Ko Htike is posting round the clock. So is Niknayman. And this smells like Burmese spirit to me. Write them. Tell them we give a damn. A reader writes:
What I find amazing, is the stark contrast between real democracy in action (Burma) and the staged theater in Iraq. For those of us who witnessed Tiananmen and the fall of the Wall…not to mention Ukraine, etc., the lesson is that true democracy is an organic event that arises from the people. It can not be bestowed, bequeathed or imposed.
These amazing sights and sounds are what the birth of freedom sounds like:
The junta will accept the UN envoy. Perino reads Bush’s statement. The Internet ban is not succeeding too well. The guy in the photo I posted earlier today is the Japanese journalist shot dead by the military. At least one other journalist has been killed. Kerry Howley explains how the Internet is vital to keep freedom alive in the country:
Seven people out of 1,000 own televisions, and they’re not getting BBC. They’re watching MRTV-3: all government propaganda, all the time.
I remember in my hippie-back-packing days, finding an entire village in the Burmese hinterland gathered around one sole television. A Burmese activist, Aung Naing Oo, tells al-Jazeera:
"It’s very clear that the Burmese people are no longer afraid of the Burmese military. The violence and killing of buddhist monks have taken away their fear of confrontation … and we will continue to see more demonstrations in the days ahead."
Bono is stirring, which may help get more international attention. Havel adds his voice. BBC video is available here. Some gripping YouTubes (including the one above) can be found here. There are some reports that the crowds are growing, despite reports of over 700 arrests last night and attacks on three more monasteries:
The soldiers eventually crashed through the gate with one of the trucks and used bamboo sticks to beat everyone in the monastery, including monks, laymen, women and children, some of whom were related to or were under the care of the head abbot, or sayadaw.
One witness said the soldiers shouted "harsh, abusive words" at the monks while they were beating them. One monk who had tried to warn the monastery of the soldiers’ approach was beaten unconscious as he lay on the ground.
Another witness said the soldiers were led by a two-star general who beat some of the soldiers who were reluctant to harm the monks. The attack lasted about 90 minutes, ending when about 60 monks and 40 laypeople were tossed into waiting trucks and driven to an unknown destination.
Pray for them all.
(Thanks to my remarkable research assistant, Jessie Roberts.)
"Other than the flippant criticisms of our "failure" to take Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War, one sees little discussion of an occupation of Iraq, but it is the key element of the current debate. The issue before us is not simply whether the United States should end the regime of [Saddam Hussein], but whether we as a nation are prepared to physically occupy territory in the Middle East for the next 30 to 50 years. Those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade and stay," – now-senator, Jim Webb, Heading for Trouble, Washington Post Op/Ed, September 4, 2002.
The lessons to draw here depends on whether you want credit or influence. If you want credit as an innovator then you should actually be pretty conservative. Become prestigious in a conservative way, until late in your career. Reject non-standard views but not explicitly; just ignore them so your quotes won’t bite you later. When the time is right, look around for ripe once-contrarian ideas and take one. Change the name and vary the methods and topics, grab the first few high profile resources, and trash the original contrarians as weirdos.
Or "excitable". Think Bruce Bartlett and Alan Greenspan.
The new euro coin adds insult to injury. 9 percent of Turks have a favorable view of the US. The West really needs some help dealing with one of the few secular Muslim countries on the planet.
The generals are trying to shut down the Internet:
"We had been getting information through mobile phones but these have been cut off. Then our reporters used cybercafes but the traffic has really slowed down in the last few hours. Some of the landlines we used have also been closed, so we cannot get in touch with our people."
Meanwhile, reports of several deaths are coming in. Nothing too awful yet. Remember that thousands died in 1988. There are reports of a potential crack in the military from a group calling itself the Public Patriot Army Association. Some first-person accounts:
"We, students came from Hledan and when we reached Strand road there were about 2000 to 3000 of us. The soldiers surrounded us from Hledan side and also from Bakara Road side. So, the students fled and scattered into residential areas. And the soldiers fired thrice and started beating people with batons. They chased the students up to Salin ground in Kyihmyindine. Two persons from the locality were hurt," a student protester told Mizzima.
"As I am talking to you, about 15 military trucks, one fire brigade truck, and about 20 police vehicles are all heading towards Hledan," added the student.
And here:
Now there are shootings in front of the Innwa tailoring shop. Soldiers are shooting and arresting too. It is at the junction of Anawrattha and Pansodan streets. It happened just now, but I did not see anybody getting hurt. The soldiers fired quite a lot of rounds. Now the protesters are heading towards Pazuntaung Township. The people are not scared. A lot of stones that the protesters threw at the soldiers could be seen scattered in front of the Innwa tailoring and on Pansodan traffic point. From the Pansoda flyover ten military trucks came down. The trucks were filled with arrested people.
With the Dems caving again in the debate last night, Wall Street’s defense stocks soar. Here’s a glimpse into what Bush has wrought: in the Aznar chat, he spoke of the cost of the Iraq war as being $50 billion. So far, the man has spent close to a trillion dollars on two wars in six years. Next year alone, Bush is asking for $180 billion – more than three times what he believed five years ago Iraq would cost in total.
"The only thing that worries me is your optimism," Aznar said. "I’m optimistic because I believe I’m right," Bush replied.
Notice that Bush has no concept that even if he’s right, bad things could ensue. There is no cost-benefit analysis here, no weighing of options, no thinking through of unintended consequences, no understanding of the inherent tragedy of human affairs. Bush might be the least temperamentally conservative president in the White House since Wilson.
He does, apparently, know what the meaning of torture is, at least in private. El Pais has the president complaining about pre-war diplomacy to former prime minister Aznar:
This is like Chinese water torture. We have to put an end to it.
Er, that’s Chinese enhanced interrogation techniques, Mr President. Keep your Orwellianisms straight.
