Tuesday, October 2, 2007

And Normalcy Means Tyranny

A representative of the military government of the country formally known as Burma has informed everyone to mind their own business because things are back to normal.

Maj.-Gen. U. Nyan Win told the U.N. General Assembly in New York that Burma had been targeted by "neo-colonialist attempts" to impose political change from
outside.

"Political opportunists" has exploited protests against a fuel price hike and tried "to turn the situation into a political showdown aided and abetted by some powerful countries," he said.

After exercising utmost restraint in the face of the protests, security forces had been compelled to act to restore "normalcy."

This was achieved by the death of at least 10 peacefully demonstrating monks and the arrest of thousands more. Their crime was asking for Democracy and making the government look bad. Burma shares a very large border with the world’s largest Democracy and the world’s largest Communist state and both of them are trying to influence things to their own gain. Both are trying to secure a border point through supporting an oppressive regime. This why there has been a lot said by China while India has been mostly quiet. China wants Myanmar because it is similar to itself and sharing a border with a Democracy would be a bad thing. After all people in Communist countries have an irritating desire to defect from the people’s government.

India on the other hand is playing the waiting game. The original directive was to push for human rights and Democracy but that was given up as China’s influence grew and theirs lessen. India changed direction to a support the junta with efforts to nudge slightly. This is why they have been for the most part silent because they don’t want to create a wedge, they don’t want to break the fragile connection they have with the junta. If the pressure is ratcheted up by the UN, EU and the US expect India to step in and broker a deal. China or Russia would love to be the broker which is why they have already set themselves up as roadblocks. Both of them have burned a lot of diplomatic bridges so peace broker is not a roll that fits either very well. India on the other hand could be in position to fill that role quite readily.

Update:
Mike Baker over at Fox paints a much bleaker outcome and I wish I could disagree.