Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Andrew Sullivan fears for democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been arrested and "disappeared" by the Burmese military government:

Mitch McConnell and the irrepressible John McCain are supporting strong economic sanctions - which, in this case, would directly hurt the business cronies of the junta that control much of the economy. The president should take note and urge passage of the bill and do what he can to urge Japan in particular to halt its odious appeasement of the thugs in Rangoon. I feel particularly strongly about this, as one of the relatively few Westerners who managed to get into Burma over a decade ago just before the revolution. It was a heart-breaking visit. The decay and despair of a proud and beautiful nation were emblems to me of what dictatorship does to the human soul. When you see what this country once was, its poignant and stunning religiosity, its ethnic variety, its gentle culture, and you see how it has been trashed by careless, callous generals, you get a lesson in how destructive authoritarian politics can be.

By the way, all decent people should refuse to call the country "Myanmar" - a name foisted upon it by the late Ne Win, a mentally unbalanced socialist tyrant who used numerology to help him make decisions.

Posted by damian at June 6, 2003 07:18 AM