Even as we press our foreign friends to do more, however, we must not allow the inaction of other governments to become an excuse for our own inaction. As we learned in the Balkans a decade ago, promises of continuing diplomacy are sometimes not enough. The United States must also think hard about how we can use our own national power to help the Burmese people against their tyrannical rulers…. But we must do much more. To begin with, the United States must turn the full spectrum of its intelligence-gathering capabilities on Burma to monitor, document and publicize what is happening on the ground. The soldiers who are being ordered to carry out and enforce this bloody crackdown must know that they are being watched and listened to, and their names are being recorded. The men who wear the uniform of this regime must be made to understand that the day will come when they may be judged before a court of their victims, and when that day arrives, there will be ample evidence of the crimes they commit. The Bush administration should also actively investigate how else our military and intelligence capabilities can be used to put additional stress on the regime. The junta has tried to cut off the ability of peaceful demonstrators to communicate to the outside world through the Internet and cell phone networks; we should be examining how the junta’s ability to command and control its forces throughout the country might itself be disrupted.
The use of U.S. electronic warfare assets to disrupt the Junta’s command and control would, presumably, require the Navy to take a lead role, as that service has traditionally been a leader in electronic warfare of this sort. I think it’s safe to read this as a call to station a U.S. aircraft carrier off the coast of Burma. If that were to happen, I think Lieberman is exactly right to suggest that those carrying out the regime’s orders, and those transmitting them, would have good reason to think twice about committing further atrocities. And if they don’t, it’s pretty clear what the next step would be.
