Suu Kyi Sentenced to Another 18 Months of House Arrest

I can't say I'm surprised the courts in Burma convicted Aung San Suu Kyi and extended her house arrest another 18 months.

An election is scheduled to take place in Burma in 2010 and the authorities do not want her free so she can participate in the election and win the country's presidency as she did nearly two decades ago. If the military junta didn't let Suu Kyi become President in 1990 they certainly won't allow it in 2010.

After all only two weeks before she was to be released she was arrested when an American named John Yettaw swam on her property. The timing of that whole episode seemed all too convenient for the military junta. For her part, Suu Kyi wanted nothing to do with Yettaw who has been sentenced to seven years in prison with four years of hard labor.

Today, during her visit in Congo, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for Suu Kyi's release. This is one of the few foreign policy stances where the Obama Administration has got it right. Unfortunately, it probably won't do Suu Kyi and the Burmese people a whole lot of good.