MoA - Something Is Iffy In Myanmar - Only Ten Days After The Coup There Is Already A U.S-Style Color Revolution Countering It

February 10, 2021

Something Is Iffy In Myanmar - Only Ten Days After The Coup There Is Already A U.S-Style Color Revolution Countering It

On February 1 the military of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, launched a coup d'état. President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained, along with ministers and their deputies and members of the parliament. They were accused of some minor crimes and will be kept off the streets for some time. Aung San Suu Kyi party, the NLD which had widely won the latest election, will be prohibited.

All that was not astonishing and is unlikely to make a big difference in the politics within and towards the extremely complex country:

There’s no smoking gun, of course, but it’s virtually impossible that Beijing had not been at least informed, or “consulted”, by the Tatmadaw on the new dispensation.
China, Myanmar’s top trade partner, is guided by three crucial strategic imperatives in the relationship with its southern neighbor: trade/connectivity via a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) corridor; full access to energy and minerals; and the necessity of cultivating a key ally within the 10-member ASEAN.
...
None of that will change, whoever runs the politico-economic show in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Aung San Suu Kyi, locally known as Amay Suu (“Mother Suu”) were discussing the China-Myanmar economic corridor only three weeks before the coup. Beijing and Naypyidaw have clinched no less than 33 economic deals only in 2020.
...
Yet this is not all about China. The Tatmadaw coup is an eminently domestic affair – which involved resorting to the same old school, CIA-style method that installed them as a harsh military dictatorship way back in 1962.

The NLD and Suu Kyi had simply become to assertive and threatened to touch the commercial businesses the military runs. That could not be condoned.

There are several ethnic insurgencies ongoing in Myanmar. There is are a lot of warlords and off the record drug and weapon business. The NLD did not care about that nor will the military:

The [election] end result privileged the NLD, whose support is negligible in all border regions. Myanmar’s majority ethnic group – and the NLD’s electoral base – is the Bamar, Buddhist and concentrated in the central part of the country.
The NLD frankly does not care about the 135 ethnic minorities – which represent at least one third of the general population. It’s been a long way down since Suu Kyi came to power, when the NLD actually enjoyed a lot of support. Suu Kyi’s international high profile is essentially due to the power of the Clinton machine.

If you talk to a Mon or a Karen, he or she will tell you they had to learn the hard way how much of an intolerant autocrat is the real Suu Kyi. She promised there would be peace in the border regions – eternally mired in a fight between the Tatmadaw and autonomous movements. She could not possibly deliver because she had no power whatsoever over the military.

Without any consultation, the electoral commission decided to cancel voting, totally or partially, in 56 cantons of Arakan state, Shan state, Karen state, Mon state and Kachin state, all of them ethnic minorities. Nearly 1.5 million people were deprived of voting.

While Suu Kyi once had 'western' support, they gave her a Nobel Peace Prize, that has long been lost:

Suu Kyi’s biggest mistake was believing that she could, through her brand of nationalism, dismiss accusations of genocide directed against the Rohingya. In the process, she lost Western support. From that point, she has been on borrowed time, and the military barely hid its distaste for her.
To be sure, the military anticipated the impact and the reaction from the international community and took into consideration the new US administration’s preoccupations with domestic issues. Myanmar doesn’t even figure in the top 10 priorities of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy.

Given the above it is astonishing to see that only a few days after the coup happened the country is already experiencing a U.S. style color revolution.

Just consider this ABC News 'Explainer' which is typical for color-rev reporting:

EXPLAINER: How are the Myanmar protests being organized?

For the most part the protests have grown organically.
“This movement is leaderless — people are getting on the streets in their own way and at their own will,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent activist.

Activist groups, professional work groups, unions and individuals across Myanmar have all come out in opposition to the coup, as has Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
...
Health care workers also started a protest campaign, wearing red ribbons, holding signs and urging other medical staff to not work at state-operated health facilities.

Street protests over the weekend featured the heavy presence of unions, student groups and other groups representing professions as diverse as park rangers and book printers.

Yangon residents have voiced dissent by banging pots and pans together across the city at night.
...
Making the rounds have been copies of safety protocol information sheets, some of them originally from Hong Kong, with instructions on how to encrypt communications and how to stay safe during protests.

"The movement is leaderless," said one of its longtime leaders who is well known to this 'western' reporter. ...

The highlighted points are all standard attributes we have seen in other color revolutions around the world. This type of reporting by Reuters is also quite typical:

Myanmar's anti-coup protesters defy crackdown with humour

Protesters returned to the streets of Myanmar on Wednesday despite the shooting of a young woman the previous day, with some deploying humour to emphasise their peaceful opposition to this month’s military takeover.
...
“We cannot stay quiet,” youth leader Esther Ze Naw told Reuters. “If there is blood shed during our peaceful protests, then there will be more if we let them take over the country.”
There were no reports of violence on Wednesday and in many places protests took on a festive air, with bare-chested body builders, women in ball gowns and wedding dresses, farmers in tractors and people with their pets. Some set up a protest line in inflatable rubber tubs.

Thousands joined demonstrations in the main city of Yangon, while in the capital, Naypyitaw, hundreds of government workers marched in support of a growing civil disobedience campaign.
...
Earlier, soldiers took over a clinic that had been treating wounded protesters in Naypyitaw on Tuesday, a doctor there said.

The teenager was shot when police fired, mostly into the air, to clear the protesters.

Another sign of a color revolution are dedicated protester fan accounts which post pictures of people carrying English language signs. These are clearly color-rev public-relation efforts aimed at a 'western' public.

bigger

So this is evidently a color revolution effort against the military.

What is irritating with it is the speed with which it took off. Color revs usually require years of group building and leadership preparation. They need monetary and communication support as well as political directions from 'advisors' in 'western' embassies. Here it took only ten days to launch it.

In 2005 the Bush administration cultivated the Myanmar 'civil society' and Suu Kyi, who was then under house arrest. It popped up in the 'Saffron color revolution' in 2007 and with Cyclone Nargis in 2008 when the Bush administration tried to use Responsibility to Protect (R2P) nonsense to get a military foot on the ground.

But that all is a long time ago and after Suu Kyi had come to power there was no necessity to keep those efforts alive.

Then again - under Myanmar's 2008 constitution the military was still effectively in charge. Together with Suu Kyi's large win in the latest election there may have been an long planned 'western' attempt underway to finally unseat the military from its privileged position and to pull the country out of China's orbit.

But the chance for that eventually to happen is practically zero. Some 70% of Myanmar's population lives in rural areas. The protests occur only in the three big cities Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw and are relatively small. The military is ruthless and will have no trouble to take the protesters down.

Whoever launched this nonsense should be held responsible for endangering those people.

Posted by b on February 10, 2021 at 19:05 UTC | Permalink

Comments

I read in another article the Myanmar constitution allows the military to assume command if there is sufficient evidence of fraudulent elections.

The military announced from the very beginning of the new elections they suspected fraud and might intervene. So, the military is well within its rights to assume command and announced they will only maintain power for one year until new elections can held securely.

Given that, it could hardly be called a "coup".

Also, the western media and governments calling for a reversal of command and sanctions if the military does relinquish power surely mean the Myanmar military is correct in their belief the former leader was a puppet and probably elected with their help.

Posted by: Mar man | Feb 10 2021 19:22 utc | 1

Could it have something to do with the chinese offer for a military union with Russia? According to the german RT this was officially offered. RusStrat: China bietet Russland offizielles Militärbündnis an . However I have not found another source yet, for confirmation.

Posted by: Fran | Feb 10 2021 19:23 utc | 2

Fran | Feb 10 2021 19:23 utc | 2

I believe that Shoigu (Russian defence minister) was there in the week before the elections. So b's idea that this colour revolution has been planned for sometime is correct. Anything to get US military boots on the ground on the Chinese frontier. They don't care about the locals' either except as cannon fodder.
****
Red ribbons? I knew they were running out of colours for the regime change.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 10 2021 19:38 utc | 3

"They need monetary and communication support as well as political directions from 'advisors' in 'western' embassies."

In Ukraine they say that the most important element of a color rev is a generous supply of chemical toilets.

But what do I know, it could be different in Burma. Cultural differences.

Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | Feb 10 2021 19:40 utc | 4

My comment above should have been more clear.

The CIA is well known for interfering in elections worldwide for many decades. It is certainly reasonable to assume they interfered in Myanmar election this time.

Aung San Suu Kyi is a western darling gifted with a Nobel Peace Prize and studied at The University of Oxford. Many red flags popping up there.

Plus, as noted here in this article, the immediate western media mobilization against the transfer of power and flash mob protests similar to other color revolutions organized by the west is suspicious.

Posted by: Mar man | Feb 10 2021 19:42 utc | 5

Stonebird | Feb 10 2021 19:38 utc | 3

I agree with you an b, however the idea of such a union is not new and must have been discussed in us military circles for a while. But maybe I am just jumping to conclusions, without thinking properly about it.

Posted by: Fran | Feb 10 2021 19:50 utc | 6

Whatever happened to the LGBTQ volunteer brigade in “Rojava”?

Posted by: jayc | Feb 10 2021 19:56 utc | 7

Hopefully the brave military will remain strong against western aggression. /s

Posted by: Mike Adamson | Feb 10 2021 20:07 utc | 8

There may be a "color revolution" element, but the military coup d'état was gross, against all norms. Not to be excused.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 10 2021 20:29 utc | 9

Interference from the West would be for one reason only, to try to halt the 1,700 km BRI economic corridor from Kunming in China’s Yunnan province to Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then southward to Yangon and westward to Kyaukphyu. This corridor will help China avoid the bottleneck of the Straits of Malacca.
Kyaukphyu is where the Rohingya live, and is Myanmar's and eventually China's maritime gateway to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. So the Rohingya had to be moved.

