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Betreff: FW: Letter to the Editor
An:
Datum: Donnerstag, 22. Mai 2008, 6:31
This is a letter I sent to the Bangkok Post and the Nation a few days ago. So far it has not been published. Stepped on too many toes I presume. Dave
Subject: Letter to the Editor
Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 06:32:59 +0000
I would like to add my voice to the chorus expressing their praise and admiration for the speedy and heroic reaction of the Chinese leadership, army and general public to the calamitous effects of the recent massive earthquake in China. This stands in stark contrast to the stunning indifference of the Burmese junta, who in their paranoia and maniacal obsession with retaining power and wealth, have let their own people suffer and die in great numbers. In my eyes there is an added irony in this juxtaposition, that is, that the professed irreligious regime in China has been overwhelmingly more compassionate towards its citizens than the nominally Buddhist regime in Burma, thereby demonstrating that to profess belief in a religion and yet not actually to practice the compassion so emphasized by its founder is the height of hypocrisy.
The fact that ASEAN took 17 days to hold a conference on relief measures for the suffering people of the Irrawaddy delta demonstrates just how feckless and meaningless it is as an organization. Furthermore, I can not for a moment understand how the UN, and its larger member states such as the US and France, which have ships carrying badly needed supplies nearby, have not unilaterally airdropped supplies to dying people. To hide behind the charade of diplomatic protocol belies these countries' willingness to launch airstrikes in other countries when they so choose. That the suffering people of Burma have been terribly ill-served by their own leadership sadly does not surprise me, given the history of this sick regime. That they have been equally ill-served by much of the international community is a travesty.
David Spillane
Chiang Mai
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