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Over the past weeks, the world has watched in awe and admiration as hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens, led by Buddhist monks, have taken to the streets to protest the vicious dictatorship that rules their country.
These courageous individuals have risked their lives for the fundamental freedoms that are the entitlement of all mankind.
Last week, the military junta responded to these peaceful protests with indiscriminate violence, shooting into crowds of demonstrators and clubbing and tear-gassing others.
Although the regime is doing everything in its power to muffle the cries of its victims and suppress the images of their repression, it is clear that hundreds of monks are now in detention, Buddhist monasteries are under siege, journalists have been attacked and arrested - and reports of far, far worse have begun to trickle out.
One Burmese general reportedly said, "The bodies can be counted in several thousand."
Every responsible nation has a duty to send a clear and unmistakable message: The military junta must stop its cruel and bloody war on the people of Burma and begin a peaceful dialogue with the dissidents and democrats it has so brutally oppressed.
Unfortunately, the foreign governments with the most leverage over the junta have also been the least willing to use it.
The Russian government has defended the dictatorship, issuing a statement last week - just before the bloody crackdown began - that warned against outside "interference" in Burma's "domestic affairs."
The performance of the Indian government has also been a disappointment; its army chief of staff just dismissed the junta's repression as an "internal matter."
It is the People's Republic of China, however, that enjoys the closest ties with Burma. Beijing is the junta's principal arms supplier, providing 90% of its weapons, and sustains its rulers in power with lucrative business deals and economic assistance. Given this special relationship, the Chinese government has unique authority and ability to restrain its client - or run the risk of being tarred by its sins.
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.
It is encouraging that the U.S. government has already doubled its radio broadcasts into Burma through Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.
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.
Above all, Americans must not forget the faces of the brave men and women who have marched for democracy these past weeks. As the fortunes of freedom in Burma hang in the balance, the United States has a solemn duty to continue to carry the torch of their cause.
Lieberman, an independent, is U.S. senator from Connecticut.
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