Posted by: Hal Duell | Feb 10 2021 20:39 utc | 10

Aung San Suu Kyi was used as a pro-Western figurehead against the previous Burmese government. However, after a state visit to China in August, 2016, she voiced her support for BRI and BCIM. Coincidentally, less than 2 months later, a clash with ARSA in the Rakhine state started the "Rohingya Genocide". Interestingly, for a Muslim group dedicated to the liberation of Rohingya people (who speak Rohingya) from Myanmar (official language is Burmese), ARSA's official twitter is almost exclusively in English. Among the most vocal of her critics for the Rohingya genocide? Najib Razak of Malaysia, who was kept in power by American support.

It's probable that Aung San Suu Kyi was judged to be too unreliable; a regime change operation was already underway in the final months of the Obama administration, and was supposed to be completed in during Hillary Clinton's first term, but Trump winning the 2016 election derailed that operation. If that is indeed the case, it's not surprising for the fifth column to organize so quickly since the assets were already in place more than 4 years ago.

Posted by: Sid Victor Cattoni | Feb 10 2021 20:42 utc | 11

Rather than be commandeered by its own independent ugly greed it can now be yet another captured victim that belongs to the growing global, corporate owned, kiss-my-arse-or-else greed. How sweet is that? Ugh

Posted by: Carver | Feb 10 2021 20:48 utc | 12

Mar man @1--

Yes, your reading of Myanmar's constitution's correct and the military is acting within the boundaries set out in that document, and it has announced that it's operating within the constitution's mandate. Note that Biden and his goons say nothing to refute those statements and just act on their own as usual which violates the UN and ASEAN Charters. That Sputnik follows the Imperial Narrative is regrettable. I highly suggest reading this MK Bhadrakumar article b linked to above as it provides a great deal of background information. Also, Escobar at his FB has posted pictures from Myanmar daily since this began and NO English language placards were anywhere to be seen until the beginning of this week. Given the high level personages who visited Myanmar just last month, I suspect a trap is being sprung on those fomenting the Color Revolution, and that would be very welcome!

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 10 2021 21:00 utc | 13

Looking at that last photo in b’s post — somehow those persons do not look like their first interest is politics. Nor will many follow if those are the leaders. If this is all that can be done in the way of color revolution then US initiative has failed before it started. It is a colorful event for the cameras and for domestic (US) consumption.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 10 2021 21:14 utc | 14

FYI "iffy" is a poor word choice. It doesn't really fit.

When something doesn't add up and you suspect foul play, one might say that something is smelly/smells, or stinks.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:19 utc | 15

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 10 2021 21:00 utc | 13

I don't give a fuck whether this coup is within Myanmar's constitution or not (written by the military). It's a military coup d'état. Which is resisted by the populace. We will have to see whether they succeed.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 10 2021 21:22 utc | 16

... people carrying English language signs. These are clearly color-rev public-relation efforts aimed at a 'western' public.

Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy protesters blamed on Imperialist China in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:25 utc | 17

I'm not even sure the Chinese were actually consulted or given a heads up.

The dog that didn't bark here is India, If China was involved I'm sure Modi and his merry men will be all over it like flies on sh1t.

That's not too say the Tatmadaw may be trying to cozy up to China after turning its back in 2014, allowed NLD into the frame in 2015 and politically marginalized itself in the years that followed.

Another hypothesis is that the Tatmadaw is worried about their further marginalization should the civilian govt succeed in negotiating with the China on BRI programs.

One should also note the NED has more than 80 programs listed in their website in Myanmar. There are also others from UK, EU etc...

I may be reading tea leaves but i think there's more to this mess.

Posted by: A.L. | Feb 10 2021 21:30 utc | 18

Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy protesters blamed on Imperialist China in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:25 utc | 17

You know it.

p.s. OK b, noted.

Posted by: A.L. | Feb 10 2021 21:36 utc | 19

Sid Victor Cattoni @Feb10 #11

... Trump winning the 2016 election derailed that operation.

It's always amusing to see comments from Kool-Aid drinkers that believe that US President's control foreign policy or block the Deep State from doing whatever they please.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:36 utc | 20

By the way, the first banners I saw were not in English, only later did English language banners appear. Not difficult to draw the conclusions.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 10 2021 21:40 utc | 21

thanks b.... it is a complicated set up here as i see it...

@ 13 karlof1.... i shared the indian punchline from a few days ago on one of the other threads, but agree it is a good article from the indian angle... he has written another one that is definitely worth reading too from today - US reboots Quad in unseemly hurry i am quoting from it below :

"Suffice to say, those who are charioting the Quad are unrealistic to show impatience with Myanmar’s transition to a flourishing democracy and are visualising the military coup in a rather textbook fashion. They betray a lack of understanding of the country’s complex institutional and ethnic topographies and the indigenous origins of its turn to democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi’s stubborn refusal to play the western game or to be party to the weakening of the Myanmar military during the Rohingya crisis — her strident nationalism — must be put in the above perspective.

Clearly, Myanmar’s ethnic cauldron is like a tinderbox. The Muslim Rohingya activists already sense that a defining moment is coming for their struggle for independence. The spectre of dismemberment of the former Yugoslavia haunts Myanmar.

The US’ geopolitical considerations dictate that Thailand and Myanmar do not allow land corridors for China to the Indian Ocean to mitigate its so-called “Malacca Dilemma”. But, for the ASEAN countries — or India for that matter — a dismemberment of Myanmar and Thailand will almost certainly have domino effect.

The Quad is overreaching in the Biden Administration’s unseemly hurry to proclaim that “America is back.”

@ 16 laguerre.. it is odd for you to flip out like that... uncharacteristic of you...

@20 jackrabbit... the comment from Sid Victor Cattoni @ 11 was a thoughtful and intelligent one.. i am not sure why you are taking a potshot at it other then to repeat a viewpoint you have repeated here at moa countless times... you can do better then that..

Posted by: james | Feb 10 2021 21:43 utc | 22

Vaccine rare blood disorder
excuse the off topic but I think this is important enough.. people are being fired for refusing RNA script injections as substitute for a vaccination the script seems to be problematic?

Posted by: snake | Feb 10 2021 21:44 utc | 23

The US imposed sanctions on Myanmar military leaders long before Suu Kyi was permitted to run for office.
When she won the sanctions remained in place. Maybe they should have been lifted when she was elected.
https://www.state.gov/burma-sanctions/

Posted by: Joe | Feb 10 2021 22:00 utc | 24

James

I don't agree with color revolutions. A local issue is more likely.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 10 2021 22:01 utc | 25

@ laguerre.... i wouldn't rule it out myself... while it may all be local, there are always players wanting to push it and take advantage of it too... it seems the usa sure is in a hurry to prevent myanmar from working it out on its own terms here... the military have said they will only be in power for 1 year... i recommend the indian punchline article i linked to.. it shows how fragmented myanmars ethnic make up is...

Posted by: james | Feb 10 2021 22:07 utc | 26

Reuters portrayal of 'festive protesters' seems a bit odd. If the most pissed off looking civilians that they could find were too obviously happy to portray otherwise, that might tell you something.

Posted by: Josh | Feb 10 2021 22:12 utc | 27

Posted by: Mar man | Feb 10 2021 19:22 utc | 1

Bravo.

Posted by: numbnuts | Feb 10 2021 22:21 utc | 28

Laguerre @16--

Yeah. Recall from The Phantom Menace that the Republic's Trade Federation's blockade was "perfectly legal," which was Lucas's way to jab at the Outlaw US Empire's WTO behavior. Several days ago I wrote a comment about the Myanmar situation and noted the military was installed by the CIA in a 1962 Coup and that there was no objections made by BushCo about Myanmar's 2008 constitution which is where the provision legalizing the military's behavior resides. In that comment I also speculated on that reason for that was to keep the peace within the 135 ethnic minorities. Then there're the many armed resistance groups of which Pepe Escobar provided this short list:

"The top two are the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army (Shan). But then there’s the Arakan Liberation Army, the China National Army, the Karenni Army (Kayah), the Karen National Defense Organization and the Karen National Liberation, and the Mon National Liberation Army."

The only path forward to a peaceful, fruitful future I see for Myanmar is very equitable economic development and promotion of a meritocratic political-business system much like that developed by China that serves all of Myanmar's diversity. Looking at Myanmar's history shows the very ill effects of British colonialism followed by WW2 and then CIA and MI-6 meddling which produced the current state-of-affairs. As with Afghanistan, Myanmar's problems will be best solved by itself and its neighbors without any further Western meddling.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 10 2021 22:27 utc | 29

Besides,
When dc started bitching about Myanmar's military arresting the 'winners' of their electromatic election,
The Russians told them to go get bent,
And, I don't blame them for it.

