Threats and Sanctions

A letter to the editor in the Bangkok Post yesterday raised some interesting points about the US and its often misguided attempts at foreign policy. Here's what a guy named William had to say about the US and its sanctions on Myanmar (Burma):

"So the United States of America, the lone remaining "superpower" and indisputably the most powerful nation in the history of the world, has renewed economic sanctions on Burma, including a total ban on exports from that small, impoverished, undeveloped, backward country with its many militant and divisive ethnic groups, because, (are you ready for this?) "it poses a threat to US national security and foreign policy".

Good grief. Soon they will be telling us that they (Burma) have WMDs hidden away in the jungle. It's about time that America carried out a thorough review of its foreign policies and concentrated more on helping the less fortunate in the world, instead of orientating their primary policies towards regime change every time they encounter a government not to their liking. Surely, making some effort to improve the lot of the common people before endeavouring to get rid of their government makes more sense, and in the end would be more effective than these sanctions, which primarily impact the already impoverished. "

And another thing. The US should get on board with the rest of the world (including the United Nations) and call the country by its proper name, the one it has used for the past two decades: Myanmar.