India Has To Get Into The Business Of Aggressively Exporting Democracy

Spread Democracy
Revolution

India has to get into the business of aggressively exporting democracy. That is the only way it can become America's number one ally in the world. That is the only way it can become a global superpower.

It is rather easy to do. You allow for the diaspora of the target country to work freely in your land, and you provide them with maximum moral and logistical support. When you can't do that directly, do it through the private and NGO sectors. China can't ask the Prime Minister of India to make an Indian CEO not give a million dollars to a Burma democracy group, for example. India is a free country. What if that CEO is a friend of the Prime Minister? And a friend of a friend of both delivered a secret, back channel message that the Prime Minister would like it a whole lot if the CEO would pump the money. The reward would be a vacation together somewhere down the line.

For India to compete with China to try to please the thugs in Burma is stupid, it is insane, it is outlandish, it is hurtful, it is plain defeatist. That is to suggest the one party ideology in China and Burma are superior to the free ways of India. And when you put a bright guy like Manmohan Singh at the helm, India has shown a democracy can grow just as fast.

Burma is a total test case. India needs to rediscover its zeal for Suu Kyi that it had in the early 1990s. I propose nonviolent guerrilla warfare. You get the Burmese democracy activists super organized, you fund them to the hilt, and you let them loose upon the junta. A Burma that might receive active help from India to become a democracy is going to be a Burma that will be in the best economic interests of India once we attain victory. Suu Kyi as Prime Minister is going to remember her friends in need.

Spreading democracy is a science, it can work like clockwork. Burma and Zimbabwe are ripe targets. Let these two countries give reason for America and India to form a super partnership that brings not only the two governments, but also their private and NGO sectors together for the cause of democracy.

Millions of people coming out into the streets to shut the country down completely day after day until the junta gets out of power totally and unconditionally: that is the only way. Momentum has already been lost once, because the world only extended moral support. Sophisticated logistical support has to be provided. It is still not too late.

Let's not kid ourselves. Ultimately China itself is game. That country is going to have to become a federal, multi-party democracy of state funded parties. It does not have to become a democracy like America is today, but it will have to meet half way. Tibet is going to be a state in China like Texas is in America. Or maybe not Texas, that is not a great example.

Bush Meeting Dalai Lama: Is That All You Can Do For Burma?
Burma: 400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars
Burma: Time For Nonviolent Guerilla Warfare
Burma: Time For Hyper Action
The World Is Failing Burma
Burma: Than Shwe Is Going To The Hague
Britain Is Betraying Burma
Burma: Time For All Out Sanctions By All Powers
Burma: Momentum Is Key To Victory
Shame On The Top Politicians Of The World: Burma Asks For More
In Solidarity With The Burmese People



