blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

George W Bush and Tony Blair crushed Saddam's Iraq in 2003 because of the purported existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). However there was no evidence that Saddam possessed stockpiles of WMD at the time of the Iraq invasion. The moral underpinning of the invasion was placed into question. In Burma, the Junta has largely refused the international aid to cyclone Nargis victims. Aid has been seized at the airport, the Burmese authorities have refused visas to aid workers. Millions of Burmese are in risk for dying of infectious diseases unless food and medical aid reaches them.The Burmese Junta is in a state of xenophobia that is destroying their own people. The UN has been pressed into action. It has tried persuasion and later condemnation of the Burmese regime but to no avail. The Security Council had authorized military interventions "police actions" in the past. If the powers need to it can be conveniently ignored like what the Americans and the British did in...

The two Burmese colleagues I have worked with in academe are both exiles. They have got their PhDs but can't return to their country. One studied at the Australian National University but before then he was a tutor in one of my tutorials when I was doing my own PhD. The other worked on his science PhD in UP and taught for a time at my department after graduation. When his some in his (including children I was told) were imprisoned by the despotic regime in Rangoon, he went home to pick up his kids but was eventually able to escape and live in Scotland since he had British citizenship. In an email from a Scottish university, he wrote that he did not decide to come back to democratic Philippines since according to him we are to "friendly" to the generals. To which I replied it isn't us but the current Malacanang tenant! The other Burmese friend of mine is now in India where his family (related to Aung San Suu Kyi) has been in exile for 25 years, where he was born. His ...