THE BURMA MILITARY JUNTA DRUGLORD COMMUNIST THUG AND GOON DICTATORSHIP MUST GO

BURMA 2007 ANTI-COMMUNIST RIOTS BY MONKS AND OPPRESSED BURMA MINORITY INDIGENOUS HILLTRIBE PEOPLES

On a day AMERICAS BEST PRESIDENT EVER-President Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against the junta, truckloads of soldiers converged on Yangon after the monks, cheered on by supporters, marched out for an eighth day of peaceful protest from Yangon's soaring Shwedagon Pagoda, while some 700 others staged a similar show of defiance in the country's second largest city of Mandalay.The protest is not merely for the well being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future one monk told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals from officials.People do not tolerate the military government any longer.President Bush accused the military dictatorship of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, of imposing a 19-year reign of fear that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable. The 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and the meeting ban were announced late Tuesday through loudspeakers mounted on vehicles cruising through the streets of Yangon and Mandalay, said witnesses. The announcement said the measures would be in effect for 60 days. The measures, after a week of relative inaction by the government, throws down a challenge to its opponents. Should the protesters defy the new regulation, the junta will have no choice but to use force or back down.Using force, especially against monks, who are revered in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, might intimidate some people, but could also stir anger against the regime at home and abroad. So far, the government had been handling the monks gingerly But backing down would also carry the risk of emboldening protesters even more

The junta sent 10 truckloads of troops Tuesday evening to Yangon's Sule Pagoda, a focal point of the protests. Troops had been discreetly stationed in the city for the past few days, diplomats said. According to an ethnic guerrilla commander, among the army divisions dispatched was the 22nd, which joined the suppression of the 1988 uprising when the military fired on peaceful crowds and killed thousands, terrorizing the country. The demonstrations in Yangon reached 100,000 Monday, becoming the biggest since a pro-democracy uprising 19 years ago. Authorities did not stop them, even as they built to a scale and fervor that rivaled 1988 Joining the monks Tuesday were members of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party or NLD, as well as university students. They marched more than a mile to the Sule Pagoda under the scorching sun.

As the protests escalated, ordinary people in Mandalay began joining the monks or following on foot, motorcycles, bicycles and trishaws. But many still appeared afraid to show open support.I support the monks. However, if I join them, the government will arrest me, said a man selling belts at a Mandalay market. He declined to give his name, fearing reprisals.On Monday, the head of Myanmar's official Buddhist organization ordered monks to stick to learning and propagating their faith, saying young monks were being compelled by a group of destructive elements within and without to break the law," the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported These agitators included NLD members, remnants of the defunct Burmese Communist Party and some foreign radio stations, Religious Affairs Minister Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Maung was quoted as saying in the same report

The current protests began Aug. 19 after the government sharply raised fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962. The protests over economic conditions were faltering when the monks took the lead last week, assuming a role they played in previous battles against British colonialism and military dictators. At first the monks simply chanted and prayed. But as the public joined, demonstrators demanded dialogue between the government and opposition parties, freedom for political prisoners, and adequate food, shelter and clothing. Some monks could be seen trying to keep the crowds from shouting overtly political slogans.

The fleeting appearance Saturday of Suu Kyi at the gate of the Yangon residence where she is under house arrest squarely identified the protests with her NLD's longtime peaceful struggle. She has been detained for 12 of the past 18 years. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Tuesday that Suu Kyi should lead the country. I for one thought it was brilliant to see Aung San Suu Kyi alive and well outside her house last week.I think it will be a hundred times better when she takes her rightful place as the elected leader of a free and democratic Burma. Laura Bush continued to use her moral authority today in a Wall Street Journal editorial and called for new leadership and an end to the terror in Burma.