In The News

America's Strategic Opportunity with India: The New U.S.-India Partnership By Nicholas Burns Foreign Affairs The rise of a democratic and increasingly powerful India is a positive development for U.S. interests. Rarely has the United States shared so many interests and values with a growing power as we do today with India. By reaching out to India, we have made the bet that the future lies in pluralism, democracy, and market economics. ........ building a close U.S.-India partnership should be one of the United States' highest priorities for the future. ....... a unique opportunity with real promise for the global balance of power. ....... share an abundance of political, economic, and military interests ....... Our open societies face similar threats from terrorism and organized crime. ....... an instinctive mistrust of authoritarianism. ........ six in ten Indians view the United States favorably. ..... our fastest-developing friendship with any major country in the world. ....... explosion in private-sector ties, the greatest strength in the relationship ....... a growing U.S.-India campaign to promote stable, well-governed democracies around the world ........ can attain a true global partnership ....... put American and Indian principles and power together .... President Franklin Roosevelt had been an ardent champion of India's cause; many Americans saw the vision of the United States' separation from the British Empire reflected in the hopes and dreams of Indian freedom fighters. ........ large multiethnic, multireligious democracies. ....... collaborated on India's extraordinary "green revolution," which helped end India's famines; and rushed military assistance to India during its border war with China in 1962. ....... India's "Smiling Buddha" nuclear test in 1974 ...... recent dramatic strengthening of U.S.-India ties. ....... India's historic economic reforms of the early 1990s, led by Manmohan Singh, then finance minister and now prime minister, opened India to the global economy for the first time and catalyzed the extraordinary boom in private-sector trade and investment between the United States and India that continues today. ........ as the twenty-first century began, the global order started to undergo a tectonic shift, and India's emergence as a global force was obvious for all to see. ........ the greatest of globalization's challenges -- international drug and other criminal cartels, trafficking in women and children, climate change, and especially the rise of terrorism and its potential intersection with weapons of mass destruction -- ......... In this radically changed global landscape, the basic interests of India and the United States -- the world's largest democracy and the world's oldest -- increasingly converged. ......... India's May 1998 nuclear tests ...... 14 rounds of talks over two and a half years. Talbott's negotiations with Singh were Washington's first truly sustained strategic engagement with the Indian leadership. ......... jump-start their relationship in four strategic areas: civil nuclear energy, civilian space programs, high-tech commerce, and missile defense. ...... full civil nuclear cooperation with energy-starved India. ....... long and sometimes difficult negotiations. ...... For the first time in three decades, India will submit its entire civil nuclear program to international inspection by permanently placing 14 of its 22 nuclear power plants and all of its future civil reactors under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Within a generation, nearly 90 percent of India's reactors will likely be covered by the agreement. ......... a mark of U.S. respect for India. ....... U.S. firms to work with India to construct nuclear power plants to meet its need for electricity. ....... forced to dig deep into our reserves of creativity and tenacity ..... Afghanistan ..... has pledged over $750 million for reconstruction ....... cooperation between the United States and India in Afghanistan has been close and encouraging. ....... A considerable peace dividend awaits both India and Pakistan ....... we in Washington view its growing influence in the world as broadly congruent with U.S. interests. Both countries seek to promote democratic principles and institutions around the world because we know that stable democracies are largely peaceful and better able to manage the consequences of globalization. ......... it is hard to think of two other countries with as much at stake or as much to offer to global stability. ........ UN Democracy Fund in 2005 ...... active leaders in the Community of Democracies, a group of over 120 nations committed to assisting other countries on their path to democratization. ........ science, advanced information technologies, and health services. ........ realistically, guarding against undue optimism and excessive expectations ....... Differing histories, cultures, and geographies will make for a healthy but sometimes argumentative friendship. The United States and India will need to work together more effectively in four primary areas: military and intelligence, agriculture and education, energy and the environment, and freedom and democracy. ........ counter terrorism, drug trafficking, and nuclear proliferation ....... strengthen their military, intelligence, and law enforcement relationships ...... annual joint air force and naval exercises .... India's robust navy travels the sea-lanes linking the Middle East and Africa with East Asia ....... peacekeeping, an area in which India is a major global force. ....... terrorism is a central threat to both countries. ........ a second green revolution to help India's rural poor. ...... nearly 700 million of its citizens -- 25 percent of the world's poor -- live on less than $2 a day. ........ cold-storage facilities, supply chains, and food-processing technology ...... An Indian global trade policy that increases liberalization and stimulates significant and sustained trade in agriculture and manufactured goods would benefit all, and so would the opening of India's retail, banking, and insurance sectors. ....... more students from India at colleges and universities in the United States than there are students from any other country ........ Georgia Institute of Technology will open a campus in India ...... global climate change will be the most significant challenge of the future ....... increasingly dynamic, creative, and high-tech societies. ...... India, home to .. the world's most profitable wind energy company ........ Some of India's fellow nonaligned countries are among the world's most oppressive and antidemocratic regimes. India's defense of those countries in resolutions at the United Nations and its political and military cooperation with some of them -- most notably Burma -- is anachronistic. Burma is a cruel dictatorship ....... Indians will need to ask themselves if their civilizational link with the Iranian people shall be confused with support for the interests of the irresponsible theocratic regime in Tehran. ....... with other rising democracies, such as Brazil and Indonesia. ...... international institutions, including the UN, will need to adapt to permit a greater leadership role for a rising India. ...... the big breakthrough in U.S.-India relations was achieved originally by the private sector. ....... both governments are playing catch-up with the extraordinary business-led trade and investment growth of the last two decades ......... Boeing alone sold $11 billion worth of aircraft last year to India, one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. ...... General Electric houses its second-largest research center in Bangalore. A number of India's blue-chip companies -- in banking, pharmaceuticals, and information technology -- are listed on U.S. stock exchanges. ...... Microsoft's largest such enterprise outside of Redmond, Washington. ....... The virtual bridge between U.S. high-tech centers and the Hyderabad-Bangalore corridor in India is the most obvious example of the high-tech future. ...... more than one in seven start-ups in Silicon Valley is founded by an immigrant from India. ..... 2.5 million Indian Americans ...... the wealthiest and best-educated immigrant community in the country. ...... 720,000 Indian U.S. visa applications this year ...... the U.S. consulate in Chennai issues more U.S. visas for skilled workers (43,000 last year) than any other U.S. diplomatic post in the world ....... substantial contributions in both countries and across diverse fields. ....... Stanford graduates Sabeer Bhatia and Vinod Khosla founded Hotmail and Sun Microsystems ....... Yale graduate Indra Nooyi became the CEO of PepsiCo last year .... Harvard Business School graduate Rajat Gupta went on to head McKinsey worldwide. ...... astronaut Kalpana Chawla ....... The rise of a new U.S.-India strategic partnership over the last two decades is one of the most significant and positive developments in international politics. ....... Today there is more of a strategic upside to our relationship with India than there is with any other major power. ...... unique opportunity over the next generation to rewrite history as it ought to have been written in the first place: the world's oldest democracy will finally count the world's largest as one of its closest partners ....... the planet's future lies in pluralism, democracy, and market economics rather than in intolerance, despotism, and state planning.

Bracing for a Turkish Strike in Iraq TIME The Turkish Parliament on Wednesday authorized military operations into neighboring Iraq to hunt down guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, which continues to launch attacks inside Turkey that have killed more than 30 Turks in recent weeks. ....... after a "large-scale initial land offensive." He added that "as far as is possible, Turkish troops will not venture into heavily populated territory. This will be a surgical operation. Turkey's aim is not to invade Iraq." ...... The situation is also complicated by the desire of the Turkish military to improve its standing among ordinary Turks after its failed attempt to block the election of the moderate Islamist Abdullah Gul as the country's President earlier this year.
The Republicans' Big Senate Fear it has become irresistibly imaginable: the idea that Democrats might gain a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate after the 2008 elections. ...... five long-serving Senators recently announced their retirements ..... the G.O.P. has 22 seats up in 2008, while the Democrats must defend just 12 ....... Democrats have even latched on to the 60-seat dream as a fundraising tool. ....... if former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey decides to return to the political stage in his home state ...... Cook predicts a Democratic pickup of up to five seats with Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Maine ........ Minnesota, where the strongest Dem candidate appears to be comedian Al Franken. ...... The four — Maine's Susan Collins, New Hampshire's John Sununu, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Norm Coleman of Minnesota — are constantly on the spot, whether it's because of near-weekly votes on President Bush's strategy in Iraq or popular legislation to expand stem cell research and children's health care. The strategy has forced some defections, such as Collins and Coleman on Iraq and Sununu on children's health care. ........ Governor Jeanne Shaheen, who plans on tying Sununu to Bush as much as possible. "On the war, he's essentially voted with President Bush seven times now." There are some signs the strategy is working: Sununu is trailing Shaheen in most New Hampshire polls.
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Bush Meeting Dalai Lama: Is That All You Can Do For Burma?

