Antonio Graceffo¹ is a wanted man. His crime? Supporting the Shan people in their rebellion against the ruling military junta in Burma, known euphemistically as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

A former successful Wall Street investment banker from Brooklyn turned travel and adventure writer, Antonio has authored numerous books, including about his adventures bicycling around Taiwan, bicycling across the Taklamakan Desert in China, and his time studying with the monks at the famous Shaolin Temple. More recently, he has been involved trying to bring the world’s attention to the plight of the Burmese people suffering under the brutal reign of the SPDC.

Since outside journalists are banned from entering the country, Antonio crossed the border under the protection of the Shan State Army (SSA) and began reporting on conditions in the country, interviewing victims of the SPDC’s war against the people, writing about what he learned, and producing a series of videos featured on YouTube to bring awareness about the plight of the Shan.

Perhaps more well known than the SSA are another resistance group known as the Karen National Union (KNU), and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), who were featured in the 2008 movie Rambo, starring Sylvester Stallone in the fourth installment in the film series.

But while Stallone played a fictional character, Antonio Graceffo, one could fairly say, is the real Rambo. An experienced martial artist featured on the Discovery Channel and in a number of martial arts films, Antonio was embedded with the Shan State Army and helped train Shan soldiers in the art of close-contact self-defense. Among Antonio’s videos on YouTube are several featuring him demonstrating martial arts techniques and sparring with SSA soldiers.

It is on a purported KNU website that an image of Antonio appears under a heading reading “wanted”, reminiscent of an old Western poster — except, of course, that Antonio is wearing the cap and uniform of the Shan State Army instead of a cowboy hat and leather vest, and holding a Kalashnikov rifle instead of a Winchester.

The website, MyanmarNargis.org, has a few telltale signs of being a false front operation–what is euphemistically known in the field as “counterintelligence”– headed up in fact by the SPDC. Perhaps not least among these signs is the name, “Myanmar”, which is the ruling regime’s name-change for the country that is otherwise known — particularly among opposition groups who do not recognize the regime — as Burma.

And the fact that a “wanted” poster for a man who has helped the rebels on a website of a rebel organization is also more than slightly counter-intuitive. Anti-junta groups Antonio remains in contact with confirmed to him that it is a disinformation site designed by the SPDC to create disunity and infighting among and within opposition groups.

“Fortunately,” says Antonio, “most people working on the Burma issue don’t trust anything written in Burmese. Each of the tribes has its own language and alphabet. Most of them are smart enough to use English on their websites to garner international support. The junta, it appears, is not that smart. But, since General Ne Win forcibly closed all of Burma’s universities, to prevent smart people from meeting and exchanging political ideas, it is no wonder that they are slipping intellectually.”

The text of the website page featuring the “wanted” poster, which requires the proper character encoding to be installed on one’s computer in order to read it, was translated for Antonio by a person he described as “an exiled Burmese intellectual, who had to flee Burma and seek asylum in another country. He hates the junta with a passion and supports the resistance groups.”

The exile noted along with his translation to Antonio, “the KNU has cleared your name and so we cannot sell you by the kilo to them.” (How very disappointing for those of us who know his whereabouts).

The page heading, under the “wanted” poster, reads “The Former Marine Who Would Combine Military Forces with Terrorists.” It describes the KNU, SSA and other resistance groups, as “armed terrorists” (perhaps–just maybe–another sign that the website is a counterintelligence front of the SPDC). It describes Antonio as “a former US Marine Italian race, American citizen”, and as being the head of a small group travelling within the country. It says Antonio’s group “is surely going to have to run and escape for their lives as they go through the Armed Forces’ Offensives” but that “it is more certain they will die violent deaths.”

Not very polite. Fortunately, Antonio is not actually in Burma currently — nor was he during the period of time last month the website alleges he was moving through the country with his “group” — a merry band, no doubt.

