03-28-2021, 10:19 PM
*** 29-Mar-21 World View -- Myanmar/Burma protests turn into ethnic civil war
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Myanmar/Burma protests turn into ethnic civil war
****
![[Image: g210328b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g210328b.jpg)
Friday meeting between Russia's defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Myanmar's army leader Min Aung Hlaing to discuss Russia's support for the slaughter (Tass)
Saturday was the deadliest day yet of violence by the Myanmar/Burma
army since the February 1 military coup, and installation of a junta
headed by army leader General Min Aung Hlaing. In cities across the
country, some 80-100 peaceful protesters were killed on that day
alone, with no provocation, as the violence by the army is becoming
horrific and unrestrained.
These included children and even babies in their homes. Hundreds of
people have been killed, including a seven-year-old girl reportedly
shot dead in her home this week. Soldiers have also occupied major
public hospitals and attacked healthcare workers, including emergency
responders trying to help injured protesters.
According to reports, the security forces have occupied 36 hospitals
around the country and, in some cases, patients have been evicted from
these hospitals. (This is reminiscent of another war criminal,
Syria's Bashar al-Assad, specifically targeting hospitals with
missiles to prevent medical care.)
****
**** The 'silent strike' threatens a complete economic and healthcare collapse
****
Because peaceful street protests are being met with increasingly
horrific violence by the army, protesters are trying a new tack -- a
"silent strike." Starting Wednesday of last week, a growing number of
public servants, bankers, and employees in other key industries are
deserting their jobs en masse in a civil disobedience movement to
demand an end to the violence.
The junta has responded in the only way it knows how -- by going to
the homes of the strikers and arresting them. Several hundred public
servants and bankers have been arrested, according to reports.
Many doctors and nurses at major public hospitals have joined a
nationwide civil disobedience movement, which has severely constricted
healthcare delivery. The result is that the public health system has
come to a near standstill and the public health system teeters on the
brink of collapse.
****
**** As the violence increases, clashes with ethnic groups grow
****
As the violence grows into full-scale civil war, there are now growing
ethnic conflicts.
On Sunday morning, army fighter jets launched air strikes against a
region along the Thai border populated by the Karen ethnic group,
killing eight people. As a result of the air strikes, at least 3,000
people fled across the border into Thailand. There are already more
tha 7,500 refugees who have been living in refugee camps along the
Thai-Burma border.
The air strikes were in retaliation for attacks on the Burmese army by
the Karen National Union (KNU) on Saturday. At least seven members of
the military were captured. That was just the latest in a series of
skirmishes between the KNU and the army since the February 1 coup,
which the KNU opposed.
The Karen have been persecuted throughout Burma's history. In 2004, a
ceasefire between the Karen and the Burmese government was brokered,
but human rights abuses continue, including forced labor, village
burnings, arbitrary taxation, rape, and extrajudicial killings.
140,000 refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, are living in refugee camps
in Thailand, some for as many as 20 years.
Another ethnic group, the Kachin, have also been in clashes with
government security forces.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched simultaneous attacks on at
least four of the junta’s police battalions in a Kachin State township
early on Sunday morning. Up to 20 policement were killed, and the KIA
seized weaponry from the sites.
This situation is growing into a repeat of Burma's last generational
crisis war, an extremely bloody civil war (1948-1958) following
independence, and involving multiple ethnic groups, along with
intervention by the Chinese.
According to the Generational Dynamics 58-Year Hypothesis, which by
now has been well proven, a new ethnic civil war will not begin less
than 58 years from the end of the previous ethnic civil war. That's
because 58 years is precisely amount the time when the generations of
survivors of the preceding all die or retire, all at once, and the
younger post-war generations come to power. It has now been 63 years
since the end of the last ethnic civil war, so Myanmar is fully ripe
for a new ethnic civil war, and that seems to be what's happening.
****
**** General Min Aung Hlaing thanks Russia for its support
****
On Saturday, while Burma's army were slaughtering innocent Burmese
people peacefully conducting pro-democracy protests against the
February 1 coup, Burma's army held a massive parade and weapons
exhibition to celebrate Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the
army's rebellion in 1945 against Japanese occupation. At the
ceremony, the army leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that the
military would protect the people and strive for democracy.
Many countries in the international community had been expressing
horror at the ongoing violence in Myanmar. And yet, despite the
horrific ongoing violence, there were eight countries that sent
representatives to join Hlaing in the celebrations: Russia, China,
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
During his speech, Hlaing singled out one of these eight countries --
Russia. He welcomed the presence of the Russians at the ceremony and
said, "Russia is a true friend," having previously referred to Moscow
as a "loyal friend."
And indeed, Russia is a friend to war criminal Hlaing. Russia has
been a leading supplier of weapons to Burma's army. If you see
armored vehicles on the streets of Myanmar in videos, those vehicles
were almost certainly supplied by the Russians.
