Oct 01 2007

Monks Massacred in Myanmar?

From The Daily Mail

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Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma’s ruling junta has revealed.

The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.”

Read the article. Tyranny wins again.

Can the world do anything? Will it? Or is this just the way things are?

Now that Bushco has gutted the UN’s power and credibility, who is left to respond to this sort of thing?

Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, never forget it. Without some sort of world police force to stop this sort of thing, all governments can just ruthlessly murder their people when it suits there purpose. And apparently many many soldiers have gone against their religion to kill monks for their government. Authoritarianism at its absolute worst.

I cannot stop myself from saying that this would not have happened in a world that has taken several steps backward into savagery under the influence of George Bush and Dick Cheney. When the alleged beacon of Freedom and Justice acts illegally and immorally it gives license to the rest of the world to engage in barbarity.

Are humans civilized or not?

Not if we do not stop the excesses of the worst of us, or even the best of us on a ‘bad day.’ This sort of thing and Darfur are exactly why the UN was founded. But is in the interest of tyrants to destroy their power. That is what Bushco set out to do and has done. He had to, they called his war illegal.

And in case you are wondering, yes….this too is about oil profits.

22 comments

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  2. it’s all about oil:

    http://www.the-envir…

  3. http://news.bbc.co.u…

    This city is normally full of monks, going in and out of temples, shopping on the street stalls, and even stopping for a chat in the teashops.

    Windowless hall

    This morning though we hardly saw any. That is because for the last few days the military has been busy rounding them up.

    Thousands of monks have been arrested since the weekend and many of them are now locked up in the government technical college on the outskirts of the city – a windowless hall which has three military vehicles stationed outside.

    http://news.bbc.co.u…

    The original meaning of “Martyr” was, I believe, “Witness”. Witness this and bear witness of it.

  4. I cannot stop myself from saying that this would not have happened in a world that has taken several steps backward into savagery under the influence of George Bush and Dick Cheney. When the alleged beacon of Freedom and Justice acts illegally and immorally it gives license to the rest of the world to engage in barbarity.

    this, and selling off any shred of a bargaining foothold we’d ever had with china.

    sometimes i cant believe im the same species as these folks…

     

  5. when the peaceful are slain for being wonderful, and decent, and for daring to do what is right and what is just and doing that peacefully.

  6. about a blogger protest on October 4.

    http://www2.free-bur…

    • snud on October 1, 2007 at 23:14
    • #

    analysis from the BBC as to the chances of the Burmese protests being ultimately successful.

    • snud on October 1, 2007 at 23:27
    • #

    Over a thousand armed rebels stormed an African Union base in Darfur on Sunday, killing at least 12 peacekeepers in the worst attack on the international force since they were deployed in 2004.

    Here’s the link to the story over at Democracy Now.

    I think that sadly answers your rhetorical  question about humans being civilized, Buhdy. 🙁

  9. how we treat one another, compared to the advances in medicine, technology and science.

    It is appalling to think about how recently American genocide took place right here in our country on a massive scale. Our perception of ourselves as above all that cruelty, killing of innocents, as a nation, is born of a very short memory.

    Not long ago we walked in those shoes and we came to see it had to stop. We need to talk and talk and talk about it to all the world, especially to the “bad guys.” We need to have people to people conferences where we can all learn from each other and find things in common.

    I try not to give up on all that happening in my lifetime. Meanwhile, mourn for those brave monks.

  10. If we would have only listened to the Buddha none of this would have happened.  There would be no war and no Military Industrial Media Complex. 

    I am new to the study of Buddhism but if I remember correctly one of the main tenants of Buddhism is to earn money to provide for yourself and others through the “right livelihood.” I also believe Buddha stated that this included not selling weapons or profitting from morally reprehensible things that strike your conciousness.

    May these monks not have died in vain.  This is a sad day.

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