Go monks, go monks, it's your birthday, it's your birthday, wooo

[adrena_line]

Buddhist monks spearheading the biggest anti-government marches in nearly two decades relaunched their protests in Myanmar's two major cities Tuesday, defying orders to stay out of politics. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092500098.html?hpid=moreheadlines)

Meanwhile, Bush is too busy leading an attack against a harmless newspaper ad, so he doesn't have time to support democracy in Burma. Oh, did we say that Burma doesn't have vast reserves of oil? We hear he'll mention something in his U.N speech about Burma, but don't expect anything more than lip service.

http://buzzflash.com/

[adrena_line]

Thousands of Burmese Buddhist monks and other protesters have been marching in Rangoon despite a crackdown that has reportedly killed at least one monk.

Monks' shaved heads stained with blood could be seen at the Shwedagon Pagoda where police charged against protesters demanding the end of military rule.
Some marchers started for the city centre while others headed for the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Security forces reportedly ringed six monasteries on the ninth day of unrest.
This is a battle of wills between Burma's two most powerful institutions, the military and the monk-hood, and the outcome is still unclear, the BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, reports.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif
Hospital sources in Rangoon told the BBC that at least one monk had been killed and that two others were in intensive care.
The monks were beaten with the back of rifles. Taxi drivers are transporting the injured to nearby medical facilities, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Other reports differ on the number killed with a monastery official telling Reuters news agency two monks had died while Burmese officials told AFP three monks had been killed.
Analysts fear a repeat of the violence in 1988, when troops opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing thousands.
The UN Security Council has called a meeting for 1900 GMT on Wednesday to discuss the clashes, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for talks with a view to sending an envoy to the country. He vowed there would be "no impunity" for human rights violators.

'Human shield'
A clampdown on the media by Burma's military government, which has banned gatherings of five people or more and imposed a night-time curfew, makes following the exact course of the protests difficult.
It is known that several thousand monks and opposition activists moved away from Shwedagon Pagoda, heading for Sule Pagoda in the city centre.
Reports suggest they were prevented from reaching it but other demonstrators did gather at Sule to jeer soldiers.
Troops responded by firing tear gas and live rounds over the protesters' heads, sending people running for cover.
Monks marching to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly urged civilians not to join them.
"We monks will do this, please don't join us, don't do anything violent," they were quoted by AFP as saying.
One witness quoted by Reuters said civilians were shielding the marching monks.
"They are marching down the streets, with the monks in the middle and ordinary people either side - they are shielding them, forming a human chain," the witness said.
At Shwedagon Pagoda, riot police charged against the protesters, leaving a number of monks and nuns covered in blood, some of them apparently seriously injured.
British embassy sources say at least 100 monks were beaten and arrested. Demonstrators were dragged away in trucks.
One BBC News website reader in Rangoon says armed and plainclothes police can be seen at key sites across the city. At City Hall, police are holding photos of the monks leading the protests, the reader says.
Two prominent dissidents, U Win Naing and popular comedian Zaganar, were arrested overnight.

'Different situation'
The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation.
Aung Naing Oo, a former student leader who was involved in the 1988 uprising and who now lives in exile in the UK, believes the junta cannot stop the protesters.
"There was only very little information about the killings. Now with the internet and the whole world watching I think it's a totally different story... monks are highly revered in the country."
US President George W Bush has announced a tightening of US economic sanctions against Burma.
The US already has an arms ban on Burma, a ban on all exports, a ban on new investment and a ban on financial services.

[KC Meat]

Aw man...how the hell are you gonna go and kill/beat somebody who's not even being violent?!...I can understand fighting back when people are rioting and attacking police officers, but when they are insisting upon non-violence and not attacking the military/police, how the fuck are you gonna run up and hit him/her in the head with your rifle?!...fucking rediculous...

[adrena_line]

Yep....

that's why I'm posting this :(

It's fucked :(

[Rodan]

I like the title of the thread. I'm not even going to read the article.

[Lindsay]

monks are .. ya know... generally NON violent, right?

/me sighs

[KC Meat]

Unless you piss them off, then they bust out their secret monk ninja skills...haven't you played Mortal Kombat? haha

Still lame they killed monks...at least let the monks kill themselves by lighting themselves on fire....

[adrena_line]

Wow. Shocking and ridiculous, eh?

Amy Goodman is my fucking hero btw.

[adrena_line]

I agree...I listen to DN almost every day

[Krook]

Stupid government...

Just like what happened when the country tried to do the same thing 20 years ago... People uproar and want changes... Gov't pulls out the big guns and shoots everyone til they stop.

But lets hope something happens positive for the country.

[HalveBlue]

Oh, did we say that Burma doesn't have vast reserves of oil?

You're wrong. Burma has oil. Lots. They also have a lot of natural gas and gemstone resources.

If you think American foreign policy is predicated solely on oil deposits you need to read more.

Burma isn't considered a strategic area of interest to the US. Besides, the Chinese, and to a lesser extent Indians, largely approve of the junta in Bruma as it keeps the country open to the respective countries' economic involvement. I doubt the US would get involved and risk pissing of either of those countries.

Even if the US did want to get involved what do you propose we should do? Launch a massive invasion with US troops a la Iraq? Taken aside the fact that we don't have the manpower to do so, what would be the strategy for Burma?

Don't get me wrong, I feel for the people of Burma, but this issue - and others like it - are vastly more complex than a "blood for oil" issue.