****
**** Conflicting strategies of Russia versus China in Myanmar
****
In Western media, Russia and China are often portrayed as having
similar relationships to Myanmar. This largely comes from the fact
that Russia and China jointly veto any attempt in the United Nations
Security Council to condemn Myanmar for its war crimes and genocidal
violence.
However, from Myanmar's point of view, the two countries are quite
different. Russia is geographically remote, while China shares a long
border. This means that Russia is simply a weapons provider, and
really doesn't how the slaughter in Myanmar evolves. General Hlaing
has cultivated defense ties with Moscow over the past decade to avoid
dependence on China, which is Myanmar's largest weapons supplier.
But the situation is much more complex for China. China is heavily
involved in building Myanmar's infrastructure, including a joint
construction project to build the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor
(CMEC), which is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The
CMEC focuses on 12 areas including basic infrastructure, construction,
manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resource
development and telecommunications.
Thus, it is critical for China that the Myanmar people not blame the
Chinese for the ongoing violence. There have already been attacks on
Chinese factories by groups claiming that the Chinese are supporting
the army violence.
That's why the Russians are able to express open support for the army,
while the Chinese are holding back, waiting to see what happens. The
Russians couldn't care less how many innocent civilians are
slaughtered, and don't care if they're blamed for it in some way. The
Chinese don't care either, but they have business interests in Myanmar
that outweigh any other considerations.
****
**** Irony and Karmic retribution
****
Buddhists are into Karma, and so it must have occurred to many of them
in Myanmar that there a great deal of irony in the the country's
situation, as well as Karmic retribution.
Since 2011, Burma's army has been committing atrocities on Muslim
ethnic Rohingyas living in Rakhine State, and I've written many
articles about this. The atrocities included gang rape, violent
torture, execution-style killings and the razing of entire villages,
in a scorched earth campaign. These atrocities have been cheered by
the ordinary Myanmar people, most of whom apparently hate the
Rohingyas.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi became a "useful idiot" for the army by presenting a
sympathetic, tired, weary, female face to the world, defending the
army to deflect the horrors and atrocities that are occurring in their
country. In 2019, the International Court of Justice in the Hague
held a trial on Burma's genocide, and Aung Sang Suu Kyi came and
defended the army, saying that nothing had happened.
So now, the worm has turned, as the old saying goes. The army had no
more use for the useful idiot Aung Sang Suu Kyi, so she's now in jail.
The horrors and atrocities that the army perpetrated on the Rohingyas
are now being perpetrated on Buddhist civilians. That is truly Karmic
justice.
I saw a Burma citizen being interviewed on the BBC about the violence.
He was asked about the Rohingyas, and asked how he felt about the
genocide and ethnic cleansing that went on. He said that he couldn't
speak out for the Rohingyas when the genocide was going on because he
would have been punished. But now, he says, the Rohingyas are his
beloved "brothers," and he welcomes their return to the country. It
makes you want to vomit, doesn't it.
I've been around a long time, and I've learned to believe in Karma.
People who do evil things eventually become the victims of their own
evil. It's sometimes phrased as "what goes around comes around,"
meaning that the evil circles back to the evildoer. There's no easy
explanation, except that people who are evil do stupid things, and
their stupid evil acts catch up with them. I've seen this many, many
times in my life, and the Karmic retribution going on in Myanmar today
is one of the best examples I've ever seen.
Sources:
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Myanmar, Burma,
Min Aung Hlaing, Thailand, China, Russia,
Karen ethnic group, Karen National Union, KNU,
Kachin, Kachin Independence Army, KIA,
Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Rohingyas, Rakhine State, Karmic retribution
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Myanmar/Burma protests turn into ethnic civil war
- The 'silent strike' threatens a complete economic and healthcare collapse
- As the violence increases, clashes with ethnic groups grow
- General Min Aung Hlaing thanks Russia for its support
- Conflicting strategies of Russia versus China in Myanmar
- Irony and Karmic retribution
****
**** Myanmar/Burma protests turn into ethnic civil war
****
Friday meeting between Russia's defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Myanmar's army leader Min Aung Hlaing to discuss Russia's support for the slaughter (Tass)
Saturday was the deadliest day yet of violence by the Myanmar/Burma
army since the February 1 military coup, and installation of a junta
headed by army leader General Min Aung Hlaing. In cities across the
country, some 80-100 peaceful protesters were killed on that day
alone, with no provocation, as the violence by the army is becoming
horrific and unrestrained.
These included children and even babies in their homes. Hundreds of
people have been killed, including a seven-year-old girl reportedly
shot dead in her home this week. Soldiers have also occupied major
public hospitals and attacked healthcare workers, including emergency
responders trying to help injured protesters.
