DICTATOR WATCH
(www.dictatorwatch.org)Contact: Roland Watson, roland@dictatorwatch.org
RUSSIAN SUPPORT FOR BURMA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, #2
August 7, 2008Please forward.We have receivedadditional intelligencethat both confirms and expands our last report, about how Russiais guiding the SPDC’s nuclear development and more generally its military modernization. Thisintelligence is from new sources.In May 2001, at the National Defence College (Rangoon), SPDC Science and Technology Minister UThaung said that Burma would make an effort to possess nuclear weapons by 2020. Once achieved, thiswould make the regime the strongest military power in Southeast Asia; the country would be transformedinto the “Fourth Burman Empire”; and, it would be able to threaten Thailand militarily.This statement reveals the SPDC to be a grave threat to international security and peace. The regime'sannouncement that its new 10 MW reactor is intended for peaceful research purposes is a lie.Our report further describes the respective roles of China, India, Japan, North Korea and Iran in assistingthe SPDC to develop a nuclear capability. It also lists recent purchases of major weapons systems.George Bush is now touring East Asia. The threat posed by the SPDC, and its relations with other countriesin the region, should be at the top of his agenda. This is the true responsibility of a United States President,to help lead the world in addressing its most serious problems, not to participate in an entertainmentspectacle and through this to legitimize its totalitarian host.We would also like to comment on the upcoming visit to Burma by United Nations Special EnvoyGambari, and the new Burma law passed by the United States, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE(Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008. For the first, Gambari should not visit Burma, not now or ever. He was only invited – during the period the Olympics will be held – to deter popular protests. Bysending Gambari at this juncture, the United Nations Secretariat, meaning Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,is signaling that he fully supports the SPDC and that he is the enemy of the people of Burma. Werecommend that Burmese people everywhere protest Gambari’s visit, and also, in accordance with the newcampaign of the National Council of the Union of Burma, that the SPDC be expelled from the U.N.General Assembly.For the new U.S. law, we welcome the breadth of its coverage, particularly its amendments to the BurmeseFreedom and Democracy Act of 2003. The appointing, in Section 7, of a Special Envoy and PolicyCoordinator for Burma, who will “
promote a comprehensive international effort … to restore civiliandemocratic rule
,” is a very positive step (presuming that the individual selected has more determination andcandor than the U.N. special envoys).We of course also support Section 10, the Report on Military and Intelligence Aid to Burma, which is toinclude the “
provision of weapons of mass destruction and related materials
.” We would be pleased tocontribute what we know about this subject to the report.In addition, we note the budget of $5 million for FY 2008 to assist Burma democracy activists who arededicated to nonviolent opposition. Dictator Watch has a plan to encourage large-scale surrenders from the
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