THE BURMESE AREN'T SCOTS-IRISH...:

Webb's Trip To Burma May Be Litmus Test: U.S. Weighs Reengagement As Senator Talks With Junta (Colum Lynch, 8/15/09, Washington Post)

The trip by the Virginia Democrat, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit to Burma in a decade, comes just days after a government-run court sentenced the main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to an additional 18 months under house arrest. But it also comes as the Obama administration calibrates its policy toward the military junta that rules the country, which came under tough economic sanctions during the Bush administration.

The Obama administration has shown a willingness to engage with Burma and other adversaries. Webb's trip could highlight the benefits of such engagement, at least in Burma, U.S. officials said.

...so Senator Webb doesn't care if they're free, but the President ought to recognize by now that his policy of appeasing dictators isn't getting him anything.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2009 6:36 AM