As I wrote in this week’s issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Senator Jim Webb has made a real mess of things with his foray into Burma last month — or as Webb calls it, in deference to the ruling junta, Myanmar. After emerging from a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the Burmese democracy movement and a prisoner of the military regime, Webb declared that it was his “clear impression from that she is not opposed to lifting some sanctions” — which just happens to coincide with Webb’s position on the matter, though it came as a shock to Suu Kyi’s supporters. Suu Kyi’s lawyer, one of only two individuals allowed access to her, later put out a statement clarifying that “she had not discussed the issue [sanctions] with anyone recently.” Webb and his staff refuse to comment further on the matter. The other plank of Webb’s Burma policy is a push for greater participation in Burmese elections scheduled for 2010. Webb touted these elections in an op-ed in the New York Times last month, giving only a nod to the “many” who point out that the constitution under which these elections would be held is “flawed.” Today, U Win Tin, a Burmese democracy activist, former political prisoner, and a founder of Burma’s National League for Democracy party, took to the Washington Post op-ed page to blast Webb for his support of these sham elections: