Midnight Monastery Raids

A friend emails this picture of a bloodied monastery floor along with a description of the tatmadaw's attacks. State media reports 9 people dead, but there is no compelling reason to trust that number. The Irrawaddy reports a monk has been killed.

Today should be the end of the "evil genius" theory of the junta's success, if there was any of that left after 2004. This response is just sloppy. Raiding monasteries and attacking members of the country's most high-status class will mobilize the Burmese in a way that shooting ordinary people would not have. A massive, violent show of force might have made sense; a targeted, limited warning attack on lay people may have made sense. Killing a monk and a Japanese expat is a sign of panic and disorder.

Comments

sage | September 27, 2007, 1:44pm | #

I wouldn't count on it, Ms. Howley. There's a reason that dude standing in front of a line of tanks in China was so noteworthy. FTMP, people are sheep.

highnumber | September 27, 2007, 1:46pm | #

That photo is disturbing. Keep up the reporting on Myanmar/Burma, Ms Howley. I hope the panic and disorder you perceive leads to some sort of peaceful end.

thoreau | September 27, 2007, 1:59pm | #

Good reporting, Kerry, and good luck to your friends over there.

On a different note, I wonder what Akira will have to say about a revolution led by the religious...

J sub D | September 27, 2007, 1:59pm | #

I hope the panic and disorder you perceive leads to some sort of peaceful end.

I hope it leads to the public executions of the ruling junta. Sometimes I'm not very nice.

Shelby | September 27, 2007, 2:06pm | #

people are sheep

A default rule that cannot safely be generalized to all situations. Marches of tens of thousands of people in the face of lethal force, as we've seen in the last few days in Burma, suggest that the sheep phase is nearly over.

Warren | September 27, 2007, 2:07pm | #

A massive, violent show of force might have made sense

Yes well, I'm sure they still have that one in their play book.

Warren | September 27, 2007, 2:14pm | #

Marches of tens of thousands of people in the face of lethal force

Not the same as marching in the face of certain death. If the junta puts that lethal force into action, and the marchers keep coming, then (and I think, only then) will we see a new day for Burma.

I hope this the end of the current regime. I hope it falls without (much) further loss of life. And most of all, I hope what replaces it, is better. You'll know peace and prosperity has at long last come to Rangoon when they get a Wal*Mart

REASON Commenter | September 27, 2007, 2:15pm | #

Who are these Monks trying to fool?
The Junta is just maintaining the wall of seperation between Church and State.

sage | September 27, 2007, 2:16pm | #

Shelby, I hope you're right. I didn't mean to sound so cynical, but I've had plenty of reason to be the last few years.

Timothy | September 27, 2007, 2:16pm | #

Thoreau: I think Akira will say, "TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

JW | September 27, 2007, 2:27pm | #

A spokesman for the monks told the international media on Thursday they are demanding the junta lower fuel prices, release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and begin a real dialogue with the democratic opposition leaders in the country.

For a pro-democracy movement, the lower price of gas demand seems a little odd to be in there.

Franklin Harris | September 27, 2007, 2:34pm | #

Timothy, That's Kaneda's line. Akira just sort of stands there.

ad | September 27, 2007, 2:36pm | #

Killing a monk and a Japanese expat is a sign of panic and disorder.

There was a lot of panic and disorder in the Chinese Communist Party before Tiannaman Square.

BakedPenguin | September 27, 2007, 2:51pm | #

Damn. I'd really like to send the Burmese people some good weapons. By the crate load.

Timothy | September 27, 2007, 2:57pm | #

Franklin: DAMN! Well, so much for that joke.

joshua corning | September 27, 2007, 3:54pm | #

Where can I get one of those cool green stools?

Timothy | September 27, 2007, 4:26pm | #

Home Despot, josh.

Nigel Watt | September 27, 2007, 4:35pm | #

Damn. I'd really like to send the Burmese people some good weapons. By the crate load.

Want to start a smuggling ring?

76 | September 27, 2007, 5:15pm | #

I'd be in on it, but would the monk's really use violence?

matthew hogan | September 27, 2007, 7:14pm | #

"Where can I get one of those cool green stools?"

Eat alot of a spinach-only diet.

BakedPenguin | September 27, 2007, 9:59pm | #

I'd be in on it, but would the monk's really use violence?

Probably not. *sigh*

Andrew | September 27, 2007, 11:46pm | #

JW- The 'price of gas' request is indicative of just how poor the country really is. It has less to do with the fuel itself, and more to do with how fuel prices have raised the cost of staple items.

Chavez is a thug | September 29, 2007, 12:46am | #

Maybe the monks in this monastery were running a private television station that had criticized the junta in some way or other. If such is indeed the case, I suspect joe will summon all his persuasive powers (as lacking as they are)to defend the generals involved. The rest of the left in this country will probably follow suit if it is discovered that universal health care is provided in Burma.