BURMA COUP - 11

March 8: A quick lesson in foreign affairs. There's always a lot going on around the world, including both terrible things and normal. So the people who concentrate on it, such as the staff at the U.S. State Department, have a lot to think about. And their bosses, the top political leaders, have even more to think about, with domestic issues, and which normally take precedence over international. Therefore, it is very easy for these leaders to pay insufficient attention to, if not ignore, the international problems. For example, China has enslaved the Uyghur people of East Turkestan - millions of them. But while you might think that this would cause international outrage, in fact there has been little.

The reason for this is simple. People pay attention to the situations that are the loudest. For East Turkestan, almost no news gets out. It is quiet. So it is easy to disregard.

Right now there is a fair amount of noise from Burma - millions marching and being met by terroristic crackdowns. But, and I apologize if this seems shocking, this isn't really loud enough to force the issue onto the political leaders' agendas in a way to which they have to respond. It needs to be a lot louder.

This can come from the dictators, if they kill more people. That's why they have been, and I'm sorry to call it this, restrained. But they have. They could have killed - or tried to kill - thousands. They didn't, since this would cause too much noise. Instead, they kill on some days and not others. Their goal is to make a lot of people afraid and to wear everyone down, until they can figure out how to force people to go back to work.

The other source of noise is the public. This would involve escalating from the protests to something the world literally cannot ignore. I'm not suggesting anything. The people of Burma have already proven to be incredibly innovative. I'm just pointing out facts, how things work. The world won't come to help unless the leaders think that they have absolutely no choice not to.

March 8: What the Myitkyina video [of the crowd rushing the police] shows me is that the young people of Burma are an Army now. They may not have guns, but they know this is a war. Their fallen are heroes, and whose sacrifice must have justice. The country must be free, and the killers must pay. They will never stop until this is achieved.

Burma has over 50 million people. Half are under age 30. This is a huge Army.

March 10: You can look at this guy [the Israeli lobbyist for the junta terrorists], and say he is the worst of the worst. And in a way he is. But more deeply, how is he any different from the executives at Total, or Chevron, or Kirin, or H&M, or all the other Japanese, European and American companies (and Australian, Thai and Singaporean …) that are active in Burma. They know what the dictatorship did to the Rohingya, and to the Arakan and Karen and Karenni and Shan and Kachin. They all know that their business partners are bloodthirsty murderers. THEY KNOW THAT! They just don't care. Where money is concerned, nothing else matters.

Maybe the real worst thing is that the governments of their home countries do nothing. Rather, the politicians support them. Their entire foreign policy is based on promoting trade. Human rights and democracy have zero priority.

So sure, it is legitimate to hate this guy. He is scum. But so is everyone else, everyone else who has money and power. That's why the entire world, not just Burma, is so fucked up.

March 10: Here's today's joke. Not only will the United Nations Security Council not do anything, it won't even release a statement. China, Russia, Vietnam and India all rejected calling the coup a coup.

March 10: The criminals are returning to their old habit of torture. Thousands of political prisoners have been tortured over the years, often to death or insanity. They perpetrated genocide against the Eastern ethnic nationalities. They perpetrated genocide, and mass gang rape and the mass murder of babies and young children, against the Rohingya. Now they are torturing and killing non-violent protestors. President Biden needs to declare that under Min Aung Hlaing Burma is a terrorist state, perpetrating mass terrorism against the people; and implement ALL the United States Government responses that typically follow such a declaration.

March 11: After another day where the terrorist police and soldiers perpetrated mass murder, it is difficult not be be apprehensive. Up to now when they kill they usually go easier the next day, but who can say if the pattern will hold. There hasn't even been a pattern! There are protests everywhere and some places they crack down and use tear gas and rubber bullets, and with arrests and beatings, and others they don't. And sometimes - a few - they shoot real bullets, with the express intention to murder. It's not clear what has happened at these times. Did the local commanders give the order to kill? During the protests, or before? Does the order actually come from the top, from Min Aung Hlaing or even Than Shwe himself. There's no way to know.

It is clear though that there has to be more resistance. The present approach is not enough. The new actions by the EAOs are therefore very welcome. But the protestors can also augment their marches and CDM strike. And of course not everything has to be done in large groups. There should definitely be more neighborhood barricades, and revolutionary graffiti. The whole tenor of the environment in the country should change - it is changing. The police and soldiers need to understand that things will never, ever go back to the way they were before. The need to feel under siege. (Not the other way around.) It would therefore be best for them to depose the top generals now, to end it.

Unfortunately, this is not a free forum. Even though it is a war, by the junta against the people, we are not allowed to discuss tactics in more detail. We could be banned. But there are lots of options. The protests have demonstrated amazing ingenuity. This can definitely be extended.