17th April 2003
At the door of the hospital stood a man in a theatre gown with a Kalashnikov Rifle in his hands. He was a surgeon, we were told, trying to protect what equipment remained in the hospital. Looters had taken most of it, plus the small stock of medicine that was, we were told, in that Baghdad Hospital. Later in the evening on another news programme I saw a different man in theatre garb doing the guarding. On questioning by the television reporter, the man said he was a television salesman who had come to give his friend, the surgeon, a hand so that some medical work could go on.
People in Europe are seeing such pictures daily on television but not so in the United States. Friends who have been there recently told me that Fox News, the most watched channel about the war, shows mainly success stories of the troops, such as the return to the Unites States of the injured Private Jessica Lynch and little about limbless Iraqi children or devastated hospitals, museums and libraries. No wonder, when I asked a colleague in North Carolina what she thought about the war, she said "oh, it is not affecting us here at all". If one has little information one will be little affected. Saddam was a brutal dictator but "liberating" Iraqi people from him has been a grim experience for them, and 97% of them voted for him in a recent one-horse presidential race.
Another brutal regime is in place in Burma and in 1990 over 80% of the people there voted against it. Burma, a collection of independent kingdoms united in the 19th Century under British imperial rule, achieved independence in 1947. General Aung San was the leader of the independence movement and even though he and six members of his cabinet were assassinated soon after liberation the country was a functioning democracy until 1962. At that time a military coup took place, leading to repression and a reign of terror there from then to this day. Elections were held in 1990 when the National League for Democracy lead by Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the assassinated General Aung San, won over 80% of the votes. She was never allowed take power and was put under house arrest from then until 2002. Now she is allowed travel a short distance from her home. When her husband was dying of cancer in England he was not allowed into Burma to be with her and she could not go to him because she knew she would be refused re-entry into Burma.
Burma is about the same size as Texas and I do wish that if President George W. Bush had wanted somewhere to invade he had gone there, after all, it is clear to all of us that these people wanted regime change. Recently, with Deputy Liz McManus and Deputy Olivia Mitchell, I met two courageous ethnic Burmese women from the Shan State who had been brought to Dublin by Burma Action Ireland to tell people here about the Burmese military regime’s use of sexual violence in the on-going war in Shan state, which is on the Thai border with Burma.
I won’t name the two women because they have compiled a report on the outrageous activities of the military in that area which has lead to them having to leave Burma and live in Thailand. But they do have relatives in Burma and, who knows, there may be readers of the Irish Medical News amongst the military in Burma and I would not like to put any of their relatives at risk. Several times the women said how dangerous it is for people to give evidence against the military. They said doctors who had given evidence to international investigations regarding injuries to patients inflicted by the military which they had treated were very much at risk, too.
The report "Licence to Rape" makes horrific reading, with the death of the woman and any male relative who tried to stop the assault being frequently reported. These attacks appear to be part of the policy of the military to terrify the Shan people. This part of Burma is very rich in forests, particularly teak, much sought after in western countries. Most of the teak in Thailand has now been cut down and the military are keen to move the Shan people and sell their timber. As well, a large river flows through the area and if this was dammed and the area flooded, hydro-electricity could be produced and sold to Thailand.
Until recently I knew little about Burma and must congratulate those who started Burma Action Ireland on bringing the plight of the people there to the attention of people here - let me confess an interest, one of my sons was a founder member. John Boorman, the film director, is the President of the group and he made the splendid film "Beyond Rangoon" which gave some graphic information on the repression in Burma.
The women said they were very pleased that Ireland traded so little with Burma because all trade supports the military. Our clothes retailers are apparently very careful to avoid buying from Burmese factories where the clothes are made by slave labour. They also asked that Irish people should not go as tourists to Burma because this again gives the regime funds.
Isn’t it a great pity George W. did not go there? The Burmese have voted for regime change so invasion would have been far more legitimate. Was he influenced by the fact that they have less oil than Iraq and it is not very accessible?
Senator Mary Henry, MD
