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Published on October 7, 2007

Than Shwe first introduced Gambari to S-1 Lt-General Thein Sein (his crony), then General Shwe Mann and Senior General Maung Aye last. Military protocol requires Maung Aye to be introduced first according to military rank, then Shwe Mann and then Thein Sein.

We are willing to negotiate in good faith with General Maung Aye. The UN or Asean can facilitate secret negotiations. China is a party to the conflict and cannot play the role of a neutral mediator.

The US can introduce a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution requiring the deposit of all oil and gas revenue in a UN trust fund to be used only for approved humanitarian expenditures. This type of sanction would help the people of Burma.

The elected government of Burma can also invite 10,000 EU and US Peacekeeping troops to Rangoon to facilitate the investigation of the mass murders committed by Than Shwe and his cronies.

We are not afraid of the Chinese veto at the UNSC. We will let them use up their political capital and goodwill. It will tarnish their Olympic Games.

Myint Thein

Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance

Dallas, Texas

Burmese struggle has wider implications for all

We have posted new compilations of photography from the Free Burma Rangers, taken since the end of last year. This should remind everyone that the crimes of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) extend well beyond the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. For so many reasons, but foremost to end the scorched-earth campaign against Burma's ethnic nationalities, Than Shwe and his fellow generals must go. The photos can be viewed at: http://www.dictatorwatch.org/phmain.html

A struggle for freedom is underway in Burma. Fifty million people are attempting to break a yoke of oppression that has been in place for 45 years. They are being led by:

l Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was unable to see her husband before he died; who has been separated from her children for years; and who has been under house arrest for well over a decade.

l Former student leaders, such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, who have already endured imprisonment for ten or fifteen years or more, and who are in prison once again, suffering medieval nightmares.

l Ethnic leaders, who have seen their people driven from their homes, and raped and murdered.

l And monks, Buddhist monks, who retired from the everyday world to seek spiritual truth and enlightenment, but who have been yanked back because their society is so depraved that they have had no choice but to try to help, and who have suffered beatings, murder and imprisonment as a result.

Faced off against the people and their leaders is a tyrant, Than Shwe, so savage that only the worst names in all of human history compare. Yet because he controls one thing and one thing only - money - the natural wealth of the country, he receives virtually universal support from the rest of the nations of the world.

While a few, a very few, of its members stand against the junta, the United Nations as a whole, the institution that many people would like to see be the most powerful on earth, fully backs the SPDC.

By allowing China and Russia to block action in the Security Council, and through the inaction of the Secretariat itself, the UN is the enemy of freedom for Burma. It also inhibits assistance from any and all specific nations, by enabling the argument: "If the UN can't or won't do anything to help, how can we?"

This is an epic struggle of right against wrong: of good against evil. Moreover, it is about much more than Burma. It is about the course the world is taking, and the purpose of society. Is it to protect human rights, and nature, or to make money? We, the people, want the former. But the nations of the world, meaning political leaders and the corporate interests that they serve, want the latter.

How this struggle will turn out is difficult to predict. One possibility is a world of rampant and uniform repression, and a devastated ecology. The other is a world at peace, and among all species. Burma is not only a symbol of this larger and deeper contest; it could be the key.

Roland Watson

Dictator Watch

Bangkok

Immediate action needed to stop junta's horrific acts

Re: "Eyewitness says monks beaten, tortured and killed in monastery raid", Letters, October 6.

I read with utter dismay the information contained in this letter.

John Shepherd's friend's graphic descriptions of the happenings under this brutal regime are unbelievable and very disturbing.

How much longer can the countries of the world allow this evil government to continue to persecute their own monks and citizens without taking action?

This is no different than the war in Yugoslavia between Christians and Muslims when Nato took action to stop the genocide. The global community should take the following actions now, so that these evil and barbaric generals can be removed forthwith:

l These military leaders should be charged with crimes against humanity.

l All international flights to and from Burma should be cancelled.

l All business deals should be suspended.

l All Burmese embassies should be closed.

l The Olympics should be boycotted.

We read that the entire civilised world wants dialogue with the junta, yet no sooner did the UN representative leave than civilians were being rounded up and killed along with Buddhist monks and abbots.

Now is the time to act. My thoughts and prayers go to the citizens of Burma. People power will win in the end. The eyes of the world are on you.

Ajarn Bob

Bangkok

Soldiers must be loyal only to king and country

General Anupong Paochinda's, the new Army commander-in-chief, reshuffled 215 senior officers evidently to gain control in areas once commanded by General Saprang Kalayanamitr - and his actions are similar to those taken by his predecessors.

In a truly professional army, such reshuffling would not be necessary, because each officer's loyalty should be to his king and country - not to his superior officers per se. He is thus duty-bound to follow all lawful orders - regardless of who issues them, and if his superior officer issued a command that went counter to what the officer viewed as loyal and lawful (such as ordering a coup against a legally elected government) - the officer must decline to obey. Along this vein, I believe that the Nuremberg trials established once and for all that an officer is accountable, and hence punishable, for following unlawful orders issued by a superior officer.

I suggest that our Army should be professional enough that officers' loyalties to the common good not be doubted by their commanders. Thus, we should have transparent, job-related, measurable key performance indicators for each senior position, and promotions made on that basis. Personal loyalty to one's commander, year of graduation, or kinship would play no part in such evaluation.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

There are no guarantees in US presidential politics

It seems that nearly everyone is convinced that Hillary Clinton is going to be the next Democratic nominee for president and probably the next president.

 My what short memories we have! I remember in 1968 when George Romney (the late father of current Republican contender Mitt Romney) was a front runner for the Republican nomination for president but then said he had been "brainwashed" about Vietnam. The American people didn't want a "brainwashed" president and Romney then went down so far in the polls that he dropped out of the race before the first primary.

 In 1972, senator Ed Muskie was the front runner for the Democratic nomination for president only to get knocked out of the race by a man nobody thought had a chance of winning - George McGovern. (Unfortunately McGovern was much more talented at getting nominated than at getting elected and went on to lose 49 out of 50 states in the general election. Poor George!)

 Four years ago at this time, Howard Dean was more ahead of John Kerry in his bid for the Democratic nomination than Hillary Clinton is ahead of Barack Obama. Yet we all know what happened to Dean.

 Obama has charm and money and unlike Clinton has been consistently against the war in Iraq. Don't underestimate him. This race ain't over yet.

Eric Bahrt

Chon Buri