Burma's junta shows contempt

ANY HOPE that the military dictatorship in Burma might be mending its vicious ways in response to pleas from abroad was crushed this week when the regime handed out 65-year prison sentences to 14 nonviolent democracy activists, and sentences of up to 26 years for 25 others. These are some of the men and women who took part in the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. In many cases, if not most, their long terms in Burma's horrific prisons spell a death sentence.

With this display of cruelty, junta kingpin General Than Shwe showed his scorn for the world's good opinion. He was defying innumerable resolutions and statements from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and human rights organizations. They have called on him to release Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners; to engage in serious dialogue with her National League for Democracy; and to move toward reconciliation and genuine democracy.

The right response for the UN Security Council is to impose an arms embargo on the junta. This means persuading permanent council members Russia and China to stop blocking such meaningful sanctions.

But there is also something simple and straightforward that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should do, and that is to confirm President Bush's highly qualified nominee, Michael Green, to the recently created post of special representative and policy coordinator for Burma. His mission - to work for the restoration of democratic governance in Burma - is more pressing than ever.

The Senate is currently in lame-duck session, but if Green is not confirmed quickly, the long list of new appointments coming early next year could delay his confirmation indefinitely. That would be tantamount to telling the gentle idealists rotting in Burma's Insein Prison that, in America, senatorial languor trumps democratic solidarity.