New at Reason

Tim Cavanaugh | January 7, 2005

Kerry Howley checks the fuzzy math in Myanmar's casualty statistics.

Comments

|1.7.05 @ 8:09PM|#

For anyone who, like me, goes looking for info in the CIA World Factbook when a nation you don't recognize is mentioned:

Myanmar is called Burma by the US Government.

|1.7.05 @ 8:55PM|#

What ever happened to all their road side rhyming ads for a shaving cream?

What happened to the shaving cream?

Obviously the name change was disasterous on sales.

KipEsquire|1.8.05 @ 8:07PM|#

Related: The 2005 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Burma second to last, behind only North Korea.

Warren|1.8.05 @ 9:45PM|#

The Story of Burma is actually quite tragic and instructive. You can find quite a few "free Burma" sites with a Google search that will tell you the whole story.

I have been citing Burma as the example that puts the lie to everything that Bush and Friends have been saying about why we had to get rid of Saddam. Hussein has nothing on Ne Win and the SLORC. If one were truly serious about mounting a crusade against evil in the world, they would surely start with Burma, but you won't hear a peep out of the White House, because they got no oil, and keep their terrorism domestic.

|1.9.05 @ 1:01AM|#

If one were truly serious about mounting a crusade against evil in the world, they would surely start with Burma, but you won't hear a peep out of the White House, because they got no oil, and keep their terrorism domestic.

I'd be willing to wager that less than 60% of the congress could locate Burma on a map...

|1.9.05 @ 11:48AM|#

On an only very vaguely related note, I have to recommend to any Philly Reason-heads the city's fantastic Burmese restaurant: Rangoon. It's on the edge of Chinatown and serves some of the best asian food in the area. It's also (sadly) the only reason I know where Rangoon is -- and that Burma is now called Myanmar.

|1.9.05 @ 4:08PM|#

Unfortunately for the Burmese, they don't arouse any of the fears or hopes of westerners. They don't fit any theories. Therefore they do not exist and anything that happens to them is of no interest to us.

They have only about .25% of the oil and 9% of the natural gas that Iraq has. They don't count in the "blood for oil" theory.

It's a damn shame for the Burmese.
They're Buddhists, not Muslims, so they're not likely to attack us. They don't count in the "clash of civilizations" theory.

They aren't seen as "historically oppressed". They don't count in the "white european guilt" theory.

The rebels aren't reputable, united or chic - some are commies, some are crazy and some are just disorganized. They don't count in the "freedom fighter" theory.

Democratic Karen Burmese Army (DKBA)
Eastern Shan State Army (ESSA)
God's Army
Kachin Defense Army (KDA)
Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)
Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO)
Karen National Union (KNU)
Mong Tai Army (MTA)
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)
National United Front of Arakan (NUFA)
United Wa State Army (UWSA)
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors

Ne Win, unlike Milosevic or Hussein, keeps a low profile and is not "de-stabilizing". He doesn't fit the "demon" theory.

It's a damn shame, but there it is.

|1.9.05 @ 8:08PM|#

Burmese dictators

Don't upset us

Because it's unlikely

They'll ever get us

Burma save

Burma save

Burma save

|1.9.05 @ 8:11PM|#

They don't plausibly have

W-M-D

And that is why

We will not free

Burma enslaved

Burma enslaved

Burma enslaved

David Rollins|1.10.05 @ 11:12AM|#

I'd like to urge all of you to visit Burma. If like me you missed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the chance to walk around and "marvel" at a repressive state, this is the next best thing. Spend a day in Bangkok to get a visa, then fly to Yangon (Rangoon). The daily english language newspaper is worth the price of the flight alone; it's straight out of Orwell's "1984".

What kills me is the large English language billboards throughout town -- since few people speak English, I assume it's directed at foreigners -- "The people do not tolerate intrusion into their affairs. Resist the evildoers who would seek to overthrow the revolution."

And the prices -- wow. Pack of Marlboros: 17 cents. Pack of premium local smokes (Duha): 2 cents. Train around town: half of one cent. Hire a driver and interpreter; trust me you can afford it, and it's the only way you'll get to talk to people in confidence about democracy, Buddhism, etc.

Mike:

Do they serve mohinga, the fish soup traditionally prepared at breakfast? This, along with pickled tea leaves and bamboo curry, are my enduring memories of Burmese cuisine.