Burma street protests ...

[Burger]

Great to see, good luck to them in forcing any change, won't be easy.

I'm more worried about how long it is before they start getting machine gunned down or run over by tanks, ala Tiananmen Square.

Brave people.

Burger

[lomuamart]

Maybe not too long?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0 ... 70,00.html

[H2ODunc]

I still find it difficult to understand how these countries can continue to function in todays world. Surely we can just cut off ties with these countries till they toe the line! Seems easy to me but obviously isn't

[lomuamart]

Part of the problem, I think, is that the ASEAN countries don't impose sanctions like the west do.
Thailand certainly still trades extensively with Burma - gas pipelines and so on. Indeed, Thaksin wanted to increase trade, especially if he got his mobile telephone business in there. I'm not too sure what Thailand's stance is now - doubt it'll have changed much.
China are heavily involved as well as is India to an extent.
Until these countries clamp down, Burma'll just keep chugging along. I appreciate sanctions can hurt the people they're supposed to protect, but short of an invasion (which the junta feared, hence their move to a jungle capital), I can't see anything else working.

[redzonerocker]

yes, these countries continue to function even though they are under severe sanctions.
as usually is the case, its the poor that suffer because of the sanctions.
there is a similar situation in zimbabwe.
when i did the border crossing up north at mae sai, i took a walk around the myanmar border town for an hour. quite an eye opener, the poverty there was clearly visible, quite sad really.
the contrast in the border guards was extreme too.thai side, smiley & helpful, myanmar side militant & unfriendly.
good on the marchers, hope they continue to rise up against the outdated regime

[Wanderlust]

I feel sorry for the people there and hope that this might be the start of something that eventually rids them of the junta, but I fear it will just end in a massacre.
The only chance they may have is if someone tells George Bush that there is huge oil reserves there...ooops, sorry, meant to say a huge stockpile of WMD.

[Condoking]

The only chance they may have is if someone tells George Bush that there is huge oil reserves there...ooops, sorry, meant to say a huge stockpile of WMD.

Apparently GWB is going to raise the Burma issue at the UN conference and announce further sanctions against the Burmese leaders. However Burma seems to be in the queue behind Darfur, Zimbabwe, North Korea, etc. etc. so agree with Wanderlust, no oil no action.

[redzonerocker]

agree with you both on the issues at stake.
i saw a documentary the other night about zimbabwe. the sanctions don't really work, it only inflicts more misery on the poorest people of the country.
the comfortable lifestyles of the juntas & their supporters don't change at all.
people power is strong but not when you are up against guns & tanks & a particularly cruel regime. lets hope you are wrong wl & it doesn't end in bloodshed

[gaijin]

Both India and China are vying for influence in Burma. China is investing heavily in Burma, building a new seaport with overland links to China. This will bye-pass the need to ship around the Malacca Straits. Thailand obtains a lot of its gas supplies from Burma.

Therefore sanctions by the US and like-minded countries are really quite irrelevant.

[STEVE G]

Sanctions rarely achieve anything except making the general population suffer. Cuba has been subject to trade embargoes and sanctions since 1960 and Castro is still in charge, in fact I think he is the longest reigning world leader!

[Burger]

I raised this thread because, as you've all said, it's terrible what's happening to the Burmese people.

But at the same time we should also spend a thought for the people of Myanmar, who also live under a similar, repressive regime.

How can there be so many crackpots running countries, beggars belief.

Burger

[STEVE G]

It is beginning to look like things could reach a confrontation if the monks try to repeat their protest tomorrow, (in Myanmar, not Burma) as the military moved into the area around the Sule Pagoda following today’s demonstration.
It has also been reported that Aung San Suu Kyi was moved to a prison following Sundays meeting with the monks.

[BaaBaa.]

(in Myanmar, not Burma)

???

[The understudy]

Very Nice thread you've started right there Burger I salute you

The Problem is that the Crackheads/Generals who run those Countries are enriching themselves and their fellow consorts. So a small portion of peop;e are getting rich and the rest will be fighting for their lives to make a living.
I hope the Millitary Junta is thingking this wisely. They have two Options right now.
Option A: To get into a Dialogue with the Protesters and Opposition which could pave the way for a gradual shift to Democracy and possably a Regime change.
OPtion B: The Military can crush this Peacfull insurgency with Brutal force and passing new Laws to prohibit such a mass Challenge to their Powers. Whatever happens my respects goes to the Monks who like the People of Myanmar are cleary suffering under this Military Rule.
Like Redzonerocker I had been over the border into same border town and we walked around. The poverty was rampant which rzr discribed it right: It's "quite sad really". I think what ASEAN Countries should do is to openly support the Protesting Monks and leaving the Myanmar elites Isolated. They will say it's an interfearing of internal relations. It should not deter neighboring countries to do so to claim the wealth too which does belong to the Poeple of Myanmar too and not only the Top Brass of the WEEDheads and their Henchmen!

Praying deeply for peaceful End to thie Protests with hope for Dialogue on both sides.
Your's The understudy!!!!

[STEVE G]

Understudy, I just hope that if the Junta has decided to put a stop to this present demonstration they try to physically stop the monks from leaving the temple rather than letting a demonstration begin and then shooting at it with large loss of life, like last time.