Comments on: Burma: monks vs. junta

Burma: monks vs. junta

homunculus — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:20:44 -0800

Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters. In Burma (Myanmar) the Buddhist monks are doing more than anyone to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis. At the same time, Burmese officials are trying to stem the influence of the monks by forcing survivors who have sought refuge in monasteries to return to their shattered homes. [Via Barbara's Buddhism Blog.]

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:33:22 -0800

Cowardice of silence: The renewal of Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest casts shame on the Burmese junta's western sponsors

By: Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:02:53 -0800

The Metta is strong

By: krautland

krautland — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:09:54 -0800

...casts shame on the Burmese junta's western sponsors no, it does not. and that's the problem.

By: stargell

stargell — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:22:30 -0800

Cowardice of Transference: The redirection of blame from the Burmese junta onto its "Western sponsors" is at heart a form of condescending colonialism.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:58:04 -0800

Monks kicking ass without even using their Shaolin techniques. Exactly how do these dictators think they're going to win against someone who won't fight?

By: Naberius

Naberius — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:04:12 -0800

It's actually remarkably easy to win against someone who won't fight. 1) Kick the shit out of them. This is easy, because they won't fight. 2) While they believe themselves to have won by demonstrating their moral superiority and your own relative bankruptcy, you have your driver take you home, enjoy a good meal, a cigar and a martini and then sleep with your wife while not giving a good god damn what they think because you can kick the shit out of them whenever you want. Because they won't fight. See, easy? You're describing the kind of thinking that leads idealistic college kids to believe that they can stop Bush and Cheney if they make their papier mache puppets just a little more devastatingly sarcastic at the next peace-in. (They were SO close last time.) In the meantime, Bush and Cheney send the lowliest of their flunkies in to belabor these kids heads with sticks and paint mace in their eyes without even bothering to be aware of them except as a vague abstraction on some memo somewhere - about a dozen words to cover every last one of them. And it goes without saying they never even consider for an instant not invading Iraq. The monks are actually doing something much smarter. They're fighting the fight they can win. If they had tanks, I don't think they'd plant flowers in them and then get together to pray the junta away.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:10:29 -0800

Meanwhile, monks and nuns in Tibet are still being arrested for protesting the occupation and for opposing the "patriotic re-education" campaign.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:27:27 -0800

ILO: Burma May Use Forced Labor in Cyclone Recovery

By: Liquidwolf

Liquidwolf — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:33:15 -0800

1) Kick the shit out of them. This is easy, because they won't fight. 2) While they believe themselves to have won by demonstrating their moral superiority and your own relative bankruptcy, you have your driver take you home, enjoy a good meal, a cigar and a martini and then sleep with your wife while not giving a good god damn what they think because you can kick the shit out of them whenever you want. Because they won't fight. I think you're missing the point in their refusal to fight. They're MONKS after all, they have spiritual and moral reasons for not using violence to achieve goals. And what you're saying about "idealistic college kids" sounds short sighted too, I doubt they think a puppet is gonna stop anything. But they're taking some kind of stand, and drawing attention to the issue so give em a break already. (Not that a little armed revolution against the pigs is necessarily a bad idea)

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:17:57 -0800

From the Pilger article linked above Dismissing the idiocy of a military intervention in her country, she asked: "What about all those who trade with the generals, who give them many millions of dollars that keep them going?" She was referring to the huge oil and gas companies, Total and Chevron, which effectively hand the regime $2.7bn a year, and the Halliburton company (former chief executive Vice-President Dick Cheney) that backed the construction of the Yadana pipeline, and the British travel companies that send tourists across bridges and roads built with forced labour. Audley Travel promotes its Burma holidays in the Guardian. The BBC, in contravention of its charter, has just bought 75% of Lonely Planet travel guides, a truculent defender of "our" right to be tourists in Burma regardless of slave labour, or cyclones, or the woman beyond the trip-wire. Shame.

By: Mastercheddaar

Mastercheddaar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:18:09 -0800

I am really beginning to hate the Junta. If we were going to invade a sovereign nation and remove the leader in power, why couldn't we have done it to them? Oh wait, never mind they were not the 2nd leading oil producing competitor with the sudis. Because we all know it is perfectly ok to invade under propaganda when oil is involved. But God forbid we invade for human rights! Lord knows I hate Bush and these 7 1/2 years he stole from us.......