How to Hit Burma Where It Hurts

Washington post
Wednesday, December 12, 2001; Page A34

Fred Hiatt writes that the United States should continue to support 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement in the Southeast Asian country of Burma [op-ed, Dec. 2]. In the future, he writes, it would be nice if the United States could tell the Burmese people, "We were with you all along."

While Mr. Hiatt is correct that U.S. policy toward Burma is and should remain strongly in support of democracy, it might be added that U.S. apparel importers and retailers continue to undermine the U.S. position by propping up the country's reviled military junta.

The Burmese junta and its cronies have keenly exploited a major loophole in U.S. policy, exporting more than $400 million worth of apparel to the United States last year alone, an astounding 800 percent increase over exports in 1994. These skyrocketing exports help keep the junta firmly entrenched in power.

More than 25 U.S. companies have pledged to avoid business with Burma, including Wal-Mart, Kenneth Cole and Jones New York. This holiday season, thoughtful consumers ought to boycott stores that still continue to sell goods from the country. As it turns out, while the U.S. government may be "with" the people of Burma, some U.S. companies are not.

JEREMY WOODRUM
Washington Director
Free Burma Coalition
Washington