As much as the page seems designed to put people on the lookout for Antonio, it also seems intended to sow resentment among opposition leaders. Take, for instance, the insertion of this tidbit: “5th Brigade Commander Baw Kyaw Hair, on his part, was dissatisfied with how the present congress has appointed a central group in which General Tamlabaw’s sons and daughters have important posts in the KNU.”

Baw Kyaw Hair’s group “favors having a ceasefire with the present military government and exchange arms for peace”, the website says. (The exiled translator noted to Antonio that “this is an SPDC phrase for complete surrendering of one’s forces and one’s weapons to SPDC — very indicative of an SPDC author”.)

That author adds, “It is heard that 6th Brigade Commander Hsarmi is [also] dissatisfied with Tamlabaw’s circle of family and friends.”

The intent thus seems to try to poison relations among rebel groups as much as to threaten Mr. Graceffo — not that such a warning from the violent SPDC should be taken lightly.

While Antonio always manages to keep his sense of humor, despite the danger and despite the ugliness he has witnessed firsthand, the oppression in Burma under the military junta of the SPDC is no laughing matter. It’s high time the world took notice and took action. Antonio’s courageous work in defiance of the ruling regime has been intended to further that goal.

To close, in the words of Antonio, “please say a prayer for the people of Shan State.”

1. Adventure and martial arts author, Antonio Graceffo has lived in Asia for many years, publishing four books and several hundred articles in magazines and websites around the world. He has worked as a consultant and writer for shows on the History and Discovery channels and appears on camera in “Digging for the Truth” and “Human Weapon”. Antonio is host of the web TV show, “Martial Arts Odyssey.” Antonio was embedded with the Shan State rebel army in Burma, documenting human rights abuses, and doing a film and print project to raise awareness of the Shan people. See all of his videos about martial arts, Burma and other countries. Check out his books. Check out his website, Speaking Adventure. To send him an email, click here.

With more than 20,000 dead, possibly 40,000 missing, and close to one million homeless, the junta made it clear that it, not the international community, would provide whatever humanitarian aid was necessary.

A week before the cyclone hit, President Bush extended sanctions against Myanmar by another year because of what he called that junta’s “large-scale repression of the democratic opposition.” Paranoid about anything that could threaten its power, the junta was frightened that the United States would use the cyclone as a reason to invade the country.

The junta’s response the first week of May was little different than the international concern almost three years earlier. It wasn’t the destruction of villages and the rice farming industry, but the destruction of cities and the shrimp industry. It wasn’t a cyclone named Nargis, but a hurricane named Katrina.

It’s been well documented that the Bush-Cheney Administration, with its head in Iraq, wasn’t prepared for a natural disaster. Like the leaders in Myanmar, the Bush-Cheney Administration was slow to inform the people, and slow to act during the crisis. Less known is that President Bush refused innumerable offers of assistance to the people of the Gulf Coast.

More than 20 countries — including Israel, Mexico, China, England, and the Dominican Republic — quickly offered humanitarian and financial assistance. President Bush’s first response was to tell the audience of ABC-TV’s Good Morning, America:

“I’m not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn’t asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country’s going to rise up and take care of it. . . . You know, we would love help, but we’re going to take care of our own business as well, and there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll succeed.”

Cuba, which has one of the best health care and disaster response systems in the world, offered substantial medical supplies and 1,600 physicians, most of them specialists. Rejected.

Venezuela offered $1 million, in addition to oil and humanitarian supplies. Rejected.

Russia offered medical supplies, evacuation equipment, a water cleansing system, a rescue helicopter, and 60 persons specially trained in search and rescue operations. Rejected.

Germany sent a military plane carrying 15 tons of emergency provisions. The United States denied it landing rights.

Not only did the federal government reject humanitarian offers from other countries, it either rejected or ignored offers by the American people and its own governmental agencies.

Before the storm hit, Amtrak offered trains to evacuate New Orleans. Ignored.

The Forest Service, shortly after Katrina came ashore, offered water-tanker aircraft to fight the fires. Ignored.

