Comments

It is interesting to read this article in light of the previous post about the KIO. However the election will be regarding in the rest of Asia, or should be regarded by the West, it is pretty clear that in large chunks of Burma, the legitimacy of the election is’t in question; it isn’t legitimate. Given that the KIO’s position and actions aren’t exactly new, you’d think you’d think they’d at least warrent a passing comment in the op-ed, but then ethnic minority opinion isn’t exactly given much attention in the West either.

Dear Moe Aung,

The UK is sadly lacking in politicians of stature in general at the moment. The anti-sanctions lobby do complain that the UK politicians only accept briefings from the rather extreme pro-sanctions lobby, creating a greater imbalance than in any other country. This could account for the lack of Senator Webbs emanating from the UK…

If I ever have the opportunity to stage another discussion, I will have lots of good suggestions to consult thanks to everyone who has written!

Ileana,

I think you did the right thing not inviting the Burmese to the debate. One on the panel perhaps could have been balanced by another, say someone like Dr Zarni who has gone through pro to anti-sanctions stages and now seems totally disillusioned about engagement from first hand experience.

I don’t suppose we have a Jim Webb or a Kurt Campbell in the British parliament and government to commit themselves one way or the other. Besides the rather short-lived ethical foreign policy ├а la Robin Cook is still fresh in memory. And you wouldn’t have been given the time of day by the Burmese ambassador if you’d tried, although you can bet the note-taking chaps were from his office.

Tench

New Mandala make it very very clear that not all comments will appear.

Several of mine have been “moderated” and you don’t see me complaining about it. In fact, given my propensity to sound off I’ve actually been glad for it a couple of times!

Quite clearly StanG has a specific agenda of disinformation – that’s his prerogative and he has own blog to spread whatever nonsense he wants.

But judging from the traffic on his own blog no-one is particularly interested in what he has to say so he’s taken to posting on more popular sites.

The guys who set-up New Mandela can moderate any comment they want – it’s their blog.

The censoring line is just crap to be honest – StanG can set up as many blogs as he wants and nobody is going to stop him.

But, as I stated before, no-one is interested in what he has to say – that’s why he trolls on here.

Two words to bear in mind re Thaksin’s track record come Judgement Day this Friday, Feb 29: snack box

Polo: I never claimed that the things I said were “new.” I just thought they were timely. Judging from the (not unanimously positive) reaction of the crowd (both Thai and expatriate), I think it was the right call to offer remarks along these lines.

As for the tone, I thought I could get away with a little passion given the venue and the potential gravity of the situation.

Dear Moe Aung ,

Perhpas we will have to change the names of the debates to Intelligence divided after all!

I will admit to some marketing failure, but we didn’t invite the Burmese embassy after deliberate thought, to allow people to feel more comfortable. I think that some came though as there were 3 Burmese men in suits in a row taking notes very solemnly…

IQ didn’t want to “pack” the debate with any one group of activists and lobbyists either, as you know there is not really an “anti-sanctions” lobby, although there is an extremely well organised “pro sanctions” lobby, so any lobby-targetting would have resulted in bias rather than debate. BCUK, HRW and CSW all I am sure did their own marketing.
The most interesting failure though was that I failed to get any Member of Parliament or Foreign Office representative to come and speak despite asking very persistently, directly and with personal introductions! Actually I failed to get them even to answer me.

Dear Dylan,

The debate is being posted on the UK Embassy in Rangoon website, so perhaps that will be easier to view? Tell me if that is any easier. They may also have the transcript if you are interested.
By the way, Frank Smithuis website is http://www.medicalactionmyanmar.com if you are interested in his work. He is always happy to show people around.