Ran-goons: why isn't Burma on Bush's "Axis of Evil" list?

• Author: Kurlantzick, Joshua

BURMA MIGHT NOT TRIUMPH IN AN audition for the Axis of Evil, but it could at least serve as an understudy. The fractious and desperately poor Southeast Asian country is run by a militarist government every bit as tyrannical and insane as the regimes that rule Iraq and North Korea. Throughout the tropical nation, world-class drug lords operate a wink's length from the regime and heavily-armed ethnic militias roam wild, spreading narcotics, arms, and instability to neighboring countries, including important U.S. allies like Thailand and India. The World Health Organization contends Burma, which now calls itself Myanmar, has the second-worst health system in the world, which is saying a lot, given the fine quality of medical care in Sierra Leone and Liberia. What's more, while many Burmese starve, the junta builds massive Buddhism-inspired monuments and golf courses.

Most frightening, Burma's ruling generals have decided to build a nuclear reactor. What for? "Medical purposes," says Burma's foreign minister, yet the country doesn't have the technology to make radioactive isotopes used in medicine. It does, however, have a shady history regarding weapons of mass destruction. In the mid-1990s, the respected arms control group International Peace Research Institute, as well as American intelligence, accused Burma of possessing a chemical-weapons program. Burma's neighbors--and the U.S.--certainly can't be reassured by the fact that two Pakistani nuclear scientists whom the CIA reportedly wanted to question about potential ties to Al Qaeda were sent to Burma shortly after Sept. 11 on an unknown research project, and allegedly haven't returned.

So, why, in the wake of Sept. 11, has the Bush administration been largely silent about Burma, even as it beats the drums for regime change elsewhere? One reason is energy. Burma is awash in natural gas reserves, and foreign oil Companies, which have extensive investments in the country, are not eager to see the status quo disrupted. Also, intelligence reports have yet to show that the nuclear facility will be used to make fissile material. In any event, Burma lacks the missile capability that could theoretically allow it to deliver weapons of mass destruction. In short, Burma is a threat to our allies in the region, but not to us. In this way, Burma illustrates the weakest link in the emerging Bush doctrine. We demand that our allies support our actions against terrorists and regimes that threaten U.S. security. But if our allies need help countering threats that only endanger their security, we turn a blind eye.

This is not a sustainable policy. If America hopes to maintain leadership of international security affairs without provoking more of an anti-U.S. backlash around the world, Washington must utilize its diplomatic, economic, and even military tools against slightly-less-evil states that threaten our close friends. We want our friends to pick up the peacekeeping ball after our military punts it? We want our buddies to use their top intelligence officers to find terrorists, when they have many other problems to deal with? Then we have to offer allies carrots, which include more forcefully taking on the conflicts and rogue states they care about.

What Sarong

I spent some time last year in Rangoon, the Burmese capital, and came away convinced that the...