January 17, 2001

4:57 PM

Bulletproof teenage twins surrender! Johnny and Luther Htoo, leaders of a Myanmar rebel militia called God's Army, have surrendered to Thai authorities (who apparently coaxed the boys out of the jungle with crackers). Are today's teens leading rebel armies too soon?
More inside.
posted by varmint (6 comments total)

These two received a lot of attention last year when a group of their allies took hostages at a Thai hospital. They were even interviewed for an article in The Guardian (which sheds a lot of light on the political situation on the Thailand/Myanmar border). I don't think Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen would last a day in the jungle, and these kids have been hiding out there for months. They're fighting for some of the same causes championed by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

So what's going to happen to these boys? Is the whole situation a tragic example of how war damages young lives? Or are they heroic figures? And for MeFi's teen readers - who's cuter - Johnny or Luther?
posted by varmint at 4:58 PM on January 17, 2001

Anyone have dibs on the "Am I Or Not" spinoff yet? Am I A Child Leader of a Myanmar Rebel Militia or Not? Am I Johnny or Luther Htoo or Not?

Props to varmit for working Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen into a MeFi thread.
posted by Hankins at 5:15 PM on January 17, 2001

Hmm..

This is really sad, it's really hard to consider how it would be like to live during war. I think we take out daily lives for granted at times.
posted by tiaka at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2001

I've met enough people from varying war torn countries to know it's hell and there are usually only two options, fight or flight.
posted by Zool at 7:16 PM on January 17, 2001

my favorite article about them is the one sarah vowell wrote in salon.

"That's why people respond to the Luther and Johnny picture. They adore the contrast between the pretty, girlish Johnny and the hyena-faced Luther. Meet Joan of Arc and her brother, Genghis Khan."
posted by palegirl at 8:41 PM on January 17, 2001