The military Junta in Burma has been leading an inhuman campaign against Buddhist monks and nuns as well as civilians calling for reform. The situation intensified last month when 10,000-20,000 monks began leading prayer vigils for peaceful reforms in the streets. The numbers soured to 100,000 people walking the streets calling for reform when civilians were inspired to action. The illegal military regime began firing at the peaceful monks then began a day and night raids on Buddhist monasteries as the first Lady describes in her Wall Street Journal editorial, “It is 2 a.m. in Rangoon, Burma. In the middle of the tropical night, army troops pour into the neighborhood surrounding a peaceful Buddhist monastery. The soldiers occupy nearby homes, so that residents will not peek through their windows or go outside to witness the raid. Troops then storm the monastery, brutalizing, terrorizing and arresting the monks inside.” The First Lady continues to describe the mistreatment of the monks. “Eventually the monks are imprisoned inside Rangoon's former Government Technical Institute. According to one eyewitness, hundreds are crammed into each room. They have no access to toilets or sanitary facilities. Many of the monks refuse food from their military jailers.” She called for new leadership in Burma "They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma [Myanmar] governed by legitimate leaders. The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition -- there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma," Laura Bush rcognized the military's 'advantage of violent force' but warned that the opposition has 'moral authority'. "The regime's position grows weaker by the day. The generals' choice is clear: The time for a free Burma is now." There have been reports of mass cremations in Burma to cover up the dead and even reports of the wounded being burned alive. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Mrs. Bush yesterday to thank her for her "unwavering support" for the people of Burma.

The massive actions and sacrifice by the Buddhist monks and nuns starring down guns with prayers may have been the most unified and organized act of higher consciousness reform since Ghandi organized 200 million people to reject British colonial rule. The military regime has appointed a senior official to begin a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's popularly elected National League for Democracy party. Mrs. Bush believes that the regime's appointment of Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi will be seen as a genuine effort toward national reconciliation when they release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners."All of that really shows the sacrifice that she is making for the people of Burma and the hopes that she has and the dreams that she has, to have free and democratic Burma that can join the rest of the world, and can flourish with all the resources Burma has," Mrs. Bush said. She said Aung San Suu Kyi shows the power of women to make a difference in the world. She said that, as countries emerge from oppression, women can help lead the way. She said she saw it first when she traveled to Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taleban in 2001. "All of the things we saw in Afghanistan made me then move on to look at other countries around the world, and, particularly, at the way women are treated in some of these countries," she said. "And, these countries can't succeed, unless everyone - both men and women - has a chance to contribute to their society." She said, in Afghanistan and in Burma, despite enormous problems, there is hope. She said she sees it in the faces of the Burmese who are taking to the streets to push their demand for freedom.

"There is hope - absolutely, there is hope for Burma," Mrs. Bush said. "And, I think that is one of the feelings we all get as we look at these images - this very cautious hope that, this time, the people have turned a page." Mrs. Bush said the Burmese have told the world they can no longer tolerate oppression, and the nation must move on.First lady Laura Bush is challenging Myanmar's military government, telling the country's dictators to help the nation move toward democracy or else "get out of the way" while pro-democracy activists put an end to the 19-year military junta. Bush, writing an op-ed in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, says the eyes of the world are now focused on the atrocities committed by the repressive rulers in the former nation of Burma, whose stranglehold on the country led to the arrests of hundreds of Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters over the past few weeks."The generals' reign of fear has subdued the protests — for now. But while the streets of Burma may be eerily quiet, the hearts of the Burmese people are not: 2007 is not 1988, when the regime's last major anti-democracy crackdown killed 3,000 and left the junta intact," Bush wrote. "Today, people everywhere know about the regime's atrocities. They are disgusted by the junta's abuses of human rights. This swelling outrage presents the generals with an urgent choice: Be part of Burma's peaceful transition to democracy, or get out of the way for a government of the Burmese people's choosing," the first lady continued.

Laura Bush, who rarely speaks about U.S. policy outside her pet causes of literacy and children's education, has taken an active role in speaking in support of Myanmar's democracy activists, saying she wants protesters to know the American people are with them. White House officials say U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called Mrs. Bush on Tuesday to underscore the need for continued international attention and to thank her for her unwavering support for the people of Myanmar. Asked out his wife's newspaper commentary after delivering remarks on a terrorist surveillance bill being debated in the House, President Bush gave a thumbs up sign to reporters. In the op-ed, Laura Bush says the U.S. government has frozen the assets of 14 members of the military government and banned entry to more than 200 people related to top junta officials. President Bush is preparing further U.S. sanctions against the dictatorship, Laura Bush wrote, while the British, Japanese and other nations try to squeeze Myanmar with financial and moral imperatives.

She also is quoted in USA Today, saying that the Bush administration is prepared to slap additional sanctions on Myanmar's military government if it doesn't start moving toward democracy "within the next couple days." The first lady wrote in her op-ed that pressure is being felt by Myanmar's leaders, who have agreed to send a representative to meet with jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. In her call for change, Bush appeared to assuage those who may be concerned about an overthrow of the military regime, saying that a bloodless coup would not result in the same kind of chaos that occurred in Iraq following Saddam Hussein's fall from power. Myanmar's top leader, Gen. Than Shwe, and his deputies "are a friendless regime. They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma governed by legitimate leaders. The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition — there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma," she said. "The regime's position grows weaker by the day. The generals' choice is clear: The time for a free Burma is now," she wrote.

