The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-009

Some possible illumination of what is going on in Myanmar:
“Monday’s seizure of power has abruptly ended the turbulent, tawdry relationship the West has had with Myanmar’s military, or Tatmadaw, for nearly ten years. Nothing says it’s over like a coup.
It’s worth reflecting on a pathology of ingratiation that defined the West’s total misread of the Tatmadaw as an institution, and its homegrown Napoleon, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. This doesn’t include repressive states such as China, Russia, Israel, Pakistan and Vietnam who have been long-term partners and arms suppliers, or Japan who has long had a special relationship with the Tatmadaw and generations of its leaders.
The basic methodology of understanding the Tatmadaw should have been a combination of words and deeds, and certainly the army’s history of coups, brutal violence, repression, clumsy propaganda and incompetence at all things governance, should have guided perceptions.
Misreading the Myanmar military’s mind

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 3 2021 14:42 utc | 301

Smith-286
Japan boasting of close ties with Myanmar? This isn’t 1943… Heck, they’re delusional if they think Myanmar has close ties with the West, it had and will have close ties with China, anything else would be ridiculous. Heck, the key Mandalay-Kunming road was, under NLD government, one of the very few roads in the whole country whose construction works involved a degree of modern equipment – as in road-rollers instead of dozens of locals pounding stuff by hand.
And indeed, about China vs US reactions, my local contacts are adamant that Western countries shouldn’t go the sanctions way – they’ve suffered through 50 years of this shit and know well that it only hurts the people and never the men in charge. They should find other ways to put pressure on the junta.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 3 2021 14:51 utc | 302

Just like the Nazis would do. Old habits die hard, I guess:
German nuns ‘rented’ orphaned boys to businessmen for ‘gang bangs & orgies’ – suppressed report seen by media
Speaking of Christianism’s bad habits:
Worshipped Remains of Early Christian in Rome Don’t Belong to Jesus’s Apostle James, Researchers Say
Christianity is the only institution and dogma in the world today that doesn’t have the burden of proof. When it states something is true, it is automatically the truth and it’s up to the archaeologists and historians to prove it isn’t.
This St. James remains is just one of such examples. The Vatican will now have to explain their subjects they worshiped the remains of a random guy who died more than 200 years before the birth of Christ.

Posted by: vk | Feb 3 2021 15:01 utc | 303

errata @ 304: *after [the birth of Christ].

Posted by: vk | Feb 3 2021 15:02 utc | 304

Grieved @ 275:

“…It becomes more clear now how dangerous and existentially panic-inducing that mirroring of the true, crass American was to many people who were completely divorced from the notion. They saw the portrayal as something incomprehensibly alien, and not as something they also owned a piece of.
Trump broke the spell, for those who cared to see it.”

You are speaking here of the rest of the world’s inability to cope with the US neo dark side, and I’d apply it also to New Zealand, which under John Key who got his stripes on Wall Street, sank further than other countries into the swamp, and is still having difficulty understanding how deep the mud goes. (My sister in a long distance phone call actually hung up on me for not celebrating Biden’s ‘reprieve’. I haven’t been able to talk politics with her since. “Trump bad VERY bad” has been the mantra down under.)
I’ll add though, that it was certainly US voters who saw clearly what the Clintons represented and were not having any more of it that turned the tide for Trump. I respect them very much. It wasn’t they who selected Biden.

Posted by: juliania | Feb 3 2021 15:36 utc | 305

Thanks to BM @ 243 for the analysis on the coup in Myanmar. Apologies for my tardiness – I spent too much time getting the garden ready for spring planting! This is a very rich thread, thanks to all.

Posted by: juliania | Feb 3 2021 15:51 utc | 306

Grieved @ 283:
“…I am so looking forward to China/Russia producing clean nuclear power and perhaps even being able to clean up some of the waste product littering the planet currently…”
I am still playing catchup, and apologies for my ignorance lately – I hadn’t resourced this thread sufficiently. This would certainly be a game changer, given the sad experiences we have had here in NM with nuclear, from the Navajo to Carlsbad salt caverns. I hadn’t seen karlof1’s posts on the moon exploration projects – fascinating stuff!

Posted by: juliania | Feb 3 2021 16:03 utc | 307

karlof2 @ 292 – I do intend to catch up, but my bi-monthly food trek to the nether regions awaits. Thanks for all you are posting.

Posted by: juliania | Feb 3 2021 16:06 utc | 308

Apparently Hezbollah has decided to start shooting at Israeli incursions:
IDF: Anti-aircraft missiles fired at Israeli drone from south Lebanon

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 3 2021 16:07 utc | 309

Peter Au 299
uncle sham the professional arsonist has been setting fire within China and all around its peripherals, Xinjiang, Tibet, HK, SCS, ECS, TW straits, Afpak, Balochstan, Gawdar etc etc.
This latest putsch in Myanmar smell fishy as hell.
Did fukus make a secret deal with the generals to topple Aung san, their out of favor ,former goddess of democracy ?
Make no mistake, her love fest with Xi is enuff to get her a bullet in the head.
No wonder the hitherto low key ethnic conflict in Myanmar suddenly exploded into an inferno and Aung san the NObel peace laureate become the evil witch of ‘Rohingya genocide’ overnite.
Whether this is another fukus caper or just your run of the mill coup in Myanmar, we can be sure that Washington is going to exploit it to the max to destabilise China and mess up its BRI proj in Myanmar,.

Posted by: denk | Feb 3 2021 16:23 utc | 310

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