Burma: 400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars
Burma: Time For Nonviolent Guerilla Warfare
Burma: Time For Hyper Action
The World Is Failing Burma
Burma: Than Shwe Is Going To The Hague
Britain Is Betraying Burma
Burma: Time For All Out Sanctions By All Powers
Burma: Momentum Is Key To Victory
Shame On The Top Politicians Of The World: Burma Asks For More
In Solidarity With The Burmese People

For the money one candidate for president spent on one ad in Iowa this past month, you could catapult the democracy movement in Burma to success. But all the western leaders offer is words, gestures. Your kind words are killing me softly.

I appreciate Laura Bush and her husband extending moral support to the democracy movement in Burma. Bush has his heart in the right place. It is his brain that is the problem.

Moral support is only one small part of the deal. It must be accompanied by logistical support. A democracy movement has to be planned like a space mission, and then it works like exact science. It will work unfailingly, in country after country after country.

It takes a lot of guts for hundreds of thousands of people to come out into the streets in the face of certain brutality. But when that momentum is lost, it takes a lot of time to regain it.

If the momentum is strong enough, a successful uprising in Burma can catapult into a mass uprising in Zimbabwe. To Iran, to Egypt. To Saudi Arabia. And, let's not kid ourselves, ultimately to China.

No external power can bring about mass action, but all external powers working in close cooperation with the diaspora of each such country can provide the moral and logistical support that can make all the difference.

Spread Democracy
Revolution

In The News

Security And Opportunity For The 21st Century by Hillary Rodham Clinton reintroduce America to the world and restore our leadership ...... the democratic values that are the deepest source of our strength. ...... In my travels around the world as senator and as first lady, I have met people from all walks of life. ...... we diverted vital military and financial resources from the struggle against al Qaeda and the daunting task of building a Muslim democracy in Afghanistan. ........... turning our backs on the search for peace in the Middle East. ...... refusal to participate in any international effort to deal with the tremendous challenges of climate change ........ the world's most pressing problems require unprecedented cooperation ...... American leadership is wanting, but it is still wanted. ......... threats from states, nonstate actors, and nature itself ........ The next president will be the first to inherit two wars ....... an unpredictable and dangerous situation in the Middle East that threatens Israel and could potentially bring down the global economy by disrupting oil supplies. ........ a new wave of global health epidemics. ........ a pragmatic willingness to look at the facts on the ground and make decisions based on evidence rather than ideology. ......... Leadership requires a blend of strategy, persuasion, inspiration, and motivation. It is based on respect more than fear. ...... harness our might to a set of guiding principles. ..... Use our military not as the solution to every problem but as one element in a comprehensive strategy. ........ Nor can diplomacy alone stop the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity in places such as Darfur. ...... the value of simply carrying a big stick, rather than using it. .......... international institutions are tools rather than traps ...... we should bring them in line with the power realities of the twenty-first century and the basic values embodied in such documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ........ Globalization is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots within societies and between them. Today, there are more than two billion people living on less than $2 a day. ....... a vast permanent underclass ....... countries plagued by mass poverty and ruled by tiny wealthy elites ....... The war is sapping our military strength, absorbing our strategic assets, diverting attention and resources from Afghanistan, alienating our allies, and dividing our people. The war in Iraq has also stretched our military to the breaking point. ........ government ministries or ministers that hoard, steal, or waste them. ...... the two million Iraqis who have fled their country and the two million more who have been displaced internally. ......... Ongoing military innovation is essential, but the Bush administration has undermined this goal by focusing obsessively on expensive and unproven missile defense technology ......... develop a modern GI Bill of Rights ...... In the cities of Europe and Asia -- such as Hamburg and Kuala Lumpur, which were the springboards for 9/11 -- terrorist cells are preparing for future attacks. We must understand not only their methods but their motives: a rejection of modernity, women's rights, and democracy, as well as a dangerous nostalgia for a mythical past. We must develop a comprehensive strategy focusing on education, intelligence, and law enforcement to counter not only the terrorists themselves but also the larger forces fueling support for their extremism. ............ dry up recruiting opportunities for the Taliban by funding crop-substitution programs, a large-scale road-building initiative, institutions that train and prepare Afghans for honest and effective governance, and programs to enable women to play a larger role in society. ......... better intelligence and a clandestine service that is out on the street, not sitting behind desks ........ increase the number of agents and analysts proficient in Arabic and other key languages ....... building counterterrorist capacity around the world ...... strengthen police, prosecutorial, and judicial systems abroad; improve intelligence; and implement more stringent border controls, especially in developing countries. ........ help the most vulnerable and at-risk cities prepare for an attack. ....... The Bush administration has opposed talks with our adversaries, seeming to believe that we are not strong enough to defend our interests through negotiations. ......... Iran .... the country that most practices state-sponsored terrorism, and it uses its surrogates to supply explosives that kill U.S. troops in Iraq. ......... Iran has enhanced its nuclear-enrichment capabilities, armed Iraqi Shiite militias, funneled arms to Hezbollah, and subsidized Hamas, even as the government continues to hurt its own citizens by mismanaging the economy and increasing political and social repression. .......... North Korea responded to the Bush administration's effort to isolate it by accelerating its nuclear program, conducting a nuclear test, and building more nuclear weapons. ........ remove all nuclear material from the world's most vulnerable nuclear sites and effectively secure the remainder ........ Putin has thwarted a carefully crafted UN plan that would have put Kosovo on a belated path to independence, attempted to use energy as a political weapon against Russia's neighbors and beyond, and tested the United States and Europe on a range of nonproliferation and arms reduction issues. Putin has also suppressed many of the freedoms won after the fall of communism, created a new class of oligarchs, and interfered deeply in the internal affairs of former Soviet republics. ......... Putin has used Russia's energy wealth to expand the Russian economy, so that more ordinary Russians are enjoying a rising standard of living. ........ Our relationship with China will be the most important bilateral relationship in the world in this century. ......... on most global issues we have no more trusted allies than those in Europe. ......... the largest developing democracies in the region, Brazil and Mexico, and deepen economic and strategic cooperation with Argentina and Chile. ...... the interconnected threats of drug trafficking, crime, and insurgency ...... the growing ranks of democracies in Africa ........ the blatant political corruption and brutality of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe ........ We will have to talk about the consequences of our invasion of Iraq for the Iraqi people and others in the region. We will have to talk about Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. ........... the Education for All Act, which would provide $10 billion over a five-year period to train teachers and build schools in the developing world. ......... climate control represents a powerful economic opportunity that can be a driver of growth, jobs, and competitive advantage ........ Two-thirds of the growth in energy demand over the next 25 years will come from countries with little existing infrastructure. ...... all of Africa can provide carbon credits to the West. ........ Human rights will never truly be realized as long as a majority of the world's population is still treated as second-class citizens. ......... women have been elected heads of state in countries on nearly every continent ....... the continuing spread of trafficking in women, the ongoing use of rape as an instrument of war, the political marginalization of women, and persistent gender gaps in employment and economic opportunity. ........ 1825 .... exulted in the simple fact that America had survived and flourished ...... gloried not in American power but rather in the power of the American idea ......... Two centuries later, our economic power and military might have grown beyond anything that our forefathers could have imagined. ........ the authority not simply of a large and wealthy nation but of the American idea.