According to reports, the security forces have occupied 36 hospitals
around the country and, in some cases, patients have been evicted from
these hospitals. (This is reminiscent of another war criminal,
Syria's Bashar al-Assad, specifically targeting hospitals with
missiles to prevent medical care.)
****
**** The 'silent strike' threatens a complete economic and healthcare collapse
****
Because peaceful street protests are being met with increasingly
horrific violence by the army, protesters are trying a new tack -- a
"silent strike." Starting Wednesday of last week, a growing number of
public servants, bankers, and employees in other key industries are
deserting their jobs en masse in a civil disobedience movement to
demand an end to the violence.
The junta has responded in the only way it knows how -- by going to
the homes of the strikers and arresting them. Several hundred public
servants and bankers have been arrested, according to reports.
Many doctors and nurses at major public hospitals have joined a
nationwide civil disobedience movement, which has severely constricted
healthcare delivery. The result is that the public health system has
come to a near standstill and the public health system teeters on the
brink of collapse.
****
**** As the violence increases, clashes with ethnic groups grow
****
As the violence grows into full-scale civil war, there are now growing
ethnic conflicts.
On Sunday morning, army fighter jets launched air strikes against a
region along the Thai border populated by the Karen ethnic group,
killing eight people. As a result of the air strikes, at least 3,000
people fled across the border into Thailand. There are already more
tha 7,500 refugees who have been living in refugee camps along the
Thai-Burma border.
The air strikes were in retaliation for attacks on the Burmese army by
the Karen National Union (KNU) on Saturday. At least seven members of
the military were captured. That was just the latest in a series of
skirmishes between the KNU and the army since the February 1 coup,
which the KNU opposed.
The Karen have been persecuted throughout Burma's history. In 2004, a
ceasefire between the Karen and the Burmese government was brokered,
but human rights abuses continue, including forced labor, village
burnings, arbitrary taxation, rape, and extrajudicial killings.
140,000 refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, are living in refugee camps
in Thailand, some for as many as 20 years.
Another ethnic group, the Kachin, have also been in clashes with
government security forces.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched simultaneous attacks on at
least four of the junta’s police battalions in a Kachin State township
early on Sunday morning. Up to 20 policement were killed, and the KIA
seized weaponry from the sites.
This situation is growing into a repeat of Burma's last generational
crisis war, an extremely bloody civil war (1948-1958) following
independence, and involving multiple ethnic groups, along with
intervention by the Chinese.
According to the Generational Dynamics 58-Year Hypothesis, which by
now has been well proven, a new ethnic civil war will not begin less
than 58 years from the end of the previous ethnic civil war. That's
because 58 years is precisely amount the time when the generations of
survivors of the preceding all die or retire, all at once, and the
younger post-war generations come to power. It has now been 63 years
since the end of the last ethnic civil war, so Myanmar is fully ripe
for a new ethnic civil war, and that seems to be what's happening.
****
**** General Min Aung Hlaing thanks Russia for its support
****
On Saturday, while Burma's army were slaughtering innocent Burmese
people peacefully conducting pro-democracy protests against the
February 1 coup, Burma's army held a massive parade and weapons
exhibition to celebrate Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the
army's rebellion in 1945 against Japanese occupation. At the
ceremony, the army leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that the
military would protect the people and strive for democracy.
Many countries in the international community had been expressing
horror at the ongoing violence in Myanmar. And yet, despite the
horrific ongoing violence, there were eight countries that sent
representatives to join Hlaing in the celebrations: Russia, China,
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
During his speech, Hlaing singled out one of these eight countries --
Russia. He welcomed the presence of the Russians at the ceremony and
said, "Russia is a true friend," having previously referred to Moscow
as a "loyal friend."
And indeed, Russia is a friend to war criminal Hlaing. Russia has
been a leading supplier of weapons to Burma's army. If you see
armored vehicles on the streets of Myanmar in videos, those vehicles
were almost certainly supplied by the Russians.
****
**** Conflicting strategies of Russia versus China in Myanmar
****
In Western media, Russia and China are often portrayed as having
similar relationships to Myanmar. This largely comes from the fact
that Russia and China jointly veto any attempt in the United Nations
Security Council to condemn Myanmar for its war crimes and genocidal
violence.
However, from Myanmar's point of view, the two countries are quite
different. Russia is geographically remote, while China shares a long
border. This means that Russia is simply a weapons provider, and
really doesn't how the slaughter in Myanmar evolves. General Hlaing
has cultivated defense ties with Moscow over the past decade to avoid
dependence on China, which is Myanmar's largest weapons supplier.
But the situation is much more complex for China. China is heavily
involved in building Myanmar's infrastructure, including a joint
construction project to build the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor
(CMEC), which is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The
CMEC focuses on 12 areas including basic infrastructure, construction,
manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resource
development and telecommunications.
