'Just World News' with Helena Cobban

Tragedy in Myanmar/Burma, finger-pointing from Laura

Posted by Helena Cobban at May 6, 2008 03:22 PM

Yesterday, Laura Bush, a woman famous only for being married to a president, gave an extraordinarily inappropriate, finger-pointing press briefing about the recent cyclones in Myanmar.

Huge kudos to the Wapo-dot-com columnist Dan Froomkin for the comments he expressed today about this affair:

When a country run by a despotic and isolationist regime is laid low by a massive natural disaster, the diplomatic thing to do is to respond with a show of compassion. Not kick 'em when they're down.

More than 22,000 people have died in the staggering devastation caused by this weekend's cyclone in Burma. But when First Lady Laura Bush made her first-ever visit to the White House briefing room yesterday, to talk about what's going on in that country, it was not to deliver a message of goodwill.

Rather than announce the launch of a massive relief effort that could take advantage of a rare diplomatic opening, the first lady instead tossed insults at Burma's leaders, blamed them for the high death toll, and lashed out at their decision to move forward with a constitutional referendum scheduled for this Saturday.

Mrs. Bush's finger-wagging is particularly rich: delivered within 60 hours of the cyclone having struck-- plus, coming from the spouse of the man "in charge" of cripplingly ineffective US governmental response to Hurrican Katrina.

I must say, I'm getting fed up of all the US-based "celebrities" who decide to adopt and advocate for some pet international human rights "cause".  Laura Bush is only the latest of a long stream of these people.  Do we have any reason to believe, in her case or that of any of the many other "issues celebs," that they have any particular depth of understanding of the issue concerned that would warrant them getting so much more publicity for their views than the people who study these issues and regions in depth for their professions?

Mrs. Bush's oration was also notable for a few other things:

1. She insisted on using the name "Burma," which is used by many of the country's citizens, particularly those in the political opposition, rather than "Myanmar", the name also used by many citizens-- as well as by the government there.  A small point, perhaps, though officials in Greece and the government of "Macedonia" could tell you that the matter of a country's name can sometimes be an enormously big matter.  Mrs. Bush gave no nod to the complexity of this issue-- by, for example, noting that "the country's official name is currently Myanmar."  She simply called it Burma throughout.  In diplomatic terms, this was extremely disrespectful.
2. She was incredibly accusatory, stating at one point: "The regime has dismantled systems of agriculture, education and health care." Now, I could certainly be persuaded that theYangon/Rangoon government's administration of these systems has been far from effective, and that many of them have fallen into serious disrepair.  But to state baldly that the regime "dismantled" them, with no qualification at all?  Why should anyone take this woman seriously? (Also, we could look at thre Bush administration's own record in some of these areas?)
3. She happily told the assembled press people that the reason she had come out with her statement with what, in the circumstances, seems like incredibly unseemly haste (and lack of forethought) was that she was about to rush out of Washington DC to work on her daughter's wedding, "and I wanted to be able to make a statement about Burma before I left." Giimme a break!  The conduct of diplomacy on serious matters of life and death should be held hostage to her wedding-planning schedule???

In the hours since Mrs. Bush's press conference, many more facts have emerged about the situation. Reuters tells us that the casualty toll has continued to rise: "The death toll includes 10,000 who died in just one town, Bogalay, 90 km (50 miles) southwest of Yangon. A further 41,000 people have been reported missing."

Reuters also makes clear that the Myanmar government has accepted international aid to deal withe cyclone's effects and, after assessing the horrendous scale of the damage, the government has also postponed the constiututional referendum previously scheduled for next Saturday.

It strikes me that Laura Bush's massive mis-step in the world of international diplomacy underlines some key lessons:

1. Finger-pointing is seldome helpful and often merely ends up making the finger-pointer look foolish.
   
2. Don't rush to judgment before the facts can be broadly known and carefully assessed, and above all:
3. People who live in glass houses, regarding their own records (or those of their spouses), should be very wary of throwing stones?

Have a good time planning the wedding, Mrs. Bush.  I hope it goes beautifully. But maybe keep your pro-Burma "hobby" out of the official domain from here on?