Than the man

I want to express my disgust for the Burmese military junta for not doing more to help the victims of cyclone Nargir. They are not letting aid organizations into the country freely, so far only a quarter of the 2.4 million affected have received aid. And journalists have extremely limited rights to move around in the effected regions and cover the misery. Through a reporter at the Guardian who managed to slip by government controls, we are given some insight into the ridiculous efforts made by the inhumane and despotic senior general Than Shwe. A camp of 40 tents is set up outside of Rangoon, 40 tents! The handouts of rice are so insufficient that villagers have to draw straws to decide who will get food and who won’t. The only full hearted effort from inside the country comes from Rangoon civilians who have set up small scale aid stations, handing out one cup of rice per person.

It is my hope that the government’s weak response will spur a general discontent with the junta, which will lead to mass protests, (which of course will be met by deadly violence) and later along the line with a little help from some foreign intelligence agency with selfish motives, a coup d’état. Then a western friendly, faux democratic regime is put in place, the country is opened up to western capitalist interests, and people will leave the countryside to work for slave wages at Nike or HM. Hm…

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