The Coast Guard, which would fly more than 20,000 rescue operations, offered 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel to Jefferson Parrish. The federal government refused to allow delivery.

The captain of an amphibious assault ship off the Gulf Coast offered to send her sailors onto land to help the people, have her helicopters assist in rescue operations, provide as much as 100,000 gallons of drinkable water a day, and open her ship’s operating rooms to provide medical assistance and 600 beds for the relief effort. The federal government ignored and then delayed her offer.

During the first week of the disaster, the federal government had ordered the Red Cross and Salvation Army not to go into the New Orleans disaster zone, falsely citing a lack of adequate security. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico offered 400 National Guard soldiers the day the hurricane hit; however, they weren’t sent for four more days because of what Richardson called “federal paperwork” that the Pentagon insisted had to first be completed.

Chicago offered firefighters, police, health workers, sanitation workers, a mobile health clinic, trucks, boats, and cars. Rejected.

The Florida Airboat Association offered to send in 300 fully equipped boats with trained pilots. Rejected.

About 75 companies volunteered to use their own corporate aircraft to ferry supplies into smaller local and regional airports. When the federal government ignored the offer, the companies flew in more than 130,000 pounds of food and critical supplies, making determinations without federal assistance or appreciation of where the needs were the greatest.

Hundreds of companies tried to provide several million gallons of drinking water and ice for the evacuees. The federal government either blocked their delivery or routed them on a circuitous path throughout the South, and never allowed them to unload their cargoes. Members of the International Bottled Water Association did provide 10 million bottles of fresh water for evacuees, but received no assistance from the federal government, which refused to return several phone calls.

A national corporation offered free telecommunications equipment but the federal government rejected it, according to Ern Blackwelder of the Business Executives for National Security. Blackwelder told the Atlanta Journal–Constitution that the government later contracted with the same company and paid for equipment that had previously been offered at no charge.

About a week after Katrina hit, the U.S. began accepting humanitarian aid, but only from countries it determined were its allies.

Make no mistake about it, the leaders of Myanmar are dictators who trample human rights, have led their nation into an extended economic crisis, and are interested only in keeping their own power. Almost a month after Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta, the junta is now finally allowing foreign aid, but not from the United States.

But also make no mistake about this. The United States under its current administration will continue to refuse humanitarian aid and personnel from Cuba, Venezuela, and any other country that doesn’t agree with the Bush-Cheney politics.

The Myanmar regime is not a regime that I will defend. It is a militaristic clique that has seized power and rules by force. Nevertheless, much the same can be said about the US regime. Unlike the US regime, however, the Myanmar regime, basically, confines its perfidy to within its own borders.

Of course, whenever humans are in trouble, a responsible government will see to it that those humans are attended to, fed, and cared for.

The Myanmar government is accused by western governments and western media of negligence and worse towards its own citizens.

UK prime minister Gordon Brown declared: “It is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do.”

“Man-made catastrophe.” Isn’t that what the UK engineered in Iraq as junior partner (poodle) to the US? Over a million excess Iraqi civilian mortalities estimated since March 2003 (and there is no reason to ignore the US-UK supported UN sanctions that killed another million or so Iraqi civilians after 1991).² That is genocide, and genocides are always man-made.

Brown added, “The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime and they must be held accountable.”

Fine, and to be fair and honest, at the same time, Brown and erstwhile prime minister Tony Blair must be held accountable for their role in the murderous carnage in Iraq.

If being accountable is to have any meaning, then Britain must, at long last, also be judged and do penance for its crimes, among others, in the Chagos archipelago, on the Indian subcontinent, against the Indigenous peoples in the western hemisphere and Oceania, throughout the Middle East, particularly its complicity in wiping of Palestine off the map.

The Plank Stuck in the Western Eye

The Europeans are calling for a forced intervention, and some US members of the House of Representatives are imploring president George Bush to intervene in Myanmar.