Posted by: Josh | Feb 10 2021 22:39 utc | 30

As usual the EU found a way to lose money in the crisis
https://www.rfi.fr/fr/asie-pacifique/20210210-l-ue-a-suspendu-son-aide-%C3%A0-la-formation-de-la-police-birmane-apr%C3%A8s-le-putsch

Posted by: Mina | Feb 10 2021 22:41 utc | 31

The reign of the Aung Sung MI6 witch was ever only a hiatus, a pause in the ongoing conflict for control of Myanmar's resources between the nation and the greedies of USuk.
Myanmar had been stitched by western sanctions following years of international pressure on the nation, pressure which began when Aung Sung (jnr) - her father was the first president an englander puppet, frustrated by not being offered the presidency following Ne Win's resignation. Aung Sung (jnr)had worked for Ne Win and fled west to hook up with her MI6 handler & husband, Oxford don Michael Aris. It was then she set up the NLD in 1988.
Just as a side note if anyone bothers to check out this englander agent in say wikipedia or britannica they will learn she 'worked' at the UN for three years, what they will not be told is that those three years she was at the UN were as Burma ambassador to the UN under President Ne Win an employee of the military government which she later claimed to resist. An opportunist through and through with no cause other than herself.

Englanders never want to let go of the resources they stole back when britain was 'great' & they had an empire, so the englanders put together a project with amerikan backing and naturally a concomitant share of the booty, to grab back Myanmar's vast natural wealth - from an AZO Mining report:

"A wide range of useful minerals are naturally present in this country, such as rich deposits of tungsten, tin, zinc, silver, copper, lead, antimony and industrial minerals. Fossils fuels coals, petroleum, and natural gas are also abundant. Myanmar is also a world leader in producing gemstones, including jade, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires."

USuk wanted back in bad so they built up a structure for the NLD inside Myanmar by the usual means blackmail, bribes, bullying as Aung Sung travelled the world doing a 'Benazir Bhutto', displaying her (back then) photogenic appearance to appeal to whitefella fantasy about meek & pliant 'Asian' women. It worked especially well in england where BBC blokes fell over her like adolescents and in amerika where Bill Clinton and his mates did the same. In no time at all Myanmar was getting economically crushed by sanctions.
The leaders of Myanmar realised they had to cut a deal with amerika so they did. By then Aung Sung was back in Myanmar living in her ancestral home so an amerikan agent was dispatched to swim across the lake backing her property to tell her the good news. Myanmar's leaders never the types to miss a trick arrested the spy on his return after having spent 3 days in consultation with Aung Sung.

The deal was cut but the Myanmar leadership had no intention of handing over control of their nation to a treasonous foreign agent, so they allowed Aung Sung a sort of a figurehead role permitting her to 'lead' secure in the knowledge that is she didn't do as required she could be dismissed and it would all be legit & constitutional.

As b said once she blotted her copybook internationally with her racist attacks upon the Rohingya, she was vulnerable and they have decided to rid Myanmar of this treasonous pestilence.

The amerikans have a lot on their plates right now just hanging on to their existing empire, let alone pursuing new pieces, so they will crank up old resources in Myanmar and use western media, but I cannot see this amounting to much in the long run. Aung Sung's following has been destroyed by the Rohingya bizzo, so there won't be much hope of getting the sanctions up again. England will petulantly stamp its foot since Somerset Maugham-ish dreams of 'Burma' and the former Raj likely figure big in the post brexit fantasy, though that won't change anything. Most of Burma's population outside of the urban agents USuk recruited - being too gutless to get out to the rural regions where most people live - couldn't give a toss about a sleazy pol who never followed up on any of her myriad promises. Don't forget the NLD barred access to voting last election for big swathes of the rural population precisely because they knew that in those regions they were about as popular as a fart in an elevator.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Feb 10 2021 22:43 utc | 32

"... Making the rounds have been copies of safety protocol information sheets, some of them originally from Hong Kong, with instructions on how to encrypt communications and how to stay safe during protests ..."

The current Color Revolution attempt in Myanmar must be linked to the Hongkong umbrella wielders. That this Color Revolution is occurring now may indicate some urgency, even panic behind it.

One of the leaders of the Umbrella Movement is the HK business tycoon Jimmy Lai who has (or has had?) business and property investment dealings in Myanmar. In 2013 he paid US$75,000 to former US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz for assistance with his projects in that country. Lai is currently in prison for national security crimes in HK.

If Lai ends up serving a very, ve-e-ery long prison sentence in HK, and all or most of his property dealings in HK, China or abroad come under scrutiny by HK or Beijing, a money spigot or some money spigots to the so-called "opposition" against the military might end up being turned off and the "opposition" would be weakened to the extent it can be crushed and all its leaders either detained or forced to flee. And if they have to cut and run, they will not be able to flee to HK as they might have done in the past.

Posted by: Jen | Feb 10 2021 22:43 utc | 33

Fran | Feb 10 2021 19:23 utc | 2

Could this be some sort of "kite-flying" by RT? They seem to be very influenced by Atlanticists recently. I can't find anything but denials, so far.

Posted by: foolisholdman | Feb 10 2021 23:15 utc | 34

Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:19 utc | 15

Nothing wrong with the word 'iffy' here IMO.

Posted by: Ash Naz | Feb 10 2021 23:19 utc | 35

@ Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 10 2021 21:19 utc | 15

Go easy on the man. Are you American or learned English from Americans maybe?

"Iffy" may not be used that way in US English, but actually is quite commonly used as a synonym for 'dodgy' or 'questionable' in British and Australian English and is indeed appropriate to both the content and subtext of the article.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Iffy

Posted by: Et Tu | Feb 10 2021 23:43 utc | 36

Just to make clear the US position there is this quote from Reuters

"
(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday he had approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar and he repeated demands for the generals to give up power and free civilian leaders.

Biden said the order enabled his administration “to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members.”

He said Washington would identify the first round of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, having access to $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States.

“We’re also going to impose strong exports controls. We’re freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly,” Biden said at the White House.

“We’ll be ready to impose additional measures, and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts.”
"

This is the process of nation alignment that I wrote about in another thread would be happening now. I think you can count Myanmar as in the China/Russia axis.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 10 2021 23:46 utc | 37

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/08/three-finger-salute-hunger-games-symbol-adopted-by-myanmars-protesters

You know a color revolution is in the make when Hollywood slogans are invoked.

Myanmar is the most import leg of the BRI, no surprise there would be western meddling.

The NLD won 83% of the seats, what western media doesn't tell you is the NLD did this with under 50% of the votes. They were able to leverage a plurality into a landslide thru better organization, gerrymandering, a fractured opposition, and the disqualification of 1.5 million votes from outing regions.

Posted by: Jason | Feb 11 2021 0:01 utc | 38

China has an oil and gas pipeline from a deep-water port in state of Rakhine (where the Rohingya live) in Burma to southern China. This would allow the Chinese to import oil from the Persian Gulf without going through the Straits of Mollucca, which the U.S. has controlled for decades, should that become necessary

Posted by: Guest | Feb 11 2021 0:10 utc | 39

Jason @38--

Exactly, and Myanmar's constitution says that such electioneering allows the military to take the reins until a new valid election is completed, which is to say it's not a coup and BidenCo are very much in the wrong.

Eerie parallel shows the D-Party and military did almost the same thing from 6-20 January and still have troops stationed in DC. Perhaps that's why so many commentators were calling what occurred then and later a coup.

If the definition of a coup is going to be: Any instance of manipulation or other forms of meddling at anytime within an electoral process--including primaries--then the Outlaw US Empire has had ongoing coups for most--if not all--of its entire history, and most certainly from 2000 till 2020.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 11 2021 0:24 utc | 40

All the western Fake News fact checkers are loudly claiming there were no Dominion Sys machines/Smartmatic software used in Burma's 2020 general election.

If regional data/server centers start blowing up, it is an even bet that this Borg color revolution is probably another hastily designed cover action to get out/destroy evidence of another rigged election.

Posted by: gm | Feb 11 2021 0:26 utc | 41

Deb @ 32 and Psycho @37

Deb's summary makes a lot of sense and add that to Psycho's post which confirms it.

Not often if ever we see a coup that the US doesn't recognize instantly as totally legitimate.

Posted by: arby | Feb 11 2021 0:26 utc | 42

Can someone explain to me why what goes on in Myanmar is any of our business? I read today about Biden imposing sanctions on them and wondered why we care.

Posted by: ian | Feb 11 2021 0:57 utc | 43

Debsisdead @ 32:

Aung San Suu Kyi had been married to Oxford University historian Michael Aris for many years until his death in 1999 from cancer. He had established a Tibetan and Himalayan studies centre at the university.

Legacy of Michael Aris

... Aris was only in his early twenties when he accepted an appointment as the private tutor for the royal family in Bhutan. He spent six years there, learning the national language, Dzongkha, and became an expert on the Himalayas. Before long, his interest extended to Tibet, inspiring him to write a study of Pema Lingpa and to cofound the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS), an organization dedicated to promoting the study of Tibet from all disciplinary perspectives and to providing a forum at which both established and aspiring scholars can present original academic research. IATS conferences have since developed exponentially.

Aris’s accomplishments were manifold. Among them, he convened the second international conference on Tibetan studies and edited the collected writings of Hugh Richardson on Tibetan history. From 1989, he was a fellow of St. Antony’s College in Oxford, where he taught Tibetan language and Tibetan studies. However, before he could realize his ambition to establish Tibetan and Himalayan studies at an institutional level at Oxford, he died at the young age of fifty-three. On his death, the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford received the generous donation of Michael Aris’s entire private library of Tibetological primary and secondary materials ...

The Tibetan / Himalayan and Bhutanese connections do make one wonder.

Posted by: Jen | Feb 11 2021 1:01 utc | 44

ian | Feb 11 2021 0:57 utc | 43

BRI.

Posted by: arby | Feb 11 2021 1:05 utc | 45

This appears to be the key passage within Pepe Escobar's report:

"Elections this past November reconfirmed Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the NLD, in power by 83% of the votes. The pro-army party, the USDP, cried foul, blaming massive electoral fraud and insisting on a recount, which was refused by Parliament.

