WAR AGAINST DEMOCRACY RAGES INSIDE SOUTH EAST ASIA'S NUMBER ONE POLICE STATE
BUT THE OIL AND CASH FLOWS, TO FRANCE AND BRITAIN
For more than 40 years, Burma has been ruled by a brutal military junta that has done everything it can to destroy the hopes of any Burmese that democracy will ever return to their dark corner of South East Asia.
But that hasn't stopped investment dollars centred around the oil industry from flowing into the military's hands from France and the UK, amongst the many countries who turn a blind eye to regular massacres and the brutal crushing of any and all dissent.
More than 600,000 people have been killed, and more than 1million people displaced.
But in the next few weeks, for the first time, the issue that is Burma will get some attention at the United Nations.
Real change, and the return of democracy, may still take years, and a bloody uprising, to manifest.
But are the Guardians Of Freedom really that interested in Burma?
Not yet. But they might be soon.
New oil and gas reserves have been discovered in Burma, and they're enormous.
Now the West knows there is real money, tens of billions of dollars and more, to be made in Burma, democracy might just get another look in.
From the UK Independent :
...Burma is still in the grip of a ruthless military dictatorship that refuses to hand over power to the elected National League for Democracy and carries out regular attacks on civilians from the country's many ethnic minorities. Those who refuse to bow are either killed or forced into slave labour and subjected to the arbitrary rule of local military commanders.Go Here To Read The Full Story
....the military junta - which has had the democratically elected leader, the Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for almost 11 years - survives only because foreign companies remain keen to tap into the country's rich natural resources.The ruling military junta has ensured that Burma remains isolated. Cut off even from its closest neighbours, Thailand and India, the conflict that rages at its heart gets little attention.
On Friday, for the first time, the UN Security Council discussed Burma, and the US is expected soon to submit a draft resolution criticising Burma's human rights record and demanding Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
But none of that will matter if the regime continues to reap the rewards of foreign investment.
The military junta's policies have led to more than 600,000 deaths and up to one million people being displaced. Mortality rates among the young in what was once the rice basket of Asia are now among the highest in the world.
The World Health Organisation ranks Burma second to bottom in its list of 191 countries around the world....
Of all the weapons at the Burmese army's disposal, rape is the cheapest. Soldiers are often ordered to rape women from ethnic minorities and leave them pregnant to breed out the resistance.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that the time to act is now.
"The Burmese people have tried everything possible and have been flatly refused help. The regime is only getting stronger. There comes a point where it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
