Burma: “It is What It is”
[Guest post by DRJ]
Trivia from the Department of State’s Daily Press Briefing on October 9, 2009:
QUESTION: P.J., just for the record, why does the word Myanmar never cross your lips?
MR. CROWLEY: It is the policy of the United States that we refer to that country as Burma.
QUESTION: And why is that, just so I know?
MR. CROWLEY: It is what it is.
Heh. Diplomacy at its finest.
If you’re interested in the reason Mr. Crowley didn’t provide, the name change from Burma to Myanmar is not recognized by some nations (like the United States) because they do not recognize the military junta that changed it. However, the U.S. is considering a change in its policy, and perhaps that will end the State Department’s “it is what it is” Burma policy.
— DRJ
Doesn’t Senator Webb have something to say about this possible change? Seems that he was canoodling with the ruling military junta over there recently.
Dmac (5ddc52) — 10/11/2009 @ 1:35 pmI am amazed that the frigging State Department doesn’t know how to articulate the foreign policy of the United States.
Amateur Hour.
Dr. K (adb7ba) — 10/11/2009 @ 1:59 pmI think the State Department and the smartest president ever are just looking for ways to stick it in the eye of people fighting against totalitarian regimes.
Do they have a map in D.C. with the each country a different color?
Green means we can apologize for a previous wrong.
Yellow is for countries we have been mean to.
Red is for ones that George Bush didn’t like.
Blue is for ones we bow down to their leaders.
MU789 (3f9d29) — 10/11/2009 @ 2:32 pmMU789,
Your Red and Blue are identical. 😉
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 10/11/2009 @ 2:36 pmStashiu3,
There is some truth in that, Sir.
Machinist (79b3ab) — 10/11/2009 @ 2:43 pmMac!
Good to see you Sir. 🙂
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 10/11/2009 @ 2:47 pmI assume that change will include an amendment that we no longer recognize the country name of “Honduras”……
bizjetmech (022d42) — 10/11/2009 @ 3:30 pmThe Hondurans didn’t change the name of the country when they had their non-coup. Nor did they oppress, imprison, kill, torture and basically cowe their population. Otherwise the Administration would have already increased grant aid, defense co-operation and diplomatic exchanges.
davod (bce08f) — 10/11/2009 @ 9:16 pmPS: I forgot to say the Adminsitration would have also apologized for the actions of the capitalistic murdering baby killers which abounded throughout USA history until the country was cleansed by the arrival of the enlightened one.
davod (bce08f) — 10/11/2009 @ 9:19 pm