"So the Tatmadaw invoked article 147 of the constitution, which authorizes a military takeover in case of a confirmed threat to sovereignty and national solidarity, or capable of 'disintegrating the Union'."

So, does the recount refusal make the invocation of the constitution illegal or justify it? Depends on whose side you're on IMO. Given the size of the fraud and what's clearly collusion between the parliamentary majority and the NLD, IMO the military has a viable argument--now who will adjudicate? Or do we just await for proper elections to be held?

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 11 2021 1:12 utc | 46

FDR often used to refuse to answer what he called "iffy" questions. Doesn't that make it American English?

Posted by: lysias | Feb 11 2021 1:18 utc | 47

ian @43--

The ongoing Godfather Problem of the Outlaw US Empire that's been plaguing nations and killing millions since 1945. Biden's actions broke both the UN Charter and the US Constitution for which he ought to be impeached. But how many R-Party people will stand up and try to enforce the law? That's why it matters.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 11 2021 1:19 utc | 48

I highly recommend this video showing a list of US connections with the 'grassroots' movements in Myanmar, from a western journalist resident in Thailand. It shows over 80 National Endowment for Democracy projects and countless others off the books.

I explain how the US has spent decades building ASSK’s political network and installing her into power and how US-backed groups – including those in Thailand – are already mobilizing to undermine not only Myanmar’s political stability – but also that of the entire region.

Posted by: DeQuincey | Feb 11 2021 1:31 utc | 49

I just wanted to say that not every protest and freedom movement is Color Revolution, especially in overlooked and forsaken place that is Southeast Asia. The region has its own history and struggle against US tacit-backed dictatorship for decades now. They were propped up on the background of Anti-Chinese and anti-communist sentiment. In 1998, a wave of students made protests that ended up with the ouster of the infamous US-Backed dictator Soeharto. Does that make our 1998 a color revolution? Perhaps, maybe even more so that it was caused by Soros meddling on the SEA currency. But with our current 'freer' political regime, we still plays neutral role in the region just like last year refusing Mike Pompeo request for us to alienate China. The thing is that the US don't know jackshit about this region and just assume every 'democratic society' would automatically sides with them.

Just like in Myanmar you could see actually two sides of the political struggle is pretty much propped up by the US. We know how Aung San Syu-ki hyped a decade ago. But it needs to be acknowledge that their current military junta is also backed by them (it's not coincidence that Myanmar military modeled their system after Indonesia's New Order)! But these people are not stupid, and they have their own agenda on geopolitical matter. Trying to apply Color Revolution logic framework on SEA will get you nowhere.

Also just because Myanmar youngs appropriate Hollywood imagery for their movement, that just how it is in a region destitute of popular culture icon or protest tradition.

Posted by: Hangar | Feb 11 2021 1:55 utc | 50

A side trip into the provinces of Myanmar and the drug trade presented by Asia Times:

Why Asia is losing its war on drugs

Myanmar’s Shan state has emerged as a de facto special economic zone for the industrial-scale production of illicit narcotics

By ANTHONY DAVIS

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

. . .

The unprecedented seizure [over 11.5 tonnes with a street value of close to US$1 billion] threw into stark relief two overarching realities of a narcotics crisis that governments across the region are already well aware of but can never afford to publicly admit.

The first is that Myanmar’s Shan state, that country’s largest administrative division, has emerged as a de facto special economic zone (SEZ) for the industrial-scale production of a smorgasbord of illicit narcotics. Shan state’s spiraling drugs industry operates mostly securely beyond the reach of local or international law enforcement.

The other is that behind an impressive facade of well-funded national counternarcotics bureaucracies, feel-good international conferences and pro forma commitments to stepped up cooperation, Asia’s war on drugs is being comprehensively lost.
. . .

Thai authorities of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) already possess megabytes of data, much of it shared with their international counterparts, mapping the forensics of narcotics types and signatures of drug-producing “labs” across Shan state.

According to the regional offices of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok, the rising tsunami of Shan-centered illicit production is now estimated to involve cash flows of $61.4 billion annually — up from around $40 billion in 2017.

Surging volume, growing diversification and the increasingly standardized purity of narcotics production all reflect sweeping changes in the Shan state trade.
The 1990s era of insurgent-run heroin and yaba production using hand-cranked presses in temporary jungle huts has transformed to large-scale industrial facilities run by sophisticated criminal enterprises catering to expanding and increasingly globalized markets.

. . .

As the UNODC’s peripatetic Bangkok head Jeremy Douglas argues, the rise of cartel-run production in Shan state was initially triggered by a sweeping and concerted crackdown on meth production across southeastern China dating back to 2014.

“Before that, China was the biggest producer of meth in Asia and drawing international attention,” he notes. “We then see a sharp drop in China and a steady rise in Shan.”

Not by coincidence in the years that followed, seizures of meth labs declined across Southeast Asia, notably in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, as production in the far more secure hills of northeast Myanmar was ramped up.

Amid the chaotic military and administrative fragmentation of Shan state, a zone of anarchy that meets virtually any definition of a “failed state”, East Asian drug syndicates are broadly invested in two categories of local armed protection.

The first consists of ethnic armed organizations typically based east of the Salween River and in stable ceasefire arrangements with Myanmar’s national military, or Tatmadaw.

Controlling a wide swath of territory between the Salween River and the Chinese border, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) ranks as the largest and militarily most powerful such group.

With a standing army of some 27,000 trained and well-equipped regulars, its armed forces have achieved a level of deterrence that for the foreseeable future precludes any government action against it.

[MAP] https://i0.wp.com/asiatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UWSA-Myanmar-Shan-State.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1

Sources also noted that over the past two to three years the Wa have branched out into trafficking and possibly even producing precursor chemicals – potentially a hugely profitable business that obviates current efforts to stem the flow of precursors moving into Shan state mainly from China but also from Thailand and other countries.

The sources noted that over this period there has been confirmation that the Wa area had imported significant quantities of “unique and very sophisticated chemicals.”

Given that there are no known industries in the region that might require these chemicals for any legitimate use, the imports “in volumes that are inexplicable” appeared intended either to produce precursor chemicals required for meth production or possibly to manufacture other synthetic drugs.

The supposition in intelligence circles is that these specialized chemicals – imported from both China and Laos via other countries in the Lower Mekong region – are being used to produce precursors.

That notion has been reinforced by analysis of regional data and intelligence that reflects, on the one hand, the staggering increase in crystal methamphetamine production in Shan state, and, on the other, the fact that seizures of traditional precursors ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine have declined.

“This potentially puts the Wa in a broker role for precursors being used in other parts of Shan state,” noted one official. “And bear in mind that these precursors can be worth more the drugs themselves in Shan state.”

This is the first in a two-part series on Asia’s losing war on drugs.

Blind eyes and payoffs fuel Asia’s drug boom

Myanmar's military looks away while militia and border guard forces under its nominal command wheel and deal in drugs

By ANTHONY DAVIS
NOVEMBER 20, 2020

BANGKOK – As drug take-downs go, it was a long way from the “kick in the door and round ‘em up” operations celebrated in the movies.

Beginning in February this year and finishing only in early April, it lasted a full 40 days, covered over a hundred square kilometers, and required several battalions of troops from a crack Myanmar Army division.

By the time it was over, the rolling series of sweeps through the Kaunghka area southeast of Kutkai in Myanmar’s northern Shan state had disarmed hundreds of local militiamen and seized 18 tonnes of methamphetamine and other drugs along with huge stockpiles of precursor chemicals.

Raising eyebrows across the region, the operation also saw the first and potentially ominous seizure in Myanmar of a quantity of methyl fentanyl.

A dangerously potent opioid analgesic produced industrially in China, fentanyl mixed with heroin or cocaine caused the deaths of over 30,000 users across the United States in 2018 alone, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adding another toxic accelerant to a Sino-US relationship in freefall.

Spearheaded by high-purity crystal methamphetamine but fast diversifying into newer product lines, the post-2016 explosion of narcotics production in northeastern Myanmar has hinged crucially on powerful ethnic armed groups in ceasefire deals with Myanmar’s military, notably the UWSA and NDAA.

But adding fuel to the fire is a second category of local groups that provide protection to new super-labs financed and staffed by international crime cartels: Border Guard Forces (BGFs) and People’s Militia Forces (PMFs) supervised by Myanmar’s armed forces, or Tatmadaw.

Invariably former ethnic insurgents themselves, the militias are typically loose bands of a few hundred armed men whose putative loyalty to the state has been purchased by the Tatmadaw in exchange for the right to keep their weapons, move into business and make their own deals – no questions asked, brown envelopes welcome.

Scores of them operate across Shan state. Commanded by Tatmadaw officers, BGFs are better trained and equipped, but when it comes to business the same rules evidently apply.

Controlling far smaller areas than larger ceasefire groups, Tatmadaw-aligned militias are mostly based west of the Salween River in northern and central Shan state.

[MAP] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Salween_River_basin_map.svg/220px-Salween_River_basin_map.svg.png

But since 2015 some groups have thrown in their lot with professional players from outside Myanmar who have transformed a cottage-industry with an altogether new level of technical sophistication and financial investment.

A rare insight into the fruits of such cooperation came with the Kutkai take-down, which revealed for the first time the full extent and specialization of the production facilities protected by the Kaunghka PMF.

