I'm way out of my blogging comfort zone, here. I follow current events, but almost never write about them for fear of displaying ignorance; but this week, all I have been able to think about are the people of Myanmar. It's eating me up.
The President announced today that the US will tighten sanctions against the ruling military junta, but he describes these sanctions as being focused on particular individuals, and I'm not sure that they will be sweeping enough to make a difference. At any rate, the only way sanctions can be made painful is with the participation of the major players in the Burmese economy: big multi-nationals like UnoCal, for example; and China, which at this point refuses to take any action rather than to urge restraint. I'm imagining one parent saying to another, "Now, don't be too hard on him, Honey."
Buddhist monks who were leading the protests are now being arrested, beaten and detained. I'm imagining how they will be treated in detention, and wishing I had a less vivid imagination. Today citizens returned to the streets, despite the diminished number of monks, to face an even tougher crackdown than they experienced yesterday. Gives a new perspective to all of our hooting about "patriotism" in this complacent country. We're so clueless, and that hurts me.
Could we hope that China would be pressured to place economic sanctions on Myanmar if there were a threat to the Beijing Olympics? If enough countries threatened to boycott the Games, would China in turn put the screws to Myanmar? Other than that, I see no positive ending in sight. Keep your eyes on Myanmar, and keep the Burmese people in your thoughts and prayers. They are suffering to reclaim ownership of their government, and they've suffered for a long time already.
6 comments:
My photo on this post isn't showing up for me, I think because I brought across the wrong code. If you don't see an image, try clicking on the "X", and it might link through to the web site I tried to get the photo from. Or don't, and save yourself having to look at it. :(
ha ok kate...
Yeah, I am only following bits and pieces of it here too... what has Myanmar come too...when it takes it's highly revered monks and along with others...tortures...beats...shoots....them...Guess all we can do is watch, pray and hope. Japanese journalist was just killed there yesterday....
I really need to read more about this. What i have seen splashed across the NY times is very disturbing!
It's gotten worse in the last few hours - I was not aware of it until yesterday, and it makes me want to keep up on current events more; I'm terrible about that. Seems that much disturbing evidence is being compiled from satellite images of villages disappearing and military build-up. Also, I learned that in addition to China, Russia is a big investor in the country.
It is all heartbreaking, isn't it? I saw a lot of coverage on CNN the other day and I just kept staring at the screen.
Voldemort lives.
Such truths make me a firm believer that yes, there is indeed evil in this world.
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