Word: burma
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...Burma's Agony Referring to the monk-led people's rebellion in Burma, your cover stated: "...the world is watching" [Oct. 8]. Was that intended as warning or reassurance? How often has the world watched conflicts begin, unfold and end without lifting a finger? We have seen much reporting, much handwringing, many U.N. speeches, fact-finding visits and economic sanctions, but very little effective action, preventive or corrective. Darfur is only one of many places where such action is needed but very little is done. Here's hoping Burma does not become another case. But if the situation does "evolve...
...blood of the peacefully marching Buddhist monks in Burma stained the whole nation. Burma has been a failed state since the military usurped power in the 1960s. Sadly, it is now almost beyond repair. The punitive, high-handed military junta continues to consolidate its power by oppressing not just the political opposition but the impoverished population. The economy is a shambles. Who will come to the aid of the suffering people of Burma? Venze Chern, Bangkok...
They pour out of the Shwedagon, an immense golden pagoda that is Burma's most revered Buddhist monument, two miles north of downtown Rangoon. The monks form an unbroken, mile-long column--barefoot, chanting their haunting mantras, clutching pictures of the Buddha, their robes drenched with the late-monsoon rains. They walk briskly, stopping briefly to pray when they reach Sule Pagoda. Then they're off again, coursing through the city streets in a solid stream of red and orange, like blood vessels giving life to an oxygen-starved body. Their effect on Rangoon's residents is electrifying. At first...
...economic misery that sparked the protests remains. Burma has a grave and worsening humanitarian crisis. Half of Asia's malaria deaths occur here; a third of the children under 5 years old are malnourished; most of its people live on less than a dollar a day. "People have been successfully intimidated into keeping their heads down--maybe," says Shari Villarosa, chargé d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Rangoon. "But it's still a struggle for them to survive--to feed and educate their families, to get health care. So there could be another eruption...
...that happens, what can the world do? There is already unprecedented international pressure on Burma, although its impact on this isolated and xenophobic regime is questionable. While I was in Rangoon, U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with both Suu Kyi (twice) and junta chief Than Shwe, but Gambari's efforts look unlikely to kick-start a dialogue between the two. Similarly, China's influence over Burma--and its willingness to use it--is probably exaggerated. Its U.N. Ambassador, Wang Guangya, has characterized Burma's troubles as "basically internal...