An ethnic Kachin outfit that traces its roots back to the insurgent Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Kaunghka militia has more recently been bolstering local “security” on behalf of the Myanmar Army’s Lashio-based Northeastern Command, while extending its business services to protecting the smooth running of narcotics super-labs.

For local Tatmadaw commanders, militia business ventures have translated into extra revenue from at least the 1970s when the military first began approving local paramilitaries.

Indeed, one of the region’s worst kept secrets has been the extent to which regional commands in Shan state have for years padded their books and bank accounts by looking the other way as militia trucks loaded with illicit drugs head south towards the Thai border or west towards India.

But strategic compulsions have also played a role. The Tatmadaw’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the “business” activities of the militia auxiliaries supposedly under its supervision turns on a military mindset that has prioritized territorial security above all else.

[MAP] https://i1.wp.com/asiatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Shan-State-China-Drugs-Narcotics.jpg?w=1137&ssl=1

Perennially overstretched by chronic manpower shortages, the Tatmadaw is locked into a Faustian bargain that precludes reining in errant militias it must rely on to maintain a fig-leaf of central government control and stability in insurgency-prone ethnic minority areas.

Measured against area security and extra income, Tatmadaw enthusiasm for counter-narcotics campaigns will likely remain carefully selective. Cynical observers saw the February-April Kaunghka operations as reflecting less concern over drugs production and far more the need to discipline a militia that had crossed hard security red-lines.
. . .

One well-placed source with access to intelligence noted that no senior militia commanders had faced prosecution after their arrests and were actually released in late June, while most of the narcotics that might have been used as evidence had been burned. What happened to the crucial precursors remains far from clear.

“The Kaunghka were punished: they lost money, drugs and guns. But these guys are not about to do time,” said the source. “It looks more like they’re being rehabilitated: the Tatmadaw still need them as a buffer.”

The generals in Naypyidaw are even less likely to bring to heel ceasefire groups as powerfully entrenched as the UWSA and NDAA. Potential counter-narcotics measures against major ceasefire factions that might conceivably involve drone strikes on identified narcotics labs would, however limited, inevitably risk wider conflict.

In the case of the 27,000-strong UWSA that could – and likely would – spill into protracted war across much of Shan state, driving hundreds of thousands of refugees into China, Thailand and central Myanmar with catastrophic social, economic and diplomatic consequences.

In fact, as the Tatmadaw struggles to contain the escalating insurgency in western Rakhine and simmering hostilities in Kachin and northern Shan states, the overridingimportance of maintaining peace with the UWSA effectively guarantees that the joint ventures between the Wa and others with major international cartels based in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will continue to operate with impunity.
. . .

Indeed, the Shan state-centered illicit drug industry that currently feeds the region’s burgeoning addictions is not only certain to continue business as usual but will also likely expand its operations and output.

“When it comes to meth and other synthetics, the region has arguably surpassed Mexican and Central American production,” says United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) regional head Jeremy Douglas.

“It is emerging as the global epicenter of synthetic drugs, as organized crime continues to expand and diversify the market on the back of the chemical trade and potential to push more and more product.”

Despite turbo-charging transnational organized crime and official corruption, the Asian narcotics crisis is nowhere near exacting a social toll on the scale of the fentanyl crisis in America that might demand its being made a political priority.
. . .

Unable to bring themselves even to criticize brazen war crimes committed by Myanmar state forces against the Rohingya Muslim minority, the regional bloc of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has proved characteristically flaccid in confronting the narcotics tsunami with an integrated regional response commensurate with the scale of the crisis.

“They don’t want to really tackle the problem from a strategic point of view,” adds Quaglia. “A lot of people in government are making a lot of money legitimately and illegitimately from this, and there’s certainly no appetite for arresting (corrupt) generals.”

To the north, China faces its own constraints. At one level, it has been largely unable or unwilling to bring hard-knuckle pressure on ethnic armed groups along its border on which Beijing relies for geostrategic leverage as it pushes forward with its Belt and Road ambitions in Myanmar.

It is equally apparent that Chinese authorities are simply unable to exert a level of control over a sprawling chemical industry that might choke off the flow of still crucial precursor chemicals smuggled into Shan state.
. . .

The upshot is an escalating crisis best addressed by a business-as-usual approach that avoids ruffling diplomatic, bureaucratic or political feathers and which serves to conceal the awkward reality of a well-funded war already all but lost.

And the massive, near-daily drug busts celebrated by law enforcement as local victories merely underscore the scale of their defeat.

Posted by: pogohere | Feb 11 2021 2:14 utc | 51

NLD had 80% of the votes in the aborted 1990 elections, right after the 8888 protests and bloody repression - when the military was in full control of the country and the elections. NLD had 80% of the vote in 2015 - when the military controlled the government and organized the elections. NLD had 81% of the vote in 2020 when it was actually in power and controlled the elections.
There's been basically no difference for the last 30 years, with 80+% of the people wanting the military to stick to its role of defending the country and not running and looting it. So, obviously, accusations of fraud were a massive joke. Another massive joke was the military basically saying "We will review the election results because we don't trust you" - and they basically stated 10 mio ballots were fraudulent. As if 1/3 of ballots would be fake, when there were basically the same amount of votes cast than in the previous election - the one the miliaty had set up and badly lost.
What this also means is that it's no surprise there are mass protests. When a party that has 80% support is ousted from power, expect its voters to be pissed off and rally. I'm not surprised at all by what's happening there - massive protests were a matter of days, once the coup happened. People have had some glimpse of freedom, it was a given that they weren't going to go down lightly - only a military so utterly braindead that it actually believed its BS about electoral fraud could hope to get away with such a coup without massive consequences.
Actually, I was surprised by the coup, because it was foolish from the military. They only had a half-assed democratization process, the military directly nominates 1/4 if parliament and key ministries, and controls some big business. The coup only ensures that they will lose these advantages when they'll lose power. And they will have lost power before the decade is over, for good - they might lose it this year, depending on how things go and on China's position.
Besides, people should keep in mind we're not speaking of a governing communist/socialist party that took power thanks to a popular revolution. We're talking about a military junta, like the Greek colonels or Pinochet. And the current constitution is a silly system that sounds close to the Turkish one during the 1950-1980s, with military having basically veto power "or we just make a coup".
I don't think China is amused, because it was very busy developing and investing across Myanmar, way more than before the 2015 NLD victory. This might not be tied to NLD as such and just be BRI, but the fact is, NLD was happy to join Chinese projects like BRI and RCEP and China was quite fine with working with NLD and Suu Kyi on these projects.
Then when it comes to protests, English is still used by many, specially in the cities. It was an English colony for decades after all. Most signs I've seen were obviously in Burmese, but some were in English, because obviously they're hoping for some international help, though I wouldn't count on it. There's no way Western countries would send troops there - wouldn't work at home, wouldn't go well there with the locals either. Frankly, the main foreign pressure that might be effective would actually be China.
Bottom-line: this clusterfuck looks to come mostly from internal causes, because neither side is hostile to China. Heck, if we're looking into it, it's the military that tried to get closer to the West in the 2000s, and China who then reduced its support to the junta. So, it's silly to accuse the military or the NLD and protesters to be manipulated by China, as it's silly to assume either of them are manipulated by the West. There might be a bit of Western interference, as usual, but Myanmar as a whole has always been firmly in China's sphere, and this is not going to change - not with the military in full control, and not with NLD in full control. Both have good relations with Beijing; and if the power in place decides not to be that friendly with China anymore, mere economic actions would be enough to force it to reconsider.
Last but not least, I'm not surprised to see the US back to their usual sanctions bullshit. Well, Myanmar people have been under sanctions for decades. They want to get rid of the generals in power, not be sanctioned. They know well that the military won't suffer a bit, but the people will be massively hurt by US sanctions. The ones I've heard were quite vocal that they don't want any sanction this time, they've had enough. US going that way won't get them any point from the people of Myanmar, quite the opposite - heck, they might end up considering the non-committed stance from China to be preferable, since it means China still deals with Myanmar and people can work, export stuff and get money.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 11 2021 2:20 utc | 52

re Jen @ # 44

IMO it is classic SIS/MI6 stuff englander 'advisors' to a head of state especially a monarch, have frequently been Secret Intelligence service plants eg Kim Philby's father St.John Philby who was an advisor to the el-Saud monarchy for many years.
For a married couple the two didn't appear to have much of a relationship. When Aris got ill even when he was in the late stages and obviously dying Aung Sung stayed in Myanmar, not bothering to go back to england to see him lest it cause problems for her in Myanmar.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Feb 11 2021 2:22 utc | 53

gm | Feb 11 2021 0:26 utc | 41:

If the military knows the election was rigged then I'm sure they would secure those data centers for evidence.

ian | Feb 11 2021 0:57 utc | 43:

Just geopolitics. As Guest@39 mentioned, there is a deep-water port where China gets oil/gas from Iran.

Posted by: Ian2 | Feb 11 2021 3:04 utc | 54

james @Feb10 21:43 #22

the comment from Sid Victor Cattoni @ 11 was a thoughtful and intelligent one.

Yes, it was. But his viewpoint is called into question to the extent that he believes in Presidential fairytales.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

Whose view is correct, Sid Victor Cattoni (SVC) or Debsisdead?

SVC implicitly blames Obama-Hillary-Biden for the Myanmar "regime change", writing:

It's probable that Aung San Suu Kyi was judged to be too unreliable; a regime change operation was already underway in the final months of the Obama administration

Debsisdead blames the Myanmar hunta:

... so they allowed Aung Sung a sort of a figurehead role ... they have decided to rid Myanmar of this treasonous pestilence.