Paparazzi 'fighting' by Diana car Guardian Unlimited A paparazzi photographer was seen fighting next to the wrecked car in which Diana, Princess of Wales was dying ..... the scuffle with a passer-by broke out within minutes of the crash in the Pont de l'Alma underpass in Paris in the early hours of August 31 1997, before emergency services had even arrived. ..... saw driver Henri Paul, his lifeless head wedged into an airbag, and the Princess's lover Dodi Fayed hanging between the front and back seats of the car. ....... the conscious but horrifically injured bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones, whose jaw was hanging loose. ..... she was trapped so low in the footwell and obscured by Dodi's twisted body. ...... a photographer whom he was unable to identify, was taking pictures of the wrecked car
Myanmar's beating of monks "very bad": Dalai Lama Reuters reminded him of China's treatment of Tibetans. ...... he had expressed to U.S. President George W. Bush gratitude to First Lady Laura Bush for championing democracy in Myanmar. ...... naturally, I felt some very, very strong sort of feeling. ..... China's warning that U.S. plans to honor the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could damage relations between Beijing and Washington. ....... Myanmar police are still raiding homes and arresting activists. ....... "The junta, they are also Buddhists, so logically they should follow Buddhist teachings: non-violence or compassion -- and beating a monk is very bad," he said.
Putin tells U.S. not to strike Iran Russia would not accept military action against Iran and he invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Moscow for talks. ...... and leaders of other Caspian Sea states who ruled out any strikes on Iran from their region. ..... "We should not even think of using force in this region." ...... Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan at a summit of Caspian Sea states. ...... The countries also backed the rights of signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty -- which includes Iran -- to develop peaceful nuclear energy. ...... Russia is building Iran's first atomic power plant in the port city of Bushehr. Russia says Iran is behind in payments for the plant, causing construction delays, but Iran says it is up to date and that Moscow is bowing to Western pressure. ....... Putin had bilateral talks with Ahmadinejad and also met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority in Iran. ........ Moscow says it sees no evidence of a military program
Family beaten as YouTube party descends into chaos gatecrashers went on the rampage at a 16th birthday party after details were posted on YouTube ....... More than 100 uninvited teenagers descended on the family house, stole whisky and champagne, smashed windows and started fighting ....... was supposed to be a small event with about 30 invited guests. However, details were posted on the Internet, attracting dozens more teenagers.
Poll: As Thompson's star fades, Clinton's on the rise CNN just after he got in last month, polling showed Thompson and Rudy Giuliani were just about tied for front-runner. ....... last month -- 46 percent to 23 percent. She now leads the Illinois senator by 30 points -- 51 percent to 21 percent. ...... A majority of Democrats favor Clinton, whereas fewer than a third of Republicans favor their front-runner, Giuliani. ...... Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of those polled expect Clinton to be the Democratic nomination. That's four times more than those who expect Obama to be the nominee. ...... expect to win the election? Clinton was chosen by 45 percent. Only 16 percent expect Giuliani to get elected. ...... when the two front-runners are pitted against each other, Clinton leads Giuliani by just two percentage points, 49 percent to 47 percent, a statistical tie. ....... Giuliani gets a lot more support from moderate and independent voters than a generic Republican candidate. That's the irony, Giuliani is trying to sound more and more like a typical Republican to get the nomination. But voters don't see him as a typical Republican
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Clinton open to military action against Iran nukes Newsday she would stress diplomacy over military might to restore the world's trust in America, but would spare no option in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. ...... Bush's handling of Iraq has squandered the respect and trust of even America's closest allies ...... a preference for cooperating over acting unilaterally, for exhausting diplomacy before making war, and for converting old adversaries into allies rather than making new enemies ......... seeking diplomatic engagement with some of America's most problematic adversaries, including Iran. ...... "We had a historic opportunity to build a broad global coalition to combat terror, increase the impact of our diplomacy, and create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries," Clinton wrote. "But we lost that opportunity by refusing to let the UN inspectors finish their work in Iraq and rushing to war instead."
Clinton Details Foreign Policy Agenda New York Times “You cannot be a leader if no one else is following.” ........ her philosophy and approach reflect the Democratic mainstream ...... Use both hard power and soft power; talk to your enemies and strengthen alliances with your friends; deal with systemic destabilizing issues such as poverty and disease; elevate pragmatism over ideology; use international institutions such as the United Nations as tools for progress; make the military a part of comprehensive solutions, not as the solution itself; and encourage the spread of “our values” and the rule of law. ......... committed to building a world we want, rather than simply defending against a world we fear ...... “We must learn once again to draw on all aspects of American power, to inspire and attract as much as to coerce.” ....... Senator Clinton, who is seeking to become the first female commander-in-chief, also sprinkles some tough talk and hawkish positions into the mix, lest anyone doubt that she is tough enough for the job. ...... “As president, I will never hesitate to use force to protect Americans or to defend our territory and our vital interests. We cannot negotiate with individual terrorists; they must be hunted down and captured or killed” ..... false choices: force versus diplomacy, unilateralism versus multilateralism, hard power versus soft ...... an ideologically blinkered vision of the world that denies the United States the tools and the flexibility it needs to lead and succeed ....... replace our military force with an intensive diplomatic initiative in the region ....... will convene a regional stabilization group composed of key allies, other global powers, and all the states bordering Iraq ....... achieving a stable Iraq that provides incentives for Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey to stay out of the civil war ....... consistent U.S. involvement can lower the level of violence ....... If they think they can carry out another 9/11, I have no doubt that they will try. ......... if Iran is in fact willing to end its nuclear weapons program, renounce sponsorship of terrorism, support Middle East peace, and play a constructive role in stabilizing Iraq, the United States should be prepared to offer Iran a carefully calibrated package of incentives. ...... substantially and verifiably reduces the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals ...... seek Senate approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by 2009 ....... supplement the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Establishing an international fuel bank that guaranteed secure access to nuclear fuel at reasonable prices ....... HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria ....... an “e-8” international forum modeled on the G-8 ..... world’s major carbon-emitting nations