The Europeans, US, and Canada are complicit with Zionists in the starvation of Palestinians. This is in addition to demolishing homes, carrying out assassinations, withholding money transfers, destroying vital utilities, etc. in Gaza,³ and yet they are calling for an intervention elsewhere.

French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert called for immediate action in Myanmar: “We are shifting from a situation of non-assistance to people in need to a situation that could lead to a true crime against humanity if we go on like that.”

One might wonder why the British and French “leaders” wail and moan about disaster-stricken Myanmar but are silent about disaster-stricken New Orleans. Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina struck the coast of Louisiana, people in New Orleans are waiting on assistance.⁴

The 43 US representatives calling for intervention in Myanmar are apparently unaware of the tardy US response to the victims of Katrina⁵ or that the US regime rejected aid from certain countries, such as Cuba. ⁶

Venezuela, which contributed generously to the victims of Katrina, was reportedly rebuffed initially by the Bush administration.⁷ An excuse proffered by a senior State Department official, according to the Washington Post, was that “unsolicited offers can be ‘counterproductive.’”⁸

And, where are the voices of British and French government figures about the genocide Israel perpetrates against Palestinians? Obviously, these western government figures are selectively speaking out on man-made catstrophes and crimes against humanity.

Corporate Media Deluge on Myanmar vs. Silence on Palestine

A sampling of corporate media headlines reveals an animus toward the Myanmar government:

“Aid stymied off Myanmar shores and borders,” International Herald Tribune
“Myanmar Neighbors Seek Ways To Press Country on Cyclone Aid,” Wall Street Journal
“International Pressure on Myanmar Junta Is Building,” New York Times
“Diplomats tour cyclone zone, but Myanmar still refuses aid,” Euronews.net

That the corporate media would go into a frenzy over Myanmar while ignoring the man-made catastrophes in Palestine and in Iraq is telling.

In the case of Myanmar, the western corporate media is behaving as it should: criticizing a non-democratic regime and, supposedly, putting the interests of the Myanmarese people front and center.

But one must ask: why is this same media falling over itself to celebrate 60 years in power by Jewish segregationists who contrived and meted out a catastrophe (al-Nakba) to the Palestinians? Why has this same media remained so quiescent over the travails that still bedevil the citizenry of New Orleans? Why does the same media collaborate in the ultimate international crime of aggression-occupation against Iraq?

The contrasting response to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar with other contemporary disasters — whether man-made or acts of nature — scathingly exposes the nasty double standards of western governments and their corporate media.

1. In this fluid situation, there are reports of 78,000 dead, 56,000 missing, and an estimated 2.5 million survivors. The Red Cross reported that the total cyclone death toll may be as high as 127,990, and that up to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter.AP, “Red Cross: Myanmar death toll as high as 128,000,” newsday.com, 15 May 2008.
2. Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy, and Les Roberts, “Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey,” Lancet, 368: 21 October 2006: 1421-1428. Gideon Polya, “Two Million Iraq Deaths, Eight Million Bush Asian Holocaust Deaths And Media Holocaust Denial,” Countercurrents.org, 7 October, 2007.
3. Saleh Al-Naami, “Darkness, starvation and imminent death,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January 2008.
4. Bill Quigley, “Half New Orleans Poor Permanently Displaced: Failure or Success?” Dissident Voice, 4 March 2008.
5. Julian Borger and Duncan Campbell, “Why did help take so long to arrive?” Guardian, 3 September 2005.
6. Hector Carreon, “Bush accepts aid from Mexico, silent on Venezuela but rejects help from Cuba,” La Voz de Aztlan, 8 September 2005.
7. Duncan Campbell, “Bush rejects Chávez aid,” Guardian, 7 September 2005.
8. Cited in Cleto Sojo, “Venezuela Offers $1M, Oil, Food and Equipment for U.S. Victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Venezuelanalysis.com, 1 September 2005.