WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- U.S. first lady Laura Bush -- in a rare foray into foreign policy -- called on Myanmar 's military junta to `` step aside , '' give up the `` terror campaigns '' against its people and allow for a democratic Myanmar in a commentary published in Wednesday 's Wall Street Journal . U.S. first lady Laura Bush said the junta `` should step aside to make way for a unified Burma . '' `` Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies are a friendless regime , '' Bush said . `` They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma [ Myanmar ] governed by legitimate leaders . `` The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition -- there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma , '' Bush said , in keeping with the U.S. policy of still using Myanmar 's former name . In Wednesday 's commentary , Bush called on Myanmar 's military leaders to release Aun Sung Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders so they can meet with and plan for a transition to democracy . `` Meanwhile , the world watches -- and waits , '' Bush warns . `` We know that Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies have the advantage of violent force . But Ms. Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders have moral legitimacy , the support of the Burmese people and the support of the world . `` The regime 's position grows weaker by the day . The generals ' choice is clear : The time for a free Burma is now . '' The humanitarian rights situation in Myanmar has been a cause for the first lady in the past few months as the crisis there worsened . Myanmar state media has reported that 2,000 people were detained during the demonstrations and the crackdown against them -- under an emergency law imposed on September 25 banning assembly of more than five people -- and that 700 of those people have been released . The official death toll from Myanmar 's leadership is at 10 , but there are reports that hundreds were killed and thousands arrested in the wake of the demonstrations that peaked late September , which were led by Myanmar 's Buddhist monks . On Tuesday morning , Bush received a phone call from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to update her on the efforts of his special envoy to Myanmar , Ibrahim Gambari . A representative of the secretary general said the call was a follow-up to a conversation they had weeks ago . Gambari met last week with the military junta leadership as well as with Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi , who is under house arrest in Yangon . The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations , Zalmay Khalilzad , told reporters that Laura Bush and her husband 's administration believe that there is a `` need to start preparing for transition '' for Myanmar . `` We believe it is very important that progress be made and prisoners be released and conditions for Aun Sung Suu Kyi be improved [ so ] that she can prepare for participation for negotiations for a transition , '' he said . E-mail to a friend .
Laura Bush calls on Myanmar junta to `` step aside , '' allow for a democracy . Military leaders must give up the `` terror campaigns '' against its people , she says . Junta should release Aun Sung Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders , she says . Her rare foray into foreign policy was published in the Wall Street Journal .