:rolleyes: Oh, please. Just because you don’t act like the Nazis or the Mongols doesnt mean you aren’t a conqueror. And it’s not like we HAVEN’T killed and abused huge numbers of Iraqis. And you aren’t going to see people trying to do a war of conquest on the cheap put 3 million soldiers in the field.
Of course you do. Payoffs to the companies “reconstructing” Iraq ( who don’t do the job ), building bases, etc. It’s not like the Iraqis are benefiting from all the money we are wasting. That’s all being spent to feed our own corruption.
The sad thing is you actually believe that load of bullshit. And you actually think it has some bearing on this thread which is sadder still…
-XT
Pshaw! Taxes are for pussies. The junta seems to get a large amount of its money from lucrative business deals with Thai and Indian businessmen, such as their satellite-communications deal with Thailand’s deposed billionaire prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. What they can gouge from the peasants is probably chump change.
But it looks like there’s no second cyclone forming, although heavy rains are on their way.
This extreme arrogance of the Burmese junta is actually historically traditional. It was this same sort of arrogance that drew Britain into all three Anglo-Burmese Wars of the 19th century. Most people have never heard of these wars, but their accounts make for some fascinating reading. They say the court of Siam when it was based in Ayutthaya was exactly the same. When the Burmese smashed the centuries-old Siamese monarchy in 1767, forcing everyone to flee and eventually set up shop again in Bangkok, it supposedly forced at least a little common sense into the upper crust of Siamese society. Although considered a disaster of earth-shaking proportions at the time, Thailand should actually be grateful to the sacking by the Burmese for this kingdom’s modern outlook.
I just heard on the BBC, too, that Burma has agreed to let in a few aid workers, and yes, I am very, very surprised. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. Earlier BBC reported that the UN was sending a special envoy to try to persuade the junta to accept aid workers. I only hope the envoy is not black this time. Don’t mean to sound racist, but the junta ARE racist, very much so, and when the UN sent Ibrahim Gambari to lobby on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta was mortally offended that they would send a black man to speak with them.
It does, since America and Iraq were brought up.
And if I believed in useing the patronizing-fake-sorrow “argument” like you are, I’d say that I was “sad” that you have no recourse but to try to make this thread about mocking me. Instead of actually trying to argue your position.
What’s to argue? Your arguments are all hyperbolic bullshit after all…just the usual anti-America ranting that has nothing to do with this thread. The world isn’t the comic book you make it out to be…and what is happening in Myanmar has zero to do with Iraq. BTW, doing a search on ‘Iraq’ in this thread shows that one poster has pretty much overwhelmingly brought that up…
Wonder who THAT could be, ehe?
-XT
In order to make a lucrative business deal there has to someone to buy a product or make a product. You can’t run a country without people or food.
A cyclone is a freight train that backs over you when it’s done. They can still get the flooding side of a heavy rain. Maybe it will help wash the bodies out to sea.
Maybe not, but I think the junta are willing to give it the ol’ college try.
Weirddave brought it up.
And as a rule, comic book villains aren’t as ridiculously incompetent and pointlessly nasty as we have been.
Pretty much looks that way to me. Earlier in the week I was watching a journalist interview people in Burma and they mentioned that the military was watching them from a helicopter. No mention was made that supplies were being delivered by the helicopter so it left the viewer with the idea that the military was just watching them.
Just in case people have forgotten I figured I’d post an update :
I’m starting to think that the estimate of 100,000 deaths may be on the conservative side…especially if this farce continues much longer and a serious disease breaks out.
