Rising Hegemon
Democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi took her first steps back into Myanmar's political minefield Sunday, vowing to press ahead in her decades-long fight for democracy while also calling for compromise with other political parties and the ruling junta.
She's Mandela-like in her bravery, let's hope the end result is as positive.
6 comments:
Can she take a few moments from her genuine heroism and talk to Obama about toughness? Please?
Invictus.
Great movie.
if obama made this deal with indonesia:
Some of those initiatives have already gone into action. In July, visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the lifting of a 12-year ban on funding for the Kopassus special forces, who were accused of gross human rights abuses in the 1990s.
what are the odds a similar deal was made in burma?
don't say she's mandela like. he instituted neoliberal policies and failed to follow through on land reform.
mandela wasn't a dictator.
she must be made of spider webs. stronger than steel.
The big deal in her release, I think, is that there have been demonstrations all over Burma (less so in Rangoon, since that's where the greatest repression generally occurs), and the military junta is nervous because some of the low-ranking military joined in.
I suspect that this is a delaying tactic until they can get the soldiers under control again, and the repression will begin anew. Of course, if dissent inside the military continues to grow, it's all over for the generals, because that's all they have going for them--control of the military. No one in Burma believes anything that appears on state television--they're extraordinarily clumsy propagandists (see, for example, the excellent "Burma VJ" documentary).
It's been the strategy of the Buddhist leaders for over two decades to bring the rank-and-file military to their way of thinking, and that just might finally be working. If so, Aung San Suu Kyi will likely remain free.
Still, the generals aren't going to just give up and walk away. The junta's been profitable for them.
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