Thus, it is critical for China that the Myanmar people not blame the
Chinese for the ongoing violence. There have already been attacks on
Chinese factories by groups claiming that the Chinese are supporting
the army violence.
That's why the Russians are able to express open support for the army,
while the Chinese are holding back, waiting to see what happens. The
Russians couldn't care less how many innocent civilians are
slaughtered, and don't care if they're blamed for it in some way. The
Chinese don't care either, but they have business interests in Myanmar
that outweigh any other considerations.
****
**** Irony and Karmic retribution
****
Buddhists are into Karma, and so it must have occurred to many of them
in Myanmar that there a great deal of irony in the the country's
situation, as well as Karmic retribution.
Since 2011, Burma's army has been committing atrocities on Muslim
ethnic Rohingyas living in Rakhine State, and I've written many
articles about this. The atrocities included gang rape, violent
torture, execution-style killings and the razing of entire villages,
in a scorched earth campaign. These atrocities have been cheered by
the ordinary Myanmar people, most of whom apparently hate the
Rohingyas.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi became a "useful idiot" for the army by presenting a
sympathetic, tired, weary, female face to the world, defending the
army to deflect the horrors and atrocities that are occurring in their
country. In 2019, the International Court of Justice in the Hague
held a trial on Burma's genocide, and Aung Sang Suu Kyi came and
defended the army, saying that nothing had happened.
So now, the worm has turned, as the old saying goes. The army had no
more use for the useful idiot Aung Sang Suu Kyi, so she's now in jail.
The horrors and atrocities that the army perpetrated on the Rohingyas
are now being perpetrated on Buddhist civilians. That is truly Karmic
justice.
I saw a Burma citizen being interviewed on the BBC about the violence.
He was asked about the Rohingyas, and asked how he felt about the
genocide and ethnic cleansing that went on. He said that he couldn't
speak out for the Rohingyas when the genocide was going on because he
would have been punished. But now, he says, the Rohingyas are his
beloved "brothers," and he welcomes their return to the country. It
makes you want to vomit, doesn't it.
I've been around a long time, and I've learned to believe in Karma.
People who do evil things eventually become the victims of their own
evil. It's sometimes phrased as "what goes around comes around,"
meaning that the evil circles back to the evildoer. There's no easy
explanation, except that people who are evil do stupid things, and
their stupid evil acts catch up with them. I've seen this many, many
times in my life, and the Karmic retribution going on in Myanmar today
is one of the best examples I've ever seen.
Sources:
- Burma / Cities terrorised as junta escalates lethal violence against public on Armed Forces Day (Myanmar Now, 27-Mar-2021)
- Myanmar air strikes send ethnic Karen fleeing to Thailand (AP, 28-Mar-2021)
- Myanmar army launches air strikes in Karen state, group says (Reuters, 28-Mar-2021)
- Burma (Myanmar) Karen Cultural Profile (World Relief North Texas, 26-Apr-2018)
- Myanmar’s post-coup healthcare breakdown (New Humanitarian, 25-Mar-2021)
- Myanmar embraces Russian arms to offset China's influence (Nikkei, 9-Feb-2021)
- Chechnya / Why the Myanmar crisis makes Russia choose between Muslim and Buddhist minorities inside (ISPI, Italy, 7-Sep-2017)
- Burma / Myanmar junta holds military parade with Russian attendance (Nikkei, 28-Mar-2021)
- Russia says it is seeking to strengthen military ties with Myanmar (Reuters, 26-Mar-2021)
- Russia to Deepen Ties With Myanmar Military Junta, Top Defense Official Says in First Visit After Coup (Moscow Times, 26-Mar-2021)
- Burma / Kachin Independence Army / KIA attacks police battalions in Hpakant (Myanmar Now, 28-Mar-2021)
- Burma / Thousands of Karen villagers flee as military continues airstrikes (Myanmar Now, 28-Mar-2021)
Related Articles:
- Myanmar (Burma) military coup as army arrests Aung San Suu Kyi government officials (02-Feb-2021)
- Thousands of ethnic Kachins flee from violence by Burma (Myanmar) army (29-Apr-2018)
- China puts army on high alert along border with Burma (Myanmar) (22-Nov-2016)
- Devastating UN report on Burma shows scale of ghastly atrocities by Buddhists targeting Muslim Rohingyas (04-Feb-2017)
- Meiktila, Burma, violence has echoes of Kristallnacht (05-Apr-2013)
- Generational history of Burma (Myanmar) (26-Sep-2007)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Myanmar, Burma,
Min Aung Hlaing, Thailand, China, Russia,
Karen ethnic group, Karen National Union, KNU,
Kachin, Kachin Independence Army, KIA,
Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Rohingyas, Rakhine State, Karmic retribution
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