Burma: 400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars

400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars

Facebook Group: Support The Monks' Protest In Burma (400,000 Members in 15 days)

I was already an avid fan of Facebook. After seeing how fast this Facebook group has grown, I have fallen in love with the site all over again. There is no better way to organize.

Now the question I am asking is will we put our money where our mouth is? Will each member donate a dollar each? That will make a huge difference. I know from my own experience when we did this thing for Nepal in April 2006.

First, money is needed. Second, in our effort to raise and coordinate the expenditure of the money we will take our organization and coordination to a whole new level. It is like adding mild radiation to the blood stream to detect where the blood goes. The book keeping has to have an element of transparency. Ultimately there has to be near total transparency within a limited group of people.

This will help us measure how well we are coordinating with those on the ground in Thailand or not. This will mean we are not spending all our time talking to the converted.

Money, Message, Organization

Those are the three ingredients. And money is a big one. We could raise a million just like that. And we must.

What Will The Money Do?

First, it will force all Burmese diaspora organizations to coordinate with each other. And it will force all Burmese organizations in Thailand to coordinate with each other. And once we establish the mechanism of not only raising money, but also spending it with accountability, we are going to be able to raise big sums, online, like after the tsunami. Ordinary people everywhere will happily give. We are going past governments and we are going directly to the masses.

As to what the money will be spent on, we will let the Burmese groups in Thailand to discuss and decide. They will know best. I would think they will spend money on cameras, computers, medicine, phones, food. Let them tell us.

We will need to set up a command center in Thailand. We will need to set up safe houses in Rangoon.

Burma: Time For Nonviolent Guerilla Warfare
Burma: Time For Hyper Action
The World Is Failing Burma
Burma: Than Shwe Is Going To The Hague
Britain Is Betraying Burma
Burma: Time For All Out Sanctions By All Powers
Burma: Momentum Is Key To Victory
In Solidarity With The Burmese People





