UNLEASHED, UNCUT, UNREAD



11.14.2005

Always good to know

So i was looking at my world map yesterday (seriously) and focused in on that ever-neglected country Burma (Myanmar). I was thinking how odd it is that a country of fairly significant size (slighly smaller than Texas) in an ever-increasingly important region in the world receives hardly any press. So i was thinking, what the hell's going on in Burma?

Well, today I found out. Apparently, the ruling military Junta packed up their supplies (and government) and headed out of the capital, Yangoon (alt. Rangoon), northward into the mountains. Somewhere about 200 miles north of Yangoon now sits the Burmese government. Just chillin'. Chillin' up in the Burmese mountains at their new pad called Pyinmanaa. This is weird, right?

But it's really not that big of a deal, though, because "foreign diplomats said they were told that if they had urgent business with the relocated government, they could send a fax but that no number was yet available." So it's not like they're completely outty-5. Offering the explanation that they needed to find a "more centrally located government seat", alternative theories seemingly now abound. At the top of the list sits speculation that top Burmese officials fear an imminent invasion by the United States, and hence, withdrew to their fortified bastion in the mountains.

Is this what will finally push the US and China over the brink and into the potentially catastrophic throes of WWIII. Burma? Myanmar? According to them, maybe. As young military recruits in Burma are instructed by their superiors, "you are the holding action against the Americans until the Chinese come to our aid".

And now I know what's going on in Burma.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice work, pal. Learning is cool.

Myanmar has long been on the State Dept. travel advisory list and is considered one of the worst human rights violators in the world for their treatment of religious minorities. FYI Aung San Suu Kyi was the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work in human rights in Burma. Not a place I'm spending my next vacation; nope, saving that for Beirut which is even more verboten for American tourism.

Phil said...

I guess that means I should cancel my Mormon mission to Rangoon early next year, huh? Or atleast leave behind the MoMoMo (Mormon Motocross Mobile)...

as for you, you might want to consider planning a few days somewhere safer, like Sadr City, or the DMZ, or Rio's favelas.