WASHINGTON (AFP) — First Lady Laura Bush, who once maintained a low profile when it came to international affairs, has stepped into the diplomatic spotlight by becoming a top US critic of Myanmar's military junta.
Ditching her meek, schoolteacher-librarian image, the president's wife has become increasingly outspoken against Myanmar's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and delivered mounting calls for the regime to step aside.
The new role is a marked change for the 60-year-old mother of twins, who has typically stayed with issues such as encouraging young Americans to read books, stay away from drugs and avoid early sexual activity.
With fresh authority in her voice in a series of interviews with major US newspapers this week, the first lady blasted Myanmar military rulers as "friendless," and said the junta had "only days to act" before President George W. Bush's administration ordered fresh sanctions.
The Myanmar regime has sparked international outcry by cracking down on peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in Yangon, as armed security forces wielding guns and batons attacked civilians and killed at least 13 people.
"Today, people everywhere know about the regime's atrocities. They are disgusted by the junta's abuses of human rights," she told the Wall Street Journal.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that the first lady's involvement with what the administration still calls Burma, is not new, recalling that she hosted a roundtable talk on the issue at last year's UN General Assembly session in New York.
"Hearing her voice, I think it inspires people to think about what's happening in Burma and to join us in taking some action," Perino said.
The first lady is not solely interested in Myanmar, Perino added. She has also spoken on behalf of women in Afghanistan, fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, and is planning a trip to raise awareness of breast cancer in the Middle East.
"The president, of course, sees Mrs. Bush as a tremendous asset and a very good spokesperson on some of these issues," Perino said, adding that the couple is "united on this issue."
Carl Sferrazza Anthony, who has written several books on first ladies, said Laura Bush's foreign role has expanded over the past few years.
"If you look at the arc of her interests, speeches and activities on an international front, particularly with developing nations, this is not a left curve," he said.
"Struggling democracies and developing nations have been of general interest to her and that has increased with international trips" she has taken alongside the president.
The first lady admitted in an interview with USA Today that she thought her focus would "be totally domestic," when her husband took office, but has since realized she has leverage to bring awareness to matters in other countries.
"My influence is really in being able to shine a spotlight on human rights situations that I want the American people to look at, and I want the people in those countries to know that the American people are with them," she said.
Her contribution has been hailed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who "couldn't be more pleased with the role that the first lady has chosen to take," department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Bush's interest in Myanmar was sparked in 2002 by a cousin of her husband, Elsie Walker, said the first lady's spokeswoman Sally McDonough.
"Elsie told her about Aung San Suu Kyi and shared her book wih her, and that is where she first became aware" of the story of the democracy icon under house arrest by the regime.
She began following the story in the press, and since 2006 has repeatedly consulted with UN chief Ban Ki-moon and UN ambassadors, urging the world body to take action.
"It is not like Laura Bush is way out on a limb with her advocacy," said Bruce Gilley, assistant professor at Canada's Queens University and an expert on Myanmar.
"She is basically a voice reflecting a general consensus, at least in the West."
However, he acknowledged that high-profile voices leading international opposition to a regime "can have an effect, an indirect effect, in how that outcry affects the behavior of other countries in Asia and their policies toward Myanmar."
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