Laura Bush, who rarely speaks about U.S. policy outside her pet causes of literacy and children's education, has taken an active role in speaking in support of Myanmar's democracy activists, saying she wants protesters to know the American people are with them. White House officials say U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called Mrs. Bush on Tuesday to underscore the need for continued international attention and to thank her for her unwavering support for the people of Myanmar. Asked out his wife's newspaper commentary after delivering remarks on a terrorist surveillance bill being debated in the House, President Bush gave a thumbs up sign to reporters. In the op-ed, Laura Bush says the U.S. government has frozen the assets of 14 members of the military government and banned entry to more than 200 people related to top junta officials. President Bush is preparing further U.S. sanctions against the dictatorship, Laura Bush wrote, while the British, Japanese and other nations try to squeeze Myanmar with financial and moral imperatives. She also is quoted in USA Today, saying that the Bush administration is prepared to slap additional sanctions on Myanmar's military government if it doesn't start moving toward democracy "within the next couple days." The first lady wrote in her op-ed that pressure is being felt by Myanmar's leaders, who have agreed to send a representative to meet with jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. In her call for change, Bush appeared to assuage those who may be concerned about an overthrow of the military regime, saying that a bloodless coup would not result in the same kind of chaos that occurred in Iraq following Saddam Hussein's fall from power. Myanmar's top leader, Gen. Than Shwe, and his deputies "are a friendless regime. They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma governed by legitimate leaders. The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition — there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma," she said. "The regime's position grows weaker by the day. The generals' choice is clear: The time for a free Burma is now," she wrote.

U.N. agencies and independent humanitarian groups rushed Monday to prepare assistance for victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, while awaiting a formal go-ahead from the military regime in the Southeast Asian nation.As the death toll climbed, Myanmar's isolationist government indicated a willingness to accept outside help. But details on how aid would be delivered were still to be worked out, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs."The U.N. team has been activated and is ready to supplement the effort of the government in responding to this disaster as soon as they receive visas," Byrs said.Some potential donors said governments and aid groups apparently would need individual approval to deliver supplies to Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.The United States said the junta had so far refused to allow an American disaster team in to assess damage to follow up on an emergency U.S. contribution of $250,000.

"That is a barrier to us being able to move forward," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. "We asked for permission, but the initial response from the government was that they were not inclined to let them in."German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in announcing he was making $773,000 available to German aid groups to help Myanmar, urged the military government "to allow an effective aid operation and to work together with international aid organizations."Relief agency representatives met in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, as well as in Bangkok, Thailand, to assess the damage and prepare supplies.U.N. officials said hundreds of thousands of people urgently need safe drinking water and shelter. The international Red Cross said Myanmar's national Red Cross society was already distributing supplies."Widespread destruction is obviously making it more difficult to get aid to people who need it most," said Michael Annear, regional disaster management coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.In Geneva, Carsten Voelz, operations manager for CARE, said the humanitarian group would need more staff in Myanmar. "We have received a long list of things that are needed, including shelter material, food, water purification stuff, tarpaulins and things like that," he said."We are basically standing on our toes, ready to run," he added.

The United Nations Children's Fund said it was working with other agencies and Myanmar's Red Cross to determine how it could help."We have five teams assessing the situation on the ground at the moment," UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said. "The situation seems to be quite difficult."Byrs, the spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the World Food Program has 500 tons of food in Yangon and planned to bring in more supplies.Voelz, of CARE, said the list of needed supplies "was put together in Bangkok based on our experience on what you need in situations like that. As humanitarian organizations we have worked in many cyclone situations, so we know what's needed."Other groups preparing aid included Save the Children, Oxfam and World Vision.The European Union said it was providing $3 million in urgent humanitarian aid for cyclone victims. "With every hour that passes, the news coming out of Myanmar gets grimmer and grimmer," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said. "This is a terrible catastrophe that demands a quick and effective humanitarian response." Yangon was mostly without electricity. The situation in the countryside remained unclear because of poor communications and roads left impassable by the storm. "Reports are coming out of the delta coast, particularly the Irrawaddy region, that in some villages up to 95 percent of houses have been destroyed," said Matthew Cochrane at the international Red Cross headquarters in Geneva.

