Military juntas at their most despotic moment...or are they?

From U.S. News and World Report

A Bold Call for Democracy. A Reply in Bullets
By Kevin Whitelaw
Posted September 29, 2007

It was being called the Saffron Revolution. Smuggled images of Buddhist monks thronging the streets of ancient Yangon opened a rare, but brief, window into one of the world's more backward and cruel regimes.

For nine days, the world watched as monks in saffron-colored robes led ever growing crowds on marches challenging the military junta that rules Myanmar (known more traditionally as Burma). Thousands were shaking off two decades of fear to join the monks. Myanmar's generals appeared caught off guard and even more unaware of the power of the Internet. Unlike past protests, this one played out very publicly, as photographs, video, and accounts of the protests—and the inevitable repression—blanketed cyberspace and the airwaves.

On the 10th day, the crowds were even larger. But this time, the monks were largely—and eerily—absent. Overnight, the junta's security forces had raided many monasteries, beating and dragging away untold numbers of monks. The generals had returned to their favorite playbook, greeting marchers with batons, tear gas, and bullets.

By Thursday afternoon, the streets of Yangon were littered with blood-spattered sandals left behind by fleeing protesters. At least 10 people were killed, with rumors of many more. The junta was still treading rather carefully with the monks, who have come to embody the nation's conscience. The monks already provide many of the social services that the generals have decided are beneath them—including AIDS clinics, orphanages, and schools.

If history is any guide, it will get even worse for any Burmese who continue to protest. During the last sustained anti-junta protests in 1988, several thousand were killed. And the government's belated move to cut off Internet access and confiscate mobile phones presages greater violence.

With most of the world offering no more than rhetorical condemnation and symbolic sanctions, it appears that the newfound courage of the Burmese people will be rewarded only by bloodshed. In today's Myanmar, happy endings are rare indeed.
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It is so true, that most people, while completely appalled, shocked, and saddened at the events occurring in Burma, just sit on their asses and mentally/verbally advocate our (dis)belief (like I'm doing right now, I'm well aware). And I am completely and utterly disgusted that power-hungry people with lots of weapons manage to treat other human beings this way, particularly Buddhist monks. My father was once imprisoned as a Buddhist student in Vietnam. This could have happened to him, or anyone who has tried to speak out against a repressive authority.

Sadly, this is not the first time that a military junta has taken over a country and massacred a population. Look at the Dirty Wars in Argentina. Or Pol Pot in Cambodia. Or ethnic cleansing in Darfur. This is not a new phenomenon. As the article states, it's not even a new event in Burma. The democratically elected president has been under house arrest for 11 years, and previous protests in Burma ended just as violently. It's just that thanks to Youtube, Facebook, and Google, we are just made aware of it rather instantaneously.

Anyway, despite history unabashedly repeating itself, I refuse to get disillusioned with the world, and I refuse to be apathetic. I believe in karma, and I guess you could say that's why I've decided to go into medicine. For every person that has died brutally and unnecessarily, I will hopefully improve or save a life. Obviously I wouldn't be able to stop military madmen with rational thought, compassion, and a stethoscope. But I could perhaps contribute to a community to provide health care and help instill ideals of compassion, personal liberty, etc. etc.

I guess my point is, ok, maybe all we can do with respect to an actual event like this is mourn for the dead and pray that the problem will get resolved peacefully. But it also pays to look at the way you personally treat people and the way you live your own life. Are you as aware of your own surroundings as you could be? Are you doing the most you can to help out your immediate environment? I think it's actually a trickle-up effect, where democracy and peace must start at the civilian level. And more importantly, we can't have so much amnesia that as soon as the rush of media is gone, we forget and move on. Never forget Las guerras sucias...never forget Pol Pot...never forget Darfur. History inevitably creeps up on us, and if we continue forgetting the past, every time it happens again, we've taken a few steps backward and have to start over with the peace-building process.

Don't mourn for these deaths because they are shocking. Mourn because they are not. Not even remotely.