyi, share
power or come to terms with the people's elected representatives in any
way. Which side indeed is "extremist"? Slorc shows no interest in any
rational political solution to this impasse and only wants power permanently.

As for safety, Pat's family are lucky not to be ordinary Burmese on the
streets or at bus-stops at night, where poor people have been allegedly
abducted to become unpaid porters for the dreaded army, to work on highways
or pipelines, or even made "comfort women".

Taxi drivers complain of the many drunk drivers who come out after about 9
p.m. and are mostly the over-privileged relatives of the corrupt. No one is
really safe in Rangoon and no one dares to complain about politics or
"sensitive" issues. However, Khun Sa is doing very well, safely under Slorc
protection. Even many officers resent that sweetheart deal after seeing
what sacrifices had been made in wartime.

One restaurant, for example, was owned by a large family who openly
supported the NLD and admired Aung San Suu Kyi. Guess what Slorc agents
did. They planted a package of heroin in the restaurant and within minutes
the police came, "found" it instantly and arrested the entire family.
Everyone knows what Burmese prisons and trials are like, but the
pseudo-moderates try to play down human rights as "trendy" or a "vague
abstraction" from the West.

Marilyn Vanderheyden