US First Lady Laura Bush accused Myanmar's military rulers Monday of failing to warn their citizens in time about a killer cyclone and pressed the junta to accept US aid in the disaster's wake."Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path," Bush said in an unusual appearance at the White House briefing room podium."It's troubling that many of the Burmese people learned of this impending disaster only when foreign outlets, such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, sounded the alarm," she said. Washington calls the country Burma.Bush, who has taken a leading role in shaping US policy towards Myanmar, said Washington "stands prepared" to increase its assistance well beyond an initial emergency 250,000-dollar outlay by the US embassy in Yangon.She declined to give a precise dollar figure, saying the junta first had to allow a US disaster assistance response team into Myanmar to assess the scope of the devastation from Tropical Cyclone Nargis' weekend rampage."I can't speak to how large that would be. But I feel assured that it would be substantial, if we can give it," she said, promising help to provide water, sanitation, food and shelter.Bush made clear any assistance would go through the United Nations or international nongovernmental organizations -- and not directly to a regime under US sanctions for failing to embrace democratic reforms.

"I hope that the military will realize they have to accept aid from everybody they can possibly accept it from. And maybe that will be the something good that can come out of this terrible destruction," she said.With the official death toll at 10,000 and expected to rise sharply, Bush declared that "the response to the cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs."Bush also warned the regime off holding a planned constitutional referendum Saturday and said that US President George W. Bush on Tuesday would sign a law giving imprisoned democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest civilian honor that US lawmakers can bestow."That's important," said the first lady, who called the award a way to "let the people of Burma know that the United States is standing with them."She also denounced the referendum, saying the regime "orchestrated this vote to give false legitimacy to their continued rule" and that "it would be very, very odd, I think, if they went ahead."Laura Bush cited violence against the opposition and noted that Aung San Suu Kyi -- under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years, following her party's sweeping victory in 1990 elections that the junta set aside -- would be barred from holding office under the draft constitution."If it proceeds under current conditions, the constitutional referendum they have planned should not be seen as a step toward freedom, but rather as a confirmation of the unacceptable status quo," said the first lady."We appeal to China, India, and Burma's fellow ASEAN members to use their influence to encourage a democratic transition," she said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.At the same time, Laura Bush acknowledged Washington had "only anecdotal" evidence that its sanctions -- which the US president further tightened last week -- were having an effect on Myanmar's leaders.Asked whether she worried that US aid might not reach Myanmar's people, Laura Bush replied: "I'm worried that they won't even accept US aid."The source of such concerns was unclear. The head of a UN office that coordinates humanitarian aid said the junta had shown their willingess to accept such aid.

BURMA NEWS

BURMA MILITARY DICTATORS AND OPIUM DRUGLORD THUGS AND GOONS GAVE NO WARNING TO CIVILIAN POPULATION ON CYCLONE THAT DESTROYED BURMA. THE CHINA COMMUNIST CONTROLED BURMA COMMUNIST JUNTA ONLY SAID THAT THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM WILL TAKE PLACE THIS WEEK AS PLANNED-STOPPING OPPOSSITION NLD AND ELECTED PRESIDENT DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI FROM ANY INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY BURMA GOVERNEMENT AFFAIRS. THE COMMUNISTS DICTATORS ARE OUT OF TOUCH.

Foreign aid workers in Burma have concluded that as many as 50,000 people died in Saturday’s cyclone, and two to three million are homeless, in a disaster on a scale comparable with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The official death count after Cyclone Nargis stood at just under half that by 1300 GMT today, at around 22,500 people dead plus a further 41,000 missing. But due to the incompleteness of the information from the stricken delta of the Irrawaddy river, UN and charity workers in the city of Rangoon privately believe that the number will eventually be double that. "We are looking at 50,000 dead and millions homeless," Andrew Kirkwood, country director of the British charity Save The Children, told The Times. "I’d characterise it as unprecedented in the history of Myanmar and on an order of magnitude with the effect of the tsunami on individual countries. It might well be more dead than the tsunami caused in Sri Lanka." The death toll in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day 2004 was 31,000, second only to the 131,000 who died on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Eleven countries were affected. Four days after the Burma cyclone there is wretchedly little hard information about the victims. Seven townships have been designated as "priority one" disaster areas, because between 90 to 95 per cent of the buildings have been destroyed.

