Thursday, October 04, 2007

Unarmed monks disappearing by the hundreds.

The situation in Burma looks hopeless. Monks, who have lead peaceful protests against the military dictatorship, have been beaten and killed. Hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of them have vanished. Buddhist Temples are instead patrolled by military thugs.

And pressure is mounting on Communist China, a major supporter of the military regime. China wants to pretend that their own dictatorship is a wonderful place to live. And while economic reforms toward liberal policies have been beneficial the Communists have not yet given the people of China real freedom.

I was astonished to see the BBC actually quoting one local man on the issue. He said: "I really want change, but they have guns and we don't, so they'll always win."

The reason the Founding Fathers enshrined the right to keep and bear arms in the U.S. Constitution was as a means to try and help keep the likes of George Bush under control. One never knows when a government will be become so tyrannical as to warrant an armed revolt. The time came to Burma long ago. But the people are disarmed and the military is slaughtering them.

The EU says they are prepared to impose sanctions, this on a country that has nothing to trade with, but more than sanctions are needed. I still believe that people in the West should be working to smuggle weapons to the people of Burma. And governments in the free world should do nothing to inhibit that. As for those governments they should make it clear that all members of Burmese occupying government are subject to international arrest warrants with one government after another saying they will enforce said warrants if any member of the Burma junta enters their territory.

The Chinese Communists are the ones who hold the keys. And they want to use the upcoming Olympics much the way Hitler used the 1933 Olympics -- as a propaganda tool. Hey folks, maybe it is time to spoil the party for the Chinese. I don't support governments interfering with the Olympics and forbidding athletes from attending. But I do support athletes and teams refusing to compete as long as China refuses to rein in their lapdogs in Burma. I also support world leaders and dignitaries announcing that they will boycott the Chinese Olympics individually.

The time to pressure China is now. I don't want trade sanctions, I think they are counter productive. But China deserves to be humiliated until they insist loudly and openly that the Burmese military leaders step down.

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