US Searching for a New Burma Policy

By LALIT K JHA

WASHINGTON –– The United States on Friday said its Burma policy is under review, partly because its earlier policy of imposing economic sanctions has failed to yield results. However, its goal remains the same––the establishment of true democracy in Burma.

There are no immediate plans to roll back the economic sanctions already in place, said a US State Department spokesperson.

"We are looking at ways in which to engage the Burmese people better. We are looking at ways in which we can try to affect the leaders in Burma," said Gordon Duguid, the US State Department acting deputy spokesperson.

"As the Secretary (of state) said, many different ways that we have tried in the past don't seem to have affected them much one way or the other, so we are looking at new ways to try and affect their behavior," Gordon said in response to a question.

He said the goal of US with regard to Burma remains the same. "That is to have a representative government that responds to the will of the people, and that will needs to be freely expressed."

However, at this point, he said there is no move to lift any of the economic sanctions that were imposed by the Bush administration on the Burmese military junta.

Asked if the policy review also includes engaging the military junta, Duguid said: "We're looking at our policy right now, having a review as we are on many other policies, and when we are through with that, we'll begin making our statements on where we're going to go from there."

Earlier, at a town hall meeting in Tokyo, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "We're looking at what steps we could take that might influence the current Burmese government, and we're also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people."

Calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Clinton asked rhetorically: "What is it we could do that might work better?"

Clinton said she has spoken with many people who are strong supporters of the Burmese people. "So we are doing that, and I hope we will be able to arrive at a policy that can be more effective," she said.