I think this attitude of not forcing the Junta to do anything and letting them take the lead is really working out well…
-XT
I hesitate to write this, because I do not want to dissuade anyone from donating to charity. But I have my reservations about donating to situations in which the donated money and materials may end up in the pockets of the elite, and I would caution people to be wise about how they donate. I applaud **jjimm’s ** efforts, but I note in the blog linked to in his link above that already some donated aid has gone on sale in the marketplace. I’m not posting this in his linked thread, because I really fear being a wet blanket, but I’ve seen so much aid over the years commandeered by the wealthy and powerful. Even in a country as relatively developed as Thailand, in the aftermath of the tsunami, certain local officials locked up aid as soon as it arrived and doled it out to the highest bidder, keeping the proceeds for themselves. The Red Cross has reported no one can account for hundreds of thousands of dollars given by them to Thailand for tsunami relief.
The situation in Burma is much worse. The junta and other officials will honestly think nothing whatsoever about commandeering aid to enrich themselves.
So does that mean you should not give anything? No, and I hope I don’t come across like that. Just be aware that a blind rush to give something, anything, may not be the most efficient way. Choose your charities wisely and demand at least some degree of accountability. There are some completely hard-hearted characters in power everywhere over here, and disasters like these are often seen as a God-given opportunity for enrichment.
That said, thanks, jjimm. I’ll trust your people to do the right thing. They and the Red Cross are probably safe, or at least as safe as you can get in such a tricky situation.
If Burma is taking it’s cues from China than maybe they will now let in aid workers since China is allowing teams in.
I’d like to think so, but no. They’re not all that close to China. Not as close as, say, North Korea is to China. I wouldn’t say they really take any cues from China. The junta is basically a band of creepy thugs.
Oh, and looky here in Malaysia’s *Sinchew * newspaper. The Burmese just voted 94% in favor of the new constitution despite their hardships. My my.
Excerpts: "In a country ruled by the feared military since 1962, few would have dared to vote against the Constitution. International rights groups have questioned the accuracy of the results, as some local journalists said that they witnessed many irregularities in the voting, with people voting multiple times or not having the privacy of a truly secret ballot.
“The National League for Democracy [Aung San Suu Kyi’s organization] and other opposition groups labelled the referendum a ‘sham’ to legalise military rule. “This referendum was full of cheating and fraud across the country,” said National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win. Human rights groups dismissed the vote as a mockery of democracy, saying that government officials were told to mark the ballots with ‘Yes’ ticks for those who failed to show up at polling stations.”
Makes me wonder who the 6% dissenting were. Probably came out that way just to make it look good.
While your knowledge may well be greater than mine, I’ve actually heard the Junta is thick as theives (apt metaphor…) with China, much closer than North Korea. They’re not officially communist, it’s true, but they have very similar policy goals. The Junta wants China’s hand off, but they’re happy to be a close ally and also make Chinese immigrants a demi-upper class over the Burmese. NK, on other hand, is barely civil with China except when it has to be.
Yes, Burma is happy to be a Chinese ally, when it suits them, but no, they’ll not take anything resembling instructions or orders from China. Or from anyone else. They’re exponentially more bizarre than North Korea’s Kim, but not remotely as entertaining. Not the least bit entertaining. Mark my words, this is going to get so much worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, the news may train its eye elsewhere after a while, like it did with the coverage of Burma during last year’s minor unrest, which is probably what the junta is hoping for.
I was going to post this but you beat me to it.
The junta has always abused people within their national borders. The cyclone has temporarily focused attention on Burma because it combines a cinematographic natural disaster with an insanely abusive governing villain. The Burmese government knows that despite the current outcry, everyone will be distracted by something more exciting and dramatic in a week or so somewhere else. There’s no real pressure on the government to change anything.
This situation is status quo for the country. The only difference is that the current harm is passive (death from disease and starvation) rather than active (troops opening fire in a hill village then using captured villagers to sweep for land mines).
The Thai media reported over the weekend that Burma announced the relief phase to be over. Now they say all that’s left is the rebuilding. Huh! Imagine that. 
I’ll say it again, if they don’t repair their breadbasket farmland then they will have long-term problems feeding the populace. The government may not care but if enough people get pissed off it will fall. That event can be fed by outside influences.