My, My, Myanmar

I had two thoughts upon reading the following:

U.S. Senator to Meet Myanmar Leader

An American senator is to meet with the leader of the junta in Myanmar this weekend, just days after the country’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was convicted and returned to house arrest in a case that has drawn international condemnation.

The senator, Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, would be the highest-ranking American official to meet with the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, in at least a decade. Senior administration officials, speaking anonymously because of the sensitive nature of the trip, said Mr. Webb was traveling independently and “not carrying a message from the administration,” although he was briefed by the State Department before he left.

Officials described the visit as welcome and called it an opportunity to open lines of communication between the United States and Myanmar. As a military planner, journalist and novelist before joining the Senate, Mr. Webb has traveled extensively in the region. In the Senate, he is the chairman of a subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee dealing with East Asian affairs...

...“Imposing sanctions has not influenced the junta,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in February...The same day [of the trial sentencing], the European Union said it would add new sanctions against the country.

Four members of Myanmar’s judiciary — the prosecutor and the three judges who convicted Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi — will be added to a list of Myanmar officials subject to asset freezes and bans on travel to the member countries...In addition, state-owned media associated with the junta will be newly subject to an asset freeze, the spokeswoman said, as will 58 other enterprises, 48 of which were already affected by a lesser ban on European investment.

My first thought was:

Why can't US Senators and Congressmen visit the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as part of the State Dept. agenda for visiting delegations or as part of tours sponsored by groups like AIPAC? Are we that pariah?

And secondly, if sanctions aren't 'influencing', can we expect that any restrictions on tax-exempt status of charities funding Jewish projects across the Green Line are now off the table?