Add this one to the list of places where people are struggling for liberty and liberty is being crushed. You can cross-file it under places about which the rest of the world really doesn't care. Buddhist monks have been leading mass protests against the criminal gang that governs "Myanmar." I suppose it is a small act of protest that the Washington Post calls the place by the name it had before it was captured by thugs.
BANGKOK, Sept. 26 -- After nine days of restraint, Burma's military rulers cracked down on protesting Buddhist monks Wednesday, with security forces firing warning shots, shooting tear gas canisters, swinging truncheons and making scores of arrests to suppress anti-government marchers.
The violence, despite appeals for negotiations from around the world, suggested that the junta has decided to put an end to what has become Burma's most serious political uprising since 1988, even at the price of more opprobrium from abroad.
Look at the bright side: the death toll so far can be counted on two hands, if you have all your fingers left. The last time the Junta cracked down, they left 3 or 4 thousand corpses in the streets. Seventeen years ago Burma held and election. The National League for Democracy won decisively, but the military junta responded by arresting the legitimate government. The leader of the NLD has spent most of the last 17 years under house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Buddhist, could be the Nelson Mandela of Burma. But the international left, which brought the force of the world against South Africa, can't spare a tear for Burma. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to change.
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