IMO both SVC and Debs provide clues as to what happened. Yet each can't seem to see the full picture due to their respective bias SVC's bias, as I mentioned, is believing US Presidents constrain the Deep State, while Debs hate for white-feller imperialists makes him adverse to seeing any of their schemes bear fruit.

Debs is correct in that the hunta has always had the upper hand. But Debs is wrong to think that this coup simply just happened. USA had prepared a color revolution (as per SVC) but didn't act on it for years because they knew it would fail.

SVC believes the 'prepared' color revolution has started AFTER the coup. But it is much more likely that the coup was prompted by deliberately revealing preparations for an imminent color revolution.

NB b is right: the people involved in color revolution/protesting are being used.

Debs-is-Dead-wrong to characterize this coup as a nothing-burger ("... I cannot see this amounting to much in the long run.") In the long-run we are all dead. In the short-run, this color revolution was MEANT to prompt a crack-down that could be blamed on China's malignant influence (as per my comment @Feb10 21:25 #17) so it's not a nothing-burger - it's a chess move that will play out in Western news media for months.

USA/West is building the case that imperialist CCP hates democracy and human rights - such Western ideals MUST BE DEFENDED! PS It's for the children (the children of the people that matter).

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 5:00 utc | 55

Long story short...
Aung San was a fukus carefully cultivated patsy.
But her subsequent warm up to Beijing piss off Washington big time.

Ironically,
China might even find this fukus 'patsy' a better bet for Myanmar.

Under pressure,
The generals had shown signs of tilting towards fukus, especially after Washington made an example out of Ghdaffi, why do you thiink the brutal murder of the former Libyan leader was
broadcast to the world ?

The there's the vital issue of stability.
The last thing China wants are wars and unrest at the border.
IN 2015, the Myanmar army launched a blitzkrieg against the Kokans at the border, sending bombs into China , killing several villagers.
That drew a sharp warning from Beijing, warning Rangoon of 'military consequence', no less.

Aung San, OTOH, is very amendable to national conciliation with the various minorities.
[Yet the west is blaming the so-called Rohingha 'genocide' squarely on her should, you can bet her 'flirting'; with Xi doesnt sit well with uncle sham, who treat all his 'allies' like kept concubines.]

Hence,
I dont think China would necessarily prefer a junta rule over Aung San, inspite of her fukus background.
China values very much stability at the border.
While Aung San is for national conciliation.,
The generals are bent on crushing the Kokans at the border, the last blitzkrieg sent hundreds of thousands refugees into China.

Conclusion,
Both the generals and fukus are displeased with Aung San,

Ergo,

This is either a internal power struggle.

Or,
A fukus engineered regime change, prolly in cahoot with the generals,
then blame it on Beijing.
Classic wolf crying wolf fukus style
Just like....COVID 19

tOO much deceit,
Too little time....

Posted by: denk | Feb 11 2021 5:18 utc | 56

iffy

Iffy is a cute way to convey uncertainty.

Iffy is sometimes used with food in the sense of possibly spoiled. This is probably how b learned it and how he is applying it. But this usage is idiomatic and specific - it doesn't translate well to things that are not food.

<> <> <> <> <>

What happens if we replace "iffy" in b's sentence with "uncertain?"

Something is uncertain in Myanmar

That's perfectly true and correct. But why use the cute iffy over the more straightforward uncertain?

Now lets add the rest of the sentence:

Something is uncertain in Myanmar - Only Ten Days After The Coup There Is Already A U.S-Style Color Revolution Countering It

So what is uncertain in Myanmar? The Coup? But the Coup is certain. It has happened.

What b really wants to focus on is this part: There Is Already A U.S-Style Color Revolution Countering It. What is "uncertain" is WHY this is so. Most English speakers would say this is "fishy" (odorous), or perhaps "doesn't pass the smell test" - very much like iffy food.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 5:25 utc | 57

Concise summary by Vijay Prasad

https://asiatimes.com/2021/02/the-complex-politics-geopolitics-of-the-myanmar-coup/

Posted by: Charles Michael | Feb 11 2021 6:13 utc | 58

The color revolution was probably being prepared in anticipation of Biden taking office, but the generals in Myanmar figured it out and made their move first. So now there are pathetic attempts to 'save' the situation.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 11 2021 6:21 utc | 59

Hal Duell @ 10 knows more than most:

"Interference from the West would be for one reason only, to try to halt the 1,700 km BRI economic corridor from Kunming in China’s Yunnan province to Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then southward to Yangon and westward to Kyaukphyu. This corridor will help China avoid the bottleneck of the Straits of Malacca.
Kyaukphyu is where the Rohingya live, and is Myanmar's and eventually China's maritime gateway to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. So the Rohingya had to be moved."

So does even Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyaukphyu

The biggest and baddest on Myanmar's block is not Uncle Sam.

Posted by: Antonym | Feb 11 2021 7:38 utc | 60

I think this is really a domestic issue that the West is trying to take advantage of.

Posted by: Smith | Feb 11 2021 8:08 utc | 61

fresh last Pepe piece:
https://www.unz.com/pescobar/why-russia-is-driving-the-west-crazy/

little of topic but very good on the global picture (comments on unz are ... )

Posted by: Charles Michael | Feb 11 2021 8:34 utc | 62

Suu Kyi is a five-eyes anglosphere asset. That was quite plain some time before five-eyes and their propaganda organs declared her leader of Myanmar. She did not run in the election.
A journalist or blogger I used to read a few years back was very good on the asia pacific region. Military wanted or were willing to make all ethnic groups citizens of Myanmar. That all changed when five-eyes declared their asset leader of Myanmar.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 11 2021 8:36 utc | 63

Cartalucci was the name. Brian Joseph Thomas Berletic aka Tony Cartalucci.
https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2020/10/who-is-tony-cartalucci.html

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 11 2021 8:51 utc | 64

@ Peter AU1

London's Mi6 Guardian differed until recently: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/01/aung-san-suu-kyis-reputation-tarnished-not-myanmar

Posted by: Antonym | Feb 11 2021 9:03 utc | 65

It seems the coup was an entirely internal affair.

The most frequently cited reason is the result of the second general election in Myanmar’s history, held last November. With 83% of the vote, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, further strengthened its position from the previous election in 2015.

In doing so, Ms. Suu Kyi and the NLD acquired a formidable weapon in the form of a constitutional majority in parliament. Consequently, those (prescribed in the Basic Law) institutional privileges that provided the legal basis for the military to maintain de facto control over the situation in the country were potentially threatened.

There is no evidence that Suu Kyi was going to take advantage of this opportunity by breaking the tacit agreement with the Army leadership during her coming out of house arrest into the public policy space. But, according to supporters of this hypothesis, it was the fear of such a possibility that led to the removal of Aung San Suu Kyi as well as President Wyn Myin from their positions and placing them under house arrest.

On the Events in Myanmar

Posted by: Down South | Feb 11 2021 10:36 utc | 66

The analysis by Sid Victor Cattoni @11 is spot on and it is what I suggested the day of the coup. The response from the imperial deep state/CIA and their Mockingbird mass media's behavior since has confirmed it absolutely.

Now that the establishment has someone they can count on completely as imperial figurehead expect the covert actions to not only resume but escalate to make up for four lost years. As Jen @33 illustrates, every one of the failures of the intended "covert" regime change actions over the last few years has cut strands of the empire's web of control, leading to cascading setbacks for the "Outlaw US Empire" as karlof1 so aptly calls it.

Now that the establishment feels like it is back in control in the imperial heartlands ISIS will get reinforcements and resupplied and begin their head chopping again in Syria, while the ukrop Nazis will get the green light to go nuts on murdering civilians again in the Donbass region. The wahabbeasts in Xinjiang, Philippines, Thailand and of course Myanmar will likewise be reinforced and see a resurgence after years of relative quiet.

But we knew that was going to happen after the coup in America was consolidated, didn't we? It is good that others in the world like the Myanmar military also saw the writing on the wall and took mitigating steps.

Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 11 2021 11:05 utc | 67

Suu Kyi's family background...

https://thesaker.is/burmese-days-revisited/#comment-905411

"Aung San – Aung San Suu Kyi’s father – was a double turncoat during WWII, first siding (as the head of the Burma National Army) with the Japanese against the Brutish colonisers. So did the Indian National Army’s Subhas Chandra Bose. But unlike Bose, Aung San changed sides again as soon as he saw the Japanese were going to lose, and joined with the Brutish colonial enslavers in their 1945 offensive into Myanmar. So it’s not as though Suu Kyi exactly has a stellar genetic heritage; she’s the daughter of a Quisling,"

Posted by: ftmntf | Feb 11 2021 11:42 utc | 68

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 11 2021 6:21 utc | 59

Yep, color revolution all set to go, and then Shoigu shows up and spreads the word. Since they had it all ready to go, a sunk cost now, might as well give it a go anyway. There are a number of these left-over Trump attempts at foreign policy crash-n-burning in various places.

Elsewhere I read on TASS that the biden team is now ready for "strategic dialog".

https://tass.com/politics/1255173

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 11 2021 11:59 utc | 69

An additional note: If this color revolution attempt was indeed being set up to unseat ASSK and has been repurposed, and the Russians and Myanmar military knew this plan, then placing ASSK under arrest makes very good sense. Considering how much of a personality cult ASSK has developed, how could the empire replace her? There is really only one way: ASSK would need to be removed with extreme prejudice and her "removal" made to look like the work of supporters of China or Russia (novichok perhaps?). In this case ASSK is not really under arrest but is rather in involuntary protective custody.