In The News

China calls for dialogue to resolve Myanmar tensions - Xinhua Forbes, NY
China joins in strong statement to Myanmar Los Angeles Times, CA China joined Western powers for the first time to deplore Myanmar's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations and call for political dialogue in a statement issued Thursday by the U.N. Security Council. ....... to free all political prisoners and protesters soon and prepare for a "genuine dialogue" with main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. ....... In an interview aired Thursday on PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. would continue to use its "moral voice" to pursue change in Myanmar. "We have been mobilizing all possible political influences of leaders in the region and in the world," he said. ........ "The Security Council strongly deplores the use of violence against peaceful demonstrations in Myanmar," said the statement read by council President Leslie Kojo Christian of Ghana after Western nations and China haggled for six days over the text. ...... United States, Britain and France, which initiated the statement
Myanmar Rejects UN Call for Negotiations The Associated Press
UN Security Council deplores Myanmar crackdown Euronews.net, France
Myanmar issue should be resolved by itself China Daily, China "China is ready to continue to actively promote the proper settlement of the Myanmar issue together with the international community," Liu added. He said the UN Security Council's adoption of the presidential statement was aimed at supporting the mediation efforts of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special adviser Ibrahim Gambari, and provide constructive help to all concerned parties of Myanmar to realize reconciliation and promote democracy and development in Myanmar through dialogue.
15-Body UN Security Council Adopts Presidential Statement On Myanmar AHN
Group appeals for arms embargo on Myanmar regime Taipei Times, Taiwan
Myanmar Lashes Out at West for Protests The Associated Press described protesters, who continue to be hunted by the military across the country, as "stooges of foreign countries putting on a play written by their foreign masters." ...... singled out "big powers" and radio stations — the British Broadcasting Corp., Voice of America and Radio Free Asia — as being behind the demonstrations. ........ Troops crushed the protests on Sept. 26-27 with gunfire, beatings and mass arrests. ....... Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "The international community should help in a constructive way to help Myanmar to realize stability, reconciliation, democracy and development." ......... Reports from Myanmar indicate the crackdown on dissidents is continuing underneath a seemingly calm surface. ....... security officers had been threatening dissidents' relatives and neighbors ..... Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country. India, China, Russia, and other nations supply Myanmar with weapons that the military uses to commit human rights abuses and to bolster its power ....... A delegation of Myanmar's air force, meanwhile, is visiting Russia, one of Myanmar's main arms suppliers
US talks tough on Myanmar as UN dithers Canada.com, Canada
Dissidents: Myanmar Detainees Beaten The Associated Press guards at Myanmar's detention centers have beaten protesters rounded up from last month's crushed pro-democracy demonstrations and refused lifesaving medical care for some, resulting in their deaths. ........ dissident Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based shortwave radio station and Web site run by dissident journalists, said it based its report on the beatings on interviews with at least a dozen released detainees. ....... "They beat everyone, including women and girls" ...... Monks were targeted and they were not only beaten but also verbally abused by security officers. ........ "I heard people shouting and crying from the interrogation room, and then I saw an army medical surgeon carrying people away," the woman said. ........ a video of an unidentified man who said "dozens" of detainees died. Another man was quoted as saying he saw two people die from severe beatings at Yangon City Hall. One boy died when authorities failed to give him medical treatment for a gunshot wound, and then even denied him water to drink ........ up to 6,000 people were seized ..... around 100 former inmates, has put out a report describing homosexual rape, electric shocks to the genitals, partial suffocation by water, burning of flesh with hot wax and other abuse. ...... The embattled junta lashed out at Western powers and foreign media Thursday, accusing them of fomenting last month's protests. ........ Both Suu Kyi's political party and the military have taken some conciliatory steps. .... the official press stressed the regime was bent on following its own timetable to a so-called "roadmap to democracy," which includes the new constitution and referendum to be followed by elections at an unspecified date.
UN Security Council Stumbles on Myanmar Conflict NewsMax.com, FL

