Credit: Alex Wagner, Politics Daily, Feb 13, 2010.Presumably, "you" meant the international community, and specifically the U.S. government, which is working on targeted sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in an effort to put the stops on the country's nuclear ambitions. On Thursday, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, there were widespread reports of harsh police crackdowns on "anti-government" forces, including the use of tear gas and pepper spray, and attacks on a senior opposition leader. With an eye toward last year's opposition campaigns run largely through e-mail and social networks, Internet service was significantly slowed and sites like Gmail were inaccessible inside the country.
Perhaps even more disturbing, in the weeks preceding Thursday's anniversary, Iran's government made an extraordinary number of arrests targeting hundreds of opposition voices. The definition of what constitutes an "opposition voice," not surprisingly, has grown disconcertingly broad: The New York Times reported that "the ranks of those imprisoned now include artists, photographers, children's rights advocates, women's rights activists, students and scores of journalists." Iran now has more reporters in prison than any other country in the world.
Across the globe, the equally iron-fisted Burmese military regime made a mockery of justice. On Wednesday, a judge in Rangoon announced the verdict in the hugely underreported (and widely acknowledged sham) trial of Burmese-born American citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin aka Nyi Nyi Aung. A prominent human rights activist, Aung was arrested in September 2009 upon arrival at the Rangoon airport on trumped-up charges of forgery, possession of undeclared foreign currency, and failure to renounce his Burmese citizenship when he became an American citizen. He is serving three years in prison and hard labor. Despite reports that Aung was tortured while in detention -- as well as the broadly held view that he is innocent -- there has been remarkably little outcry or diplomatic maneuvering on the part of the U.S. government, which is currently pursuing a new policy of engagement with the Burmese regime, after nearly 20 years of stalemate.
In the meantime, Reuters reported on Thursday that economic instability in Burma has reached such epic levels that citizens have begun bartering for goods. A combination of rampant inflation and the regime's questionable monetary policies has forced residents to exchange goods, including cigarettes, candy and shampoo, in lieu of currency. This bears a gloomy resemblance to the financial crisis in Zimbabwe, circa 2008, when inflation reached a mind-blowing 231 million percent.
And while things in Harare have stabilized since Zimbabwe's meltdown last year, actual progress has been elusive. Though there have been marginal signs of economic recovery, this week Zimbabwe's civil servants went on strike in protest over government salaries that pay them a paltry $170 per month. And, continuing with his disastrous agricultural policies of the last decade, President Mugabe on Tuesday announced that all businesses making more than $500,000 a year in profits must hand over ownership to black partners in the next five years or face jail time.
This week also marked the one year anniversary of the awkward "coalition government" featuring arch enemies Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now installed as Prime Minister. One year later, a mere 12 percent of the stipulations in the agreement that established the coalition government have been put into effect, and one of Tsvangirai's top ministers, Roy Bennett, remains on trial for trumped-up charges of terrorism. Putting it bluntly, a senior member of Tsvangirai's party said on Friday that the coalition government is "becoming a joke."
There is, of course, no emergency management program we might call on to resolve these hugely messy problems, and I don't think they build snowplows big enough to clear entire government offices. The best hope for these troubled spots may rest with coordinated international efforts, including global sanctions on Iran, and working with regional players, including the Association of South East Asian Nations and the African Union on Burma and Zimbabwe, respectively. But those actions alone likely won't rescue the people of Iran, Burma and Zimbabwe. Like a ferocious winter blizzard, disastrous situations require victims to endure and press forward with the long, hard slog of tackling a mess that, sadly, isn't even one of their own making. Whether they can dig themselves out is ultimately a question only they can answer.
Presumably, "you" meant the international community, and specifically the U.S. government, which is working on targeted sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in an effort to put the stops on the country's nuclear ambitions. On Thursday, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, there were widespread reports of harsh police crackdowns on "anti-government" forces, including the use of tear gas and pepper spray, and attacks on a senior opposition leader. With an eye toward last year's opposition campaigns run largely through e-mail and social networks, Internet service was significantly slowed and sites like Gmail were inaccessible inside the country.
Perhaps even more disturbing, in the weeks preceding Thursday's anniversary, Iran's government made an extraordinary number of arrests targeting hundreds of opposition voices. The definition of what constitutes an "opposition voice," not surprisingly, has grown disconcertingly broad: The New York Times reported that "the ranks of those imprisoned now include artists, photographers, children's rights advocates, women's rights activists, students and scores of journalists." Iran now has more reporters in prison than any other country in the world.
Across the globe, the equally iron-fisted Burmese military regime made a mockery of justice. On Wednesday, a judge in Rangoon announced the verdict in the hugely underreported (and widely acknowledged sham) trial of Burmese-born American citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin aka Nyi Nyi Aung. A prominent human rights activist, Aung was arrested in September 2009 upon arrival at the Rangoon airport on trumped-up charges of forgery, possession of undeclared foreign currency, and failure to renounce his Burmese citizenship when he became an American citizen. He is serving three years in prison and hard labor. Despite reports that Aung was tortured while in detention -- as well as the broadly held view that he is innocent -- there has been remarkably little outcry or diplomatic maneuvering on the part of the U.S. government, which is currently pursuing a new policy of engagement with the Burmese regime, after nearly 20 years of stalemate.
In the meantime, Reuters reported on Thursday that economic instability in Burma has reached such epic levels that citizens have begun bartering for goods. A combination of rampant inflation and the regime's questionable monetary policies has forced residents to exchange goods, including cigarettes, candy and shampoo, in lieu of currency. This bears a gloomy resemblance to the financial crisis in Zimbabwe, circa 2008, when inflation reached a mind-blowing 231 million percent.
And while things in Harare have stabilized since Zimbabwe's meltdown last year, actual progress has been elusive. Though there have been marginal signs of economic recovery, this week Zimbabwe's civil servants went on strike in protest over government salaries that pay them a paltry $170 per month. And, continuing with his disastrous agricultural policies of the last decade, President Mugabe on Tuesday announced that all businesses making more than $500,000 a year in profits must hand over ownership to black partners in the next five years or face jail time.
This week also marked the one year anniversary of the awkward "coalition government" featuring arch enemies Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now installed as Prime Minister. One year later, a mere 12 percent of the stipulations in the agreement that established the coalition government have been put into effect, and one of Tsvangirai's top ministers, Roy Bennett, remains on trial for trumped-up charges of terrorism. Putting it bluntly, a senior member of Tsvangirai's party said on Friday that the coalition government is "becoming a joke."
There is, of course, no emergency management program we might call on to resolve these hugely messy problems, and I don't think they build snowplows big enough to clear entire government offices. The best hope for these troubled spots may rest with coordinated international efforts, including global sanctions on Iran, and working with regional players, including the Association of South East Asian Nations and the African Union on Burma and Zimbabwe, respectively. But those actions alone likely won't rescue the people of Iran, Burma and Zimbabwe. Like a ferocious winter blizzard, disastrous situations require victims to endure and press forward with the long, hard slog of tackling a mess that, sadly, isn't even one of their own making. Whether they can dig themselves out is ultimately a question only they can answer.
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