2009-08-13

This article belongs to And That's the Way It Is column.


I was recently asked if I had any desire to visit Burma. My answer, "You have got to be kidding. Why would I want to visit a country that is ruled by a military junta of the worst kind?"

The fact is of course that Burma, or Myanmar as it is known these days, is ruled by the so-called 'generals' and we must be wondering as to why the international community has done so very little to counter this half-witted bunch of megalomaniacs. One has only to have a look at this bunch of idiots during one of the many military parades that are held in Rangoon, the capitol.

There they sit, in their finest full-dress-uniforms, looking at their parade. They all have more medals than there have been wars and no doubt, some of the fruit salad would certainly date back to the World War 1.

However, when one specifically looks at their records, all of them really have achieved very little if anything apart from causing great hardship to the Burmese people. What these twits are really good at is abusing their population. People go missing, are abused, are tortured and even Buddhist monks are not safe from this crowd.

The main driving force of the regime is a Senior General named Than Shwe, a man who in any normal military establishment would not make it past the rank of sergeant, and that is being generous. He dictates the rules, orders the executions, authorises the go-missing actions and he is the one person who now wants Burma to have nuclear weapons, a prospect that would make any supporter of nuclear-armed countries go red in the face. A Burma with nuclear weapons would represent a real danger to most countries in the Burmese neighbourhood.

And then there is the matter of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under 'house arrest' for a considerable amount of time.

But for the military junta, she in fact is the rightful holder of Burmese power having won an election and then having been 'deposed' by the military. Only she and her supporters would have any hope of legitimising Burma as a viable country once again which, at this point in time, appears highly unlikely.

In terms of the international community, Burma is a member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and Burma has the support of China, trust one dictatorship to support another. Burma also has close links with North Korea, another one of China's friends.

In overall terms though, the international community has done very little in relation to Burma. China is feeding Burma with weapons, tourism to the country continues and ASEAN blissfully looks the other way when one mentions Burmese abuses.

Certainly, time has come for the international community to get a whole lot tougher with this grubby little regime.


My name is Henk Luf.
And That's The Way It Is.