ANALYSIS-Nobel is sweet revenge for Gore, blow to Bush Reuters
Gore Wins the Nobel. But Will He Run? TIME picking up an Oscar and an Emmy ...... the leaders of the Draft Gore movement have been clinging to a single fervid dream: that Gore would win the Nobel Peace Prize and use it to catapult himself to an eleventh-hour bid for the presidency. ....... "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted" to combat climate change ....... he's staying out of the race ....... she has extended her lead nationally, edged ahead in Iowa, and taken on an aura of invincibility that has brought the Democratic power structure into line behind her ........ a hard-won happiness. Gore is happier these days because he is living the kind of life he always wanted to lead. He's happier these days because he is free from the excruciating requirements of electoral politics, the glad-handing and the money-grubbing ........ 90% of Democrats, 80% of independents, 60% of Republicans — now say they favor "immediate action" to confront the climate crisis.
Where Are Burma's Monks? Rangoon's normally bustling Shwedagon pagoda, almost deserted except for a few soldiers patrolling ........ mostly locked and empty, while wooden barricades and bales of rusted barbed wire that police used to seal off Shwedagon ...... mostly silent monasteries ...... When the military and police moved to crush the demonstrators, they first went after the monks. ...... Under cover of darkness ... doors of monasteries were kicked in ...... The New Light of Myanmar, raids on 18 monasteries netted the authorities some 513 monks, one novice, 167 men and 30 women. The monks were summarily defrocked and interrogated ..... One man who helped shelter a young monk who had suffered a deep gash on the head while escaping from a monastery raid told me the monk had later fled for the provinces. He believes the attack on the clergy of this devoted Buddhist nation and the imprisonment of monks will come back to haunt the junta. ........ the generals are waging a propaganda war to win back Burmese hearts and minds. ........ The New Light of Myanmar assured readers that the military was only targeting "bogus" monks ........ But many, even some members of Burma's own oppressive security forces, remain unconvinced. On Monday evening, a 26-year-old member of the plainclothes security apparatus knelt to pay a final homage to the Buddha at Shwedagon before fleeing for the Thai border. The officer had taken part in the nighttime roundup of monks, and it still weighed heavily on his conscience. "I have had enough. I have to leave," he said as he rose from his knees and started his journey to the border. ......... police are still trying to put names to faces on video footage of those who took part in the demonstrations ..... For just a moment I could see the frightened faces of the prisoners inside: Dozens of young teenagers, boys and girls wearing brightly-colored T-shirts, packed cheek-to-cheek, their outstretched arms and hands grasping at the world passing by outside.
Gore and UN Panel Win Peace Prize for Climate Work New York Times
Turkey Threatens Repercussions for US ABC News
Obama, trailing Clinton, hopes to move US campaign into high gear AFP "I'm waiting for the knock out," complained civil rights leader and former Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. ....... has been panned as "cranky," "cool," "reserved," and "less exuberant" ...... "Truly Kennedyesque moment ... never been so inspired" by a presidential candidate, said Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler. ...... dismissed opinion surveys because they fail to convey Obama's true image, because they are conducted by old-fashioned land lines when young people only use cell phones. ........ "I'm happy if the Clintons want to do victory laps in October; I'll take ours in January and February"
Obama lacks the emotion, drama of '04 Toronto Star One cable news channel marked the anniversary with Clinton yesterday by asking her about health care, taxes, small business and social security. .......... appearance on national news shows. ..... Clinton was the polarizer, the tired face of a political dynasty, the woman reluctant to take a bold stance or break new ground. ..... is winning support from Democrats across the nation by playing the role of policy geek, a member of a political establishment who plays in a different league and looks presidential. ......... the party "dated Dean, married (John) Kerry.'' .... Obama has never again approached the emotion, the drama and the heartfelt call for unity of his historic speech to the Democratic convention in Boston in 2004 that launched him in the American consciousness. ..... "I think her judgment was flawed on this (Iraq) issue,'' Obama said on CNN yesterday. "I do think that Senator Clinton has tried to massage the past a little bit, suggesting it was a vote for inspectors.'' ....... no newspaper headline on Oct. 12, 2002 read "Congress Authorizes Diplomacy.''
Clinton, Obama tangle on Iraq and Iran USA Today Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are ramping up a conflict over who has better judgment on Iraq and Iran. ...... "prevent history from repeating itself." The visual at that point is a headline that says "Bush: Headed for war with Iran?" ..... Clinton, who has criticized Obama for saying he'd meet with Iranian leaders with no preconditions, said today in New Hampshire that she'd do the same thing herself.
Rivals rip into Clinton over Iran vote Los Angeles Times a recent vote that they say could bring the nation closer to war with Iran. ....... a resolution that labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a government-sponsored military organization, a terrorist group. ...... "Hillary Clinton may try and argue all sides to justify her vote, but the truth is her vote has helped open the door for George Bush and Dick Cheney to go to war with Iran" ....... called the Iran measure "dangerous" and "reckless." ...... Last week, Clinton signed on as cosponsor of legislation that would bar U.S. spending on military operations against Iran without explicit congressional approval.
Clinton Says She'd Negotiate With Iran The Associated Press Hillary Rodham Clinton called Barack Obama naive when he said he'd meet with the leaders of Iran without precondition. But her comments Thursday on the issue prompted him to question whether she's changed her mind. ....... Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. ...... said twice that she, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions." ....... "I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because we don't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside, but I think that is misleading" ......... Obama's campaign wondered whether Clinton had changed her mind. ...... Obama will restore our place in the world by basing foreign policy decisions on consistent principles and not political calculation.
Civil Rights Pioneer Endorses Clinton Washington Post "I have looked at all the candidates, and I believe that Hillary Clinton is the best prepared to lead this country at a time when we are in desperate need of strong leadership" ...... chairman of the activist group Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the early 1960s ...... best known for his role leading protestors across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma ..... went on to become an icon of so-called "Bloody Sunday." ....... When Lewis led a pilgrimage back to the site earlier this year, Sen. Barack Obama attended and spoke at his annual church service. Not to be outdone, Clinton and her husband - who has close ties with Lewis -- scheduled an appearance in Selma to match. All of them marched across the bridge together in something of a media circus. ..... "Barack Obama has great admiration for John Lewis and understands his long relationship with Bill Clinton. He looks forward to his support when Barack Obama is the nominee."
Obama Takes `Sister Souljah' Tack to Gain Ground on Clinton Bloomberg Telling an interest group what it doesn't want to hear ........ Obama, 46, has talked up tougher emissions standards in Detroit, gone to the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York to chastise Wall Street executives over tax loopholes ...... told black men in South Carolina that they need to ``stop acting like boys'' and face up to parental responsibilities. ...... In Philadelphia in July, he endorsed merit-based pay before the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' group, which opposes it. In New Hampshire, a state with a tradition of environmental activism, the Illinois senator refused on Oct. 9 to rule out new nuclear power plants. ...... a strategy to try to cut through and get noticed, and that's consistent with a candidate who is playing catch-up ....... By contrast, Clinton rejected tax increases, benefit cuts or raising the retirement age to bolster the Social Security system at a Sept. 20 debate organized by AARP, the nation's biggest senior-citizens' group. At a June 9 appearance in Detroit, she wouldn't say whether she supported a Senate bill requiring U.S. cars to meet stricter emissions standards. .......... she ``continues to methodically lock down the support of the various constituencies that make up the nominating electorate ....... Her reluctance to offend even extends to baseball: At a Sept. 26 debate, she equivocated about whether she roots for the New York Yankees or the Chicago Cubs. ......... traditional Democratic constituencies like teachers and automakers ....... it was pretty quiet, nobody clapped ...... she this month picked up the endorsement of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers. ...... likened the performer to white supremacist David Duke for asking whether violence in the black community might be reduced if blacks ``have a week and kill white people?'' ....... In his 2004 autobiography, ``My Life,'' Clinton wrote: ``After challenging white voters all across America to abandon racism, if I kept silent on Sister Souljah I might look weak or phony.''
Edwards Plans to Boost Nevada Campaign The Associated Press a tripling of its Nevada operation. It also plans to open two new offices in November, doubling its total. ....... On Wednesday, Obama's campaign announced plans to open four new campaign offices, bringing its total to seven, and said it would boost the number of his field operatives to 50. Clinton's campaign would not site specific numbers, but claims to have "several dozen" staffers. ..... large, precinct-level organization needed to win a caucus. ..... Edwards expects to receive between $10 million and $12 million in matching funds for the primary, and currently has $12 million in cash on hand
Hillary Clinton Is Endorsed By John Lewis, The Hero of Bloody Sunday Atlantic Online
Clinton Privately Weighs Social Security Tax Hike ABC News The indignation of the Edwards campaign was unleashed Thursday when a reporter for The Associated Press wrote that she had overheard Clinton, who has rejected the Edwards plan in public, privately tell a prospective voter she would consider a Social Security tax hike that resembles the approach favored by the former North Carolina senator. .......... "Voters deserve to know why she would consider one thing in private, but won't tell the American people where she stands in front of the TV cameras." ........ flip-flopping ...... Clinton's private comments to Bowman stand in contrast to a position she recently staked out during a Democratic debate sponsored by the AARP. ........ "I want to focus on the fiscal responsibility piece of this," adding, "before we do anything else, we need to get back to what was working" in the 1990s. ....... "So was that no? Was that no?" asked Edwards to which Clinton replied, "It's a no." ....... the Clinton campaign is not challenging Bowman's claim that Clinton is considering a Social Security tax hike among several "worthy ideas." ...... He says, however, that the candidate who might come closest to his views on Social Security may be Sen. Barack Obama. ........ he recently penned an op-ed in The Quad City Times, an Iowa newspaper, in which he floated the idea of completely eliminating the Social Security tax cap and imposing the 12.4 percent tax against everyone's entire income with no exemption for income between $97,500 and $200,000.