I wonder if the Myanmar military could guess without Russian insight the danger ASSK would be in and the havoc her assassination would cause for them? If they are not accustomed to thinking geopolitically then they might assume "If the empire wants her gone then good riddance!"

Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 11 2021 13:42 utc | 70

@55 Hunta => Junta

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 14:09 utc | 71

Vijay Prashad's take on the coup makes sense. Both the military and Suu Kyi/NLD are in favour of ongoing trade-relations with China. This fall out is thus between equally pro-China trade political groupings.

But the coup has now heightened instability in the country, opening up an opportunity for the US to mount a colour revolution that, it hopes, will put into power a third, anti-China, pro-US political group. This could take the form either of a new military coup by a dissident pro-US faction of the military or a colour revolution by pro-US civilian elements.

Posted by: ftmntf | Feb 11 2021 14:39 utc | 72

Jackrabbit at 15:

FYI "iffy" is a poor word choice. It doesn't really fit.

Bullshit. Why did you even waste your time posting that? I mean, I'm sure a lot of people think your posts are crap anyway, but that was contentious, worthless, and rude.

Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Feb 11 2021 14:50 utc | 73

Herr Ringbone @Feb11 14:50 #73

Did you see my comment @57 Feb11 5:25 #57? I explain why usage of iffy didn't really fit.

I make mistakes too! As noted @71 Feb11 14:09 #71

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 15:08 utc | 74

I think "iffy" is OK, but the point about something smelly being more effective rhetoric has some merit too. "Iffy" is OK, it means questionable, which is correct, the narrative is that, but it does not suggest the idea that it's crooked. Some see that as a lack. Since it all looks pretty crooked to me, I don't think it matters.

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 11 2021 15:49 utc | 75

Down South @Feb11 10:36 #66

It seems the coup was an entirely internal affair.

"Entirely internal" is questionable to the extent that the Coup is convenient fodder for further attacking China as undemocratic and imperialist:

The situation in Myanmar was taken up by the G7, which put forward some claims against Beijing, and also initiated “consultation” hearings in closed session at the UN Security Council, which took place the day after the events were discussed.

<> <> <> <> <>

There is no evidence that Suu Kyi was going to take advantage of this opportunity ...

So did the Coup happen because Aung San Suu Kyi got too much power or because the Junta was baited into it?

Perhaps the answer lies in the Trump-Russia experience. Western propaganda pushes the narrative that Biden favors China like Trump favored Russia. Of course this is nonsense for public consumption. But it is nonsense that is made manifest by moves behind the scenes. Are we seeing Biden boxed in by China's bad behavior just as Trump was boxed in by Russia's bad behavior? I'm inclined to view that we are indeed witnessing such fakery.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 15:52 utc | 76

Bemildred @Feb11 15:49 @75

but the point about something smelly being more effective rhetoric has some merit too.

When applied to food, iffy's meaning is altered to suspicious rather than mere uncertainty. I think b used iffy in this way.

If b had made a reference to food as part of his title then iffy as suspicious wouldn't been immediately apparent. Example: Will Myanmar Citizenry Drink the Iffy Kool-Aid of Color Revolution?

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 16:21 utc | 77

Stonebird @3

Shoigu was certainly there around 22 Janary 2020

"10 days ago Shoigu met with the general who carried out a coup at the borders of China"

Translate: https://rusvesna.su/news/1612162130

Posted by: Heironymous Dosh | Feb 11 2021 16:44 utc | 78

"Not quite what it seems" is my definition of 'iffy', Jackrabbit @ 77, so that fit for me. Implying caution in concluding anything definite, due to iffyness present in all aspects of the case.

Posted by: juliania | Feb 11 2021 16:59 utc | 79

President Joe Biden on Thursday said China would “eat our lunch” on infrastructure if the U.S. doesn’t move on its own plan for rebuilding roads and bridges.

---

Biden made infrastructure IGF, -0.02% a priority during his White House election campaign last year, and is planning to ask Congress for a plan that “will make historic investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, innovation, research and development and clean energy,” according to recent remarks he made.

Biden warns China could ‘eat our lunch’ as he calls for improving U.S. roads, bridges

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 11 2021 17:06 utc | 80

^^^ Sorry wrong thread, time for nap. ^^^

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 11 2021 17:13 utc | 81

Gruff @ 67

That mostly sounds right to me. Question is what is the Empire still capable of doing? Only first hand information I have is from observing fresh Ukrainian immigrants to Chicago. A self selected group so who knows. They are a pathetic lot compared to Ukros of ten or twenty or thirty years ago. They work construction and are seriously bad at it. They have taken over high work, work at any height without bothering with safety at all. Will not use harnesses, will not use safety lines. On the other side they have defeated fifty years and more of regulations, inspectors let them do whatever. Tells me both USians and Ukros are going backwards into the ditch.

Then the other question is what will Russia allow. They have been very patient. If the new chief idiot in charge starts doing really dumb stuff even the most patient may decide it is time to act.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 11 2021 17:15 utc | 82

oldhippie @81: "...what is the Empire still capable of doing?"

Kill? Pay others to kill for the empire?

Even though it is seriously weakened I think we should be careful not to underestimate the empire. Though the empire's web of control now has big holes in it from defeated color revolutions, much of that web is still in place, particularly in the anglosphere. The American empire can still stir up a lot of grief. Can it emerge victorious? No, but that will not be much consolation for those it kills.

Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 11 2021 17:38 utc | 83

“This movement is leaderless — people are getting on the streets in their own way and at their own will,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent activist.

Pure lies, as always for colour revolution ops. On 6th February printed papers were dropped on the pavements all over Yangon, specifically calling for protests in the Hledan district of Yangon on 8th February. And by the way, the crowds that came that day were not small. I saw a video taken from a high viewpoint (probably about 8th floor or something, and with a good view), showing all the sreets jam packed with protestors as far as could be seen. That particular location is a junction of 5 very wide roads (the widest of which I think 8 lanes). The video was claiming over a hundred thousand in that protest, which was a plausible figure for the numbers that could be seen. But the viewpoint couldn't see far along the roads in any of the 5 directions. Obviously I don't know how far the protest extended beyond the area covered by the video, and by calling all the protesters in Yangon to that one site it would have given the impression of a really massive demo, and that was probably the intention of choosing that location.

---

There is a lot of confusion in this thread as to what is going on, and who is playing what roles. A lot of nonesense. Please see my comment on 4th February here Posted by: BM | Feb 4 2021 19:08 utc | 171.

This matter is all about colour revolutions, but the "military coup" is not the colour revolution, it is a counter-colour revolution.

The main colour revolution was the election in 2015 when Aung San Suu Kyi came (indirectly) to power, despite being banned from running in the election and banned from occupying the position of president. Her party the NLD won the election with a landslide, but because of the constitutional limitations imposed by the military, the NLD were denied absolute power. The CIA and MI6 have had large scale infiltrations of the Myanmar government and military stretching back a long way, but having the NLD in power since 2015 obviously enabled a massive increase in the level of those infiltrations.

For example, the NLD government appointed as Minister of Information Pe Myint, who had been educated in the US, and later trained by the US State Department as a pro-US propagandist.

Given the huge extent of the NLD's emplacement of US proxies in positions throughout the entirety of the government, the military had justified cause in seeing a serious national security risk and loss of Myanmar sovereignty.

As I see it, this was a single growing (colour revolution) problem ever since the 2015 election (and starting of course much earlier), but the very large scale abuses that certainly occurred in the 2020 election - and the refusal of the NLD to permit investigations of the large number of complaints, just like in the US elections - lead to the Myanmar military calling a state of emergency under the constitution, as they had legitimate cause to do. The 2015 colour revolution - despite gaining control of the government - had never completed, because the military were guaranteed seats in that government. Therefore that 2015 colour revolution was ongoing ever since 2015 (and before) until the present; the military intervention was not a coup but a national security intervention by one arm of the then government, wholly responsible for national security under the constitution against another arm of the government which it had cause to view as a threat to national security. Just as the US has constitutional provisions to impeach a US president, and if convicted remove him from office, so too the Myanmar military had a constitutional foundation for their intervention (there the comparison ends, obviously the differences in the provisions and their context are very considerable).

The military intervention, then, was the counter-colour revolution. The protests starting on 8th February are the counter-counter-colour revolution (continuation of the original 2015 colour revolution, which gained power, but incompletely). The US wanted a Myanmar Yeltsin. Instead they got a Manchurian who resisted the most extreme of the demands of the puppet master.

The complaint What is irritating with it is the speed with which it took off. Color revs usually require years of group building and leadership preparation. They need monetary and communication support as well as political directions from 'advisors' in 'western' embassies. Here it took only ten days to launch it. is invalid. The NLD colour revolution structures had been built up over a period of decades, and since 2015 had massively consolidated and entrenched their positions. Mounting a counter offensive after 10 days (actually 7 days not 10) was trivially easy in the aspect of "group building and leadership preparation ..." etc. Unlike Belarus, the NLD still do have a strong majority following in the ethnic Burmese parts of Myanmar; other ethnic groups are now strongly against Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, because of their discriminatory policies over the past 4 years - that is why they rigged the election to get a big enough constitutional majority to seriously threaten the ability of the military to fend off the colour revolution.