"Anything less than 60 per cent destroyed is not being counted as a priority at this stage by the government, which gives some indication of the scale of the problem," said Mr Kirkwood. According to the Burmese Government’s figures at least 10,000 people have died in the town of Bogalay alone. Foreign aid agencies have reported scenes of devastation, with corpses still littering the rice fields and desperate survivors without food or clean drinking water. They are either without shelter or crammed into whatever buildings remain standing. Burma's junta refused foreign aid after the 2004 tsunami, in which between 60 and 600 of its citizens are reported to have died, but this time the sheer scale of the slowly emerging disaster seems to have forced it to change its mind. "We will welcome help . . . from other countries because our people are in difficulty," said Nyah Win, the Burmese Foreign Minister, in a rare television appearance. Cyclone Nargis ripped across Burma's agricultural heartland with violent winds that reached speeds of 120mph (193km/h), destroying buildings and fields, toppling trees and washing away roads in the vital rice-growing area of the Irrawaddy delta. It flattened shanty towns and downed power and phone lines in the sprawling port city of Rangoon, Burma's former capital and home to five million people.

The price of staple foods such as rice, eggs, cabbages have doubled and even quadrupled in some areas. Bernard Delpuech, a European Union aid official in Rangoon, said that the junta has sent three ships carrying food to the delta region, which is the rice production centre for Burma’s 53 million people. Nearly half the population live in the five disaster-hit states. UN agencies have handed out what supplies they had from stockpiles in Burma, and are preparing to fly in further emergency food, shelter and medicines to prevent epidemics and starvation inflicting a second disaster. Today private frustration was growing among aid organisations, however, that although the junta has publicly invited assistance, bureaucracy is impeding the granting of visas to allow foreign workers into the country. As delays drag on, living conditions for the victims is getting worse. "The power is off, most people don't have water. They are relying on wells, and getting it out of the Inle Lake which is not clean. There is a risk of disease - if people are living together in close proximity then an outbreak of diarrhoea is just a matter of time," said Mr Kirkwood.

The generals – who have traditionally regarded overseas aid workers as spies – have turned down an offer from the US State Department of $250,000 (£125,000) in help and a disaster assistance team, suggesting that it remains selective about whom it accepts. The move prompted a rebuke from President Bush. "The military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," Mr Bush told reporters, adding he was prepared to make US naval assets available for search and rescue. The generals lifted the state of emergency today in three of the five worst-affected states, and also in parts of Rangoon and Irrawaddy, and announced that there was no immediate food crisis in Burma. "I think there was some damage to rice stored by private merchants and growers, but we have enough surplus for domestic sufficiency," said Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the Burmese Information Minister, at a press conference in Rangoon. The United Nations World Food Programme fears that the cyclone and flooding in two major rice growing areas could also affect food supply in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The generals confirmed that a controversial referendum on Burma's new constitution, part of its "roadmap to democracy", will go ahead on May 10, although they conceded that it would have to be delayed by two weeks in Rangoon and Irrawaddy states until May 24. The ruling provoked an outcry from opposition politicians, who say that all the country's efforts should be focused on getting aid to the suffering, rather than delivering ballot boxes and conducting an election. Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned Burmese opposition leader, has urged followers to boycott the referendum, saying that the draft constitution leaves power still in the hands of the military. The junta has moved even further into the shadows in the last six months due to widespread outrage at its bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks in September. The US and EU states have imposed economic sanctions. In the past, humanitarian aid programmes have also been limited because of fears that they would benefit the generals. Mr Bush today signed a law giving Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Medal of Honour, the highest civilian honour that the US Congress can bestow, calling her a “powerful voice” for freedom.

1,500 dead in the southern United States in Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 4,400 dead in Bangladesh in Cyclone Sidr last November, the most recent violent storm to hit South-east Asia 9,000 dead in Central America in Hurricane Mitch in November 1998. Winds of up to 180mph, but most deaths caused by flooding and mudslides so extensive that the maps of Honduras and Nicaragua had to be redrawn 10,000 dead in east Indian state of Orissa in cyclone in October 1999. The winds were accompanied by a 26ft storm surge. Many died of starvation and disease as rescuers failed to reach them in time with aid 50,000 feared dead in Cyclone Nargis in Burma in May 2008138,000 dead in Chittagong region of Bangladesh in cyclone in April 1991. The 20ft storm surge brought massive flooding that left 10 million homeless 225,000 dead in 11 countries in the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004. 31,229 were confirmed dead in Sri Lanka and 131,028 in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra. The official death toll in Burma was 61, although witnesses put it closer to 600.