Obama Returns to 2002 New York Times Last week, Senator Barack Obama’s chief strategist lamented that he had only 14 seconds of video from what his presidential campaign believes to be a moment of political gold: Mr. Obama’s 2002 speech against the Iraq war just nine days before Congress, with support from several of his primary campaign opponents, authorized the invasion. ....... crystal-clear audio of the speech .... a recently recorded version ..... “I would kill for that,” he was quoted as saying. “No one realized at the time that it would be a historic thing.” ...... “The last time Barack recorded an audio version of his written words he won a Grammy,” Mr. Burton said, “so he thought he’d give it another shot.”

Obama: Bye-Bye Mr. Nice Guy? Chicago Tribune he is opening the "next phase" of his campaign and plans to more pointedly and aggressively go after frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton. ...... we're going to be laying a very clear contrast between myself and Senator Clinton," the Illinois Democrat told CNN. "Not just on the past, not just on Iraq, but on moving forward." ..... said he is not concerned about his polling numbers and does not expect them to change soon. ...... "Those national polls aren't going to change too much until the early state votes take place." ...... a Clinton spokesman, said, "It's unfortunate that Senator Obama is abandoning the politics of hope and embracing the same old attack politics

Barack Obama is JFK heir, says Kennedy aide Telegraph.co.uk John F Kennedy's closest living aide has anointed Barack Obama as the heir to the assassinated president's legacy and predicted that Hillary Clinton would lose an election to a Republican. ....... 1960 when another youthful senator espousing hope and change was written off by the Establishment. ....... "Both Kennedy and Obama have fantastically winning smiles and I might say both are very relaxed in front of an audience and on television. They don't shout into a microphone, they talk. ....... "The principles, the values Obama and Kennedy are enunciating are not five-point plans for new health care programmes, which is more Hillary's style." ....... Just as the Massachusetts senator was dismissed by the party hierarchy because of his age and unconventional background, Mr Obama is also being branded an also-ran. ....... Clinton will lose a general election and in practice is not much different from President George W Bush. ........ Sorensen said that her election would be "a continuation of the Clinton-Bush 20 years" and business as usual in Washington. ........ vehemently rejected the contention, driven home relentlessly by the Clinton campaign, that Mr Obama lacked the experience to be president. ....... "He has great judgment ....... "Judgment is the single most important criterion for selecting a president. At the time of the [1962] Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy's powers of judgment were tested as no president has ever been tested. Fortunately for all of us, he really came up with the right answers. He was 45. Obama's 46 so he's an old geezer." ....... when he is at an Obama rally the message, mannerisms and atmosphere make it seem like the 1960 campaign once again. ........ "I've heard a lot of shrieks of approval, which I assume were coming from young women," he said. "I'm told the phenomenon known as leapers has returned. ....... they report leaper sightings when Obama appears." ...... the thing that most makes Mr Obama .. "on track" to become the new Kennedy is his determination to transform American politics. ......... "We've had these candidates who give those five-point programmes, who sound like they are trying to convince the New York Times board of editors. ........ "That doesn't reach the hearts of the voters. Kennedy reached the hearts of voters. And so does Obama."

Obama must rekindle the flame New Statesman, UK Obama once wrote that, in his youth, marijuana "could flatten out the landscape of my heart". ....... his past as a community organiser in poor 1980s Chicago, following the collapse of the steel industry. ..... "Camp Obama ..... I attended one over a sunny summer weekend. A hundred and fifty of us crammed into the cafeteria of the New York high school where Fame was filmed. The atmosphere was electric. ........ A homeless woman talked about her anger at the war being what attracted her to Obama. A somewhat precocious teenager said she was in it for Obama but also because she wanted to stand for office in the future. ....... The political consultant Bob Shrum (currently Gordon Brown's election adviser) points out that at this stage national polls reflect only name recognition. ......... I have slid back down to earth as Obama looks increasingly managed ...... Obama is cautious and conciliatory, a centrist at heart. He often portrays himself as a reformist, not a revolutionary, and it seems to have worked so far. ..... 24,000 hipsters turned out in New York to see him speak. When I met Obama I liked him - he said the right stuff, he was attractive, he had a firm handshake and a nice smile