First lady Laura Bush gave an interview on Wednesday to Voice of America
focusing exclusively on Burma. Here are the excerpts:

Q    Mrs. Bush, thank you for setting some time aside to talk to us about
an issue that I know is very near and dear to your heart, that you have
championed, and that's the plight of the people of Burma.  We're here at a
time when really the eyes of the world are on Burma.

MRS. BUSH:  That's right, and that's what I hope the people of Burma know
-- how much people, especially in the United States, are watching the
events that are unfolding there.  There have been photographs of the
protests on the front page of our major newspapers.  Every newspaper in the
United States, many of them, have also had op-ed pieces on their editorial
pages.  I hope that the people of Burma know that the world does stand with
them and that we are watching them.  And I hope that the ruling generals
know that, too, that any sort of violence or suppression of these peaceful
protests will be deplored by the world.

Q    Well, today we had the first hints that they might push back, that
there might be some violence -- some tear-gassing, some arrests.  Do you
fear for the people of Burma?

MRS. BUSH:  I do, I'm very concerned.  I pray for the people of Burma.  I'm
awed by their courage.  These last protests that have been peaceful, as we
know the people of Burma are -- the people of Burma are peaceful people, we
know that.  We know that the democracy champions there want a peaceful
reconciliation, a way to work with the ruling generals to build the
democracy they want, to build their economy again.

Burma was known for being a very wealthy country, rich in natural
resources.  And now the economy is in shambles after so many years of this
military rule.

Q    This morning, when we woke up here in New York, we saw some new
images.  You talked about the images of the peaceful protest.  Today we saw
the images, the first grainy, blurry images of some of the violence that's
starting to occur.

Do you think that these images -- now that Americans and the West are
really seeing it, I think they're really starting in large numbers to pay
attention -- that this might galvanize support here in the U.S. for what's
going on in Burma?

MRS. BUSH:  Yes, definitely.  I think there's a lot of support.  Obviously
we hear it out of the United States Congress.  Already members of Congress
have put out statements urging the generals not to resort to violence,
saying in those statements that they're inspired by the courage of the
protestors.

Earlier this summer, I stood with every member -- every female member of
the United States Senate, both Republicans and Democrats -- as they also
urged the military regime to have a peaceful reconciliation with all the
people -- the people of Burma who only want their government to recognize
the problems that they're having and to start to work with them on a real
dialogue of peaceful reconciliation.

Q    Does it surprise you that it was the monks and the nuns, these revered
religious figures in Burma, who have really taken the lead now?

MRS. BUSH:  Well, I think they are the ones who can take the lead, because
they are revered, and because they're known -- Buddhist monks are known for
peace, for wanting peace.

And so I think it's very, very important. Their addition to the other
protests have made a huge difference, and one of the reasons I think the
world is paying a lot of attention.

Q    The images, these images we keep talking about that are coming out of
Burma, the monks and the nuns in the streets, and the lay people just
forming human chains around them for their protection -- what goes through
your mind when you see an image like that?

MRS. BUSH:  Well, I love that image.  I think -- I love the idea of people
holding hands to protect this cordon --

Q    Almost dancing around --

MRS. BUSH:  Exactly, to protect the monks standing on the edge of the
crowd.  And the other image that was so moving to me, that I saw a tiny
picture of, was the picture of Aung San Suu Kyi when she was able to come
to the gate of her home where she's under house arrest and see the monks
there, who had been, fortunately, allowed to go in to see her.  And I was
so moved by that photograph of her.

Q    Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  Are you surprised,
just what you see in traveling around the world and meeting with women in
various countries, that it's a woman who's leading the pro-democracy
movement in Burma?

MRS. BUSH:  Well, no, not really, not at all.  I mean, one of the reasons I
even became interested in Burma is because I learned about her and read her
book, "Freedom from Fear", and learned about her story and her courage and
her sacrifice, not even being able to say good-bye to her husband as he was
dying from cancer because he was not allowed into Burma and she was afraid
to leave because she knew she'd never be allowed back.

All this long time, off and on, of the last 18 years, being under house
arrest, being in some sort of detention -- all of that really shows the
sacrifice that she's making for the people of Burma and the hopes that she
has and the dreams that she has to have a free and democratic Burma that
can join the rest of the world and can flourish with all the resources that
Burma has.

Q    Mrs. Bush, First Ladies have a habit of taking up causes.  Most often
they're domestic in nature -- literacy, which is yours -- your
mother-in-law, when she was the First Lady, was one of them.

MRS. BUSH:  That's right.

Q    Lady Bird Johnson, who recently passed away, and highway
beautification and planting flowers all over the country in America, and
Washington, D.C., with all our flowers --

MRS. BUSH:  That's right.

Q    -- owes her a lot of debt.  But what was it actually that sparked your
interest about Burma?  Rather unusual for a First Lady to champion a cause
overseas.  You talked about Aung San Suu Kyi's book and her story.  But
there's a personal connection here for you, isn't there?

