"...Hadley told the media: "He (President Bush) is going to announce that
there will be additional sanctions directed at key members of the regime,
and those that provide financial support to them." But Hadley, however,
acted coy about further details, pleading that he needed to preserve "a
little element of surprise" so that those targeted "don't, quite frankly,
hide their assets before the sanctions come into force.... So we're going
to be a little bit - intentionally a little vague on what is intended, so
that they will have their intended effect." The statements of Bush and
his administration on the subject are even more intentionally vague about
the most important source of the ill-gotten wealth of the members of the
junta. The pro-democracy movement in Burma has repeatedly pointed out
that the military rulers have allowed ruthless exploitation of the
country's coveted oil and gas resources by multinational corporations
and, in the process, enriched themselves.
The offshore activities of these corporations have made no difference
to the grinding poverty of the people. Ironically, in fact, they have led
to a situation where the junta ordered a 500 percent hike in fuel prices,
triggering a revolt in August 2007.
The contribution of a giant US corporation to the situation has been
conspicuous, according to the anti-junta camp. Prominent among the
multinationals included in a "Dirty List" of such companies, brought out
by the camp in December 2005, was Chevron, formally Unocal. Authors of
the list noted that Chevron was one of the joint venture partners
developing the Yadana offshore gas field in Burma, which earns the
military regime millions of dollars. (Chevron also owns Texaco.)
The Unocal Corporation figured earlier in internationally backed
Burmese campaigns against forced labor, land appropriation and similar
other gross human-rights violations in the gas and oil projects initiated
by the junta behind the people's backs. The affected villagers came
together in 1996 and sued Unocal and France's Total for complicity in the
abuses. The villagers charged that the companies knew about and benefited
from the Burmese army's use of torture, rape and unlawful land seizures
to uproot people from areas slated for "development." The lawsuits were
settled after the companies agreed to make due compensation only eight
years later, in 2004.
The Bush regime has not cared all these years to persuade either its
old or newfound allies to discipline their own corporate giants in the
cause of Burmese democracy.
Appearances, of course, were kept up. In December 2005, Britain's
former prime minister and fervent Bush backer Tony Blair called on
companies not to trade with Burma. A survey released then, however,
showed that, since Labor came to power, imports from Burma had
quadrupled, rising from 17.3 million pounds in 1998 to 74 million pounds
in 2004..."
there will be additional sanctions directed at key members of the regime,
and those that provide financial support to them." But Hadley, however,
acted coy about further details, pleading that he needed to preserve "a
little element of surprise" so that those targeted "don't, quite frankly,
hide their assets before the sanctions come into force.... So we're going
to be a little bit - intentionally a little vague on what is intended, so
that they will have their intended effect." The statements of Bush and
his administration on the subject are even more intentionally vague about
the most important source of the ill-gotten wealth of the members of the
junta. The pro-democracy movement in Burma has repeatedly pointed out
that the military rulers have allowed ruthless exploitation of the
country's coveted oil and gas resources by multinational corporations
and, in the process, enriched themselves.
The offshore activities of these corporations have made no difference
to the grinding poverty of the people. Ironically, in fact, they have led
to a situation where the junta ordered a 500 percent hike in fuel prices,
triggering a revolt in August 2007.
The contribution of a giant US corporation to the situation has been
conspicuous, according to the anti-junta camp. Prominent among the
multinationals included in a "Dirty List" of such companies, brought out
by the camp in December 2005, was Chevron, formally Unocal. Authors of
the list noted that Chevron was one of the joint venture partners
developing the Yadana offshore gas field in Burma, which earns the
military regime millions of dollars. (Chevron also owns Texaco.)
The Unocal Corporation figured earlier in internationally backed
Burmese campaigns against forced labor, land appropriation and similar
other gross human-rights violations in the gas and oil projects initiated
by the junta behind the people's backs. The affected villagers came
together in 1996 and sued Unocal and France's Total for complicity in the
abuses. The villagers charged that the companies knew about and benefited
from the Burmese army's use of torture, rape and unlawful land seizures
to uproot people from areas slated for "development." The lawsuits were
settled after the companies agreed to make due compensation only eight
years later, in 2004.
The Bush regime has not cared all these years to persuade either its
old or newfound allies to discipline their own corporate giants in the
cause of Burmese democracy.
Appearances, of course, were kept up. In December 2005, Britain's
former prime minister and fervent Bush backer Tony Blair called on
companies not to trade with Burma. A survey released then, however,
showed that, since Labor came to power, imports from Burma had
quadrupled, rising from 17.3 million pounds in 1998 to 74 million pounds
in 2004..."
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