I would contend that once the military saw the NLD had used fraudulent means to claim a constitutional majority that posed a serious threat, and refused to investigate claims of election fraud - exactly like Biden - they consulted with their Russian and Chinese counterparts (especially Russian, with whom the Myanmar military have long had very close connections. Both Russia and China, in my opinion, would have backed action, as their strategic interests were also threatened. Hence the Russian military delegation visiting Myanmar on 22nd January, 1 week before the intervention, led by Russian Defence Minister General Shoigu. I believe the intervention was planned at that meeting, and would have had ongoing Russian strategic advice from 22nd January to the present day.

I had expected the military to announce a curfew before the 8th February, and then in the middle of the night put up road blocks all over Yangon to impede movement. That was probably impracticable, as there are too many small alleyways everywhere. It thus appears to me that the Russians - the world experts on countering US colour revolutions - see that the energy of the protests can be worn down with minimal damage by allowing them to take place. Soon the protestors will see that whilst they are allowed to protest (as long as they are peaceful), they cannot make any advances, and interest will wane. After the economic advances of recent years most of them are unlikely to take the risk of violence against the Myanmar military.

Posted by: BM | Feb 11 2021 17:43 utc | 84

/cont from #83

It wouldn't surprise me if the military intervention was triggered in part by Russian signals intelligence that might have uncovered a conspiracy to commit election fraud in advance, before the election even took place. This is pure speculation of course, but since the military had the constitutional means to block the new government from taking its positions after the election, the reasoning was then to allow the plot to proceed, arrest and try those guilty of crimes, so that they will then be neutralised by imprisonment resulting from their own criminality. Thus, the military transformed the NLD colour revolution plot into a colour revolution-destroying trap. The trap was then sprung in the early hours of the very day the new government was supposed to take office.

Posted by: BM | Feb 11 2021 18:04 utc | 85

@ jackrabbit.. okay.. thanks... i am with others on your focus on the word 'iffy'... it's counterproductive and beside the point...

i like @ bm 83 analysis, as i did the previous time they chimed in on myanmar... the idea that russia has stepped in and offered suggestions makes a lot of sense here..

bottom line for me is the usa wants to prevent china from fulfilling its BRI... what is at play in myanmar is presently about this and being played out in the geo politics.. all the other theories might have some relevance, but the connection between china and myanmar and having myanmar fit into the plan is the focal point... the usa wants to sabotage this.. that is how i see it... all the chess pieces at play here are about that....

Posted by: james | Feb 11 2021 18:07 utc | 86

@58 Charles Michael

Thanks for the link.

Posted by: Mike Adamson | Feb 11 2021 18:40 utc | 87

BM @Feb11 17:43 #84

Myanmar may well have had Russian help but US media makes it clear that China is economically entrenched in Myanmar and will be the main foreign beneficiary of the Coup. Naturally, Chinese disregard for democracy is made much of. From AP on Feb. 3rd: Coup a further complication for tricky Myanmar-China ties

China has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its biggest trading partner. But while China’s ruling Communist Party tends to favor fellow authoritarian regimes, it has had a fractious history with Myanmar’s military, sometimes related to its campaigns against ethnic Chinese minority groups and the drug trade along their long, mountainous border ... [Yet] the coup may lead Myanmar's leaders to lean more heavily on support from China, supplier of most of their weapons and one of the country's biggest sources of foreign investment ...

The coup came just three weeks after a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who met with Suu Kyi and also military officials in the capital, Naypyitaw.... Some have speculated that Beijing might have given a covert nod to the generals.

After nearly a decade of reforms and gradual opening of Myanmar’s long-isolated economy, U.S. and other Western businesses have made only tentative investments, usually with local or other Asian partners.... “China will have greater leverage to pull Myanmar further into the orbit of its own plans for economic development,” said John G. Dale, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

What does the future hold for Myanmar? Western media hyping pro-Democracy protests while guerilla war targets Chinese BRI infrastructure? Shall we ignore the predictability of such an outcome as well as the Junta's predictible response from Aung San Suu Kyi's "rocking the boat" via election fraud and/or covert planning (or CIA pretense of same) for Color Revolution?

Aung San Suu Kyi was incapable of blocking the Junta's drift toward China during this time of 'Great Power Competition'. She had to play along with the Junta because they always had the upper hand. Thus, from the Empire's POV, the fall of her government is more valuable than her continued rule as it allows for anti-China propaganda and an insurgency that might disrupt BRI.

As always, keep well stocked with popcorn and pray for peace.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 20:38 utc | 88

BM @Feb11 17:43 #84

China has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its biggest trading partner. But while China’s ruling Communist Party tends to favor fellow authoritarian regimes, it has had a fractious history with Myanmar’s military, sometimes related to its campaigns against ethnic Chinese minority groups and the drug trade along their long, mountainous border ... [Yet] the coup may lead Myanmar's leaders to lean more heavily on support from China, supplier of most of their weapons and one of the country's biggest sources of foreign investment ...

The coup came just three weeks after a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who met with Suu Kyi and also military officials in the capital, Naypyitaw.... Some have speculated that Beijing might have given a covert nod to the generals.

After nearly a decade of reforms and gradual opening of Myanmar’s long-isolated economy, U.S. and other Western businesses have made only tentative investments, usually with local or other Asian partners.... “China will have greater leverage to pull Myanmar further into the orbit of its own plans for economic development,” said John G. Dale, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

As always, keep well stocked with popcorn and pray for peace.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 11 2021 20:38 utc | 89

Hello everybody,hope you are doing well.

In a link -to-article I posted some days ago,unfortunately in french,about a score of ukranian neonazi like figures teaming up with antifa in the Capitol happening,there was another link which I cannot open (cloudfare connais pas)and the title is :

A LIRE : Ukraine L’histoire de la Birmanie est énorme – elle implique des milliards de fonds du FMI et des Etats-Unis pillés et perdus par des banques liées à Burisma Holdings !

Which article would treat about FMI fundings to Myanmar billions worth having been stolen by Burisma Holdings of dubious fame.This is related to Igor Kolomoisky,holder of Ukranian,Cypriot and Israeli nationality,owner of Azov-regiment,airfields ,radio and tv stations and he's a regular oiligarch and banker.
Maybe ,just guessing,this guy has given his expertise to the Birman/Myanmar generals clique a long time ago to buy and sell their petrol for them.Lots of cheap flights between Kiev and Rangoon as well.

The article nobody seems to have taken notice of,can't blame you it is in french,but with interesting pictures.It's on a website I discovered just days ago:

https://lesdeqodeurs.fr/ukrainiens-neonazis-et-anciens-dantifa-ont-ete-instigateurs-des-emeutes-du-capitole-aux-cotes-des-antifas/

Strange days,last weekend we saw an apocalyptic yellow-orange cloud moving upon us from the south,sahara sands they said,it was like lookin through yellow glasses, and temperature was 8°C two days later we're in Polar snow and Icey wind in minus 10°C.

Keep up the good spirit,I'm trying for myself,but it is quite difficult.

Posted by: willie | Feb 11 2021 21:37 utc | 90

@willie | Feb 11 2021 21:37 utc | 89

Sorry tomsay so, but that site looks like french language qtardery. They offer french translations of articles published on other websites. The article that you linked - it certainly points out some curious circumstances - was sourced from thegatewaypundit.com

By the way, did you know that vitamine D supplementation helps not only against Covid-19, but also helps to keep good spirits? I take 6000 iu (150 micrograms) daily. Don't bother with the ridiculously low outdated recommended 400 ius. Just read the recent research and draw your own conclusions.

Here, let me scream this at the top of my lungs:

Vitamin D Insufficiency May Account for Almost Nine of Ten COVID-19 Deaths: Time to Act. Comment on: "Vitamin D Deficiency and Outcome of COVID-19 Patients". Nutrients 2020, 12, 2757
(Link to full-text article so you can read the details for yourself)

Posted by: Lurk | Feb 11 2021 22:33 utc | 91

@89
Those images of Sergai look like they were photoshopped into place.
Looks like French right wing site with lot of distortions.

Posted by: Joe | Feb 11 2021 22:38 utc | 92

Two more thorough and thought ful reads (2 including comment section).

Hope you don't mind, but as with many of your post, I shared this on several other forums.

Posted by: Dogon Priest | Feb 11 2021 23:10 utc | 93

15, 35 & 36

Whiffy?

Posted by: johnF | Feb 12 2021 1:05 utc | 94

Third possibility.

Surprise surprise, for once, fukus has no hand in this regime change.
But true to form, its milking this crisis for all its worth.
'Is China behind this coup ?'
They ask in [[[five liars]]] land,.

As Marshall [coup master] Green would
tell his MI6 buddies,
'This is a perfect chance to nail the
chicoms'

Posted by: denk | Feb 12 2021 4:56 utc | 95

90# Lurk

Thank you Lurk for figuring that out.Of course the websites name is a jeux de mots on Les Décodeurs,la page de Le Monde that debunks and factchecks all conspirative news and rumours.Still it is peculiar that there are much relations between Myanmar and Ukraine,who have lately suppressed mutually visa-plight for their citizens.And the name of the company Burisma,could it be a joke like ISrael in the middle of Burma?

Do you think the photograph of the buffalo-corned Jacob and the ukranian is fake?Why is it so hard to believe that there exists a international enterprise of coloured revolutions,and the ukranians being the last to succeed in that operation playing eminent role in this game.They were in Hong Kong as well.As I wrotebefore,all those activists from Hong Kong,Venezuela,Syria,Ukraine,Iran etc.were invited to the 100 year party of BILD-Zeitung some years ago in Hamburg.

Healthwise I am oké,and I never take medicine.(I think medicine has been a fraud from the beginning,like money.So I'm not interested in related issues.)We've had very little sunshine this winter,but