MRS. BUSH:  Well, I have a cousin who is an active Burmese advocate --
she's not Burmese, but obviously an advocate for Burma and the Burmese, and
she also got me interested.

But what really started it all was right after September 11th, when we
looked into Afghanistan and saw the plight of women there.  I was struck
by, like many American women were, the idea of women being forbidden to be
educated, not to even be able to leave the house unless they have a male
escort, not being able to work.  All of the things that we saw in
Afghanistan made me then move on to look at other countries around the
world, and particularly at the way women are treated in some of these
countries.  I know that countries can't succeed unless everyone, both men
and women, have a chance to contribute to their societies.

And then slowly, I became interested in Aung San Suu Kyi after that, and
then in the plight of the Burmese people.

Q    There are signs right now of tension; there are fears.  We've talked
about those.

MRS. BUSH:  That's right.

Q    Are there also signs of hope?  Let's go back to the images, okay?  The
images -- old images of people in Germany, the former East Germany dancing
on the Berlin Wall; of freedom movements, in the Philippines and Indonesia,
a little bit closer to Burma.  Is there hope for Burma?

MRS. BUSH:  There is hope; absolutely there's hope for Burma.  And I think
that is one of the feelings that we all get as we look at these images,
this very cautious hope that this time the people have turned a page and
have said, we're not going to stay oppressed and we're going to move on.
And the people on the street, the Buddhist monks who have led the protests,
along with all of the people from every walk of life -- business people,
students -- who have also come out.

And at this time, I want to say to the armed guards and to the soldiers:
Don't fire on your people.  Don't fire on your neighbors.  Join this
movement so that Burma can join the rest of the world and become the
democracy that so many people in Burma -- in fact, the National League of
Democracy party was overwhelmingly elected in the 1990 elections, and then
that was suppressed by the ruling military regime.

So I hope -- there is certainly cautious optimism.  I'm also obviously very
concerned for the safety of the protestors and the people of Burma.  I want
them to know we're praying for them.

Q    There is a government there that has been so unpredictable.  And how
do you pressure a government like that if they don't seem to care how
people think about them abroad?

MRS. BUSH:  Well, they don't seem to care, certainly, and they are very,
very isolated, even moving the capital to -- in the middle of -- far away
from Rangoon, in the middle of a jungle, sort of, so that it's very
difficult to get to.  And I think that shows part of their isolation, and
certainly gives the message that they're not interested in what the broader
world thinks about them or their country.

But I do think their neighbors can press them -- China and India
particularly can have a very important role.  We hear, but it's not
substantiated, that China is urging the regime not to react in a brutal and
violent way against the protestors.  I hope that's the case.  I hope that
both China and India, who have sway with Than Shwe and with the other
generals because of their trade and their economic partnerships, will also
speak out and urge the generals to now really start, like it happened in
South Africa at the end of apartheid, to reconcile, to build a democracy,
to free the political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and give their
country a chance to build.

All these years have been wasted since 1990.  The economy has gotten worse
and worse.  And in a country that produces so much oil and gas, it's really
terrible that their own citizens have had their prices of fuel doubled
since August 19th.  And that's what really precipitated these protests.
But I think that is also when people said, enough is enough, and started to
protest.

Q    It just evolved from there.

MRS. BUSH:  From that.

Q    If there is violence, and even if there isn't, if there is change in
Burma, by the gun or by peaceful means, will the world be willing and able,
given all the other crises in the world, to step in and help?  Because we
have health conditions there, education --

MRS. BUSH:  That's right, and even many international health groups that
are NGOs are not in Burma because either they are frustrated by not being
able to reach the people they need to reach because the regime doesn't let
them, or they can't get a real dialogue with the regime.  The International
Red Cross came out, which was very unusual for them -- they very seldom
come out and make statements -- but they came out and said that the
situation in Burma with the regime was intolerable.  And they haven't been
able to deliver help.  The Global Fund on AIDS and Malaria and Tuberculosis
also has had a very difficult time getting in to deliver the aid to people
that need it in Burma.

But yes, I think that every international organization like those -- the
World Food Program -- all of them, if they are allowed to, will immediately
go into Burma with as much aid as they possibly can bring in there.

Is it going to be easy now for the Burmese to build their economy at the
end of this long decline?  No, of course not.  The hard work will begin if
there is reconciliation, and they can start to build their country.

It will be very difficult.  But do I think the Burmese can do it?
Absolutely.  We have -- I have great respect for the people of Burma.  I
know they're peaceful; I know they're intellectual; I know they prize
education.  And they're hard-working.  And can they build their country
again?  Sure, absolutely.  And I know that many, many governments and
organizations would help.

Q    And in short, you have hope.

MRS. BUSH:  I have hope.  I have very cautious hope.  But I hope that the
page is turned, and that they have moved on and realized it's time to stop
the regime.  I want to encourage the generals to start the reconciliation,
move aside, and let a democracy build.

Q    Mrs. Bush, thank you very much for talking with us live.

MRS. BUSH:  Thanks so much.  Thanks a lot.

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