US Senator Jim Webb,back from a rare trip to Burma, called sanctions against the military regime "overwhelmingly counterproductive"and asked the opposition to consider taking part in upcoming elections.
Mr Webb, whose against-the-grain views on Burma have infuriated some activists, voiced concern that Western isolation of Burma pushed it into the arms of China,"furthering a dangerous strategic imbalance in the region".
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Burma due to its refusal to recognise the last elections in 1990 and prolonged detention of the victor, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
"While the political motivations behind this approach are laudable, the result has been overwhelmingly counterproductive," Mr Webb wrote on Wednesday in the New York Times ."The ruling regime has become more entrenched and at the same time more isolated. The Burmese people have lost access to the outside world," said Mr Webb, who on Aug 15 became the first US official to meet the junta's reclusive leader Than Shwe.
Mr Webb said he opposed lifting sanctions due to US economic interests or "if such a decision were seen as a capitulation of our long-held position that Burma should abandon its repressive military system in favour of democratic rule.
"But it would be just as bad for us to fold our arms, turn our heads and pretend that by failing to do anything about the situation in Burma we are somehow helping to solve it," he said.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Mr Webb's views are "something we're going to be looking at" in a review of Burma policy initiated after President Barack Obama took office.
The Obama team has been sceptical about sanctions as a diplomatic tool and supports engagement with US foes,although the State Department earlier assured Suu Kyi supporters in Congress it was not looking to open trade with Burma. Mr Webb said the US could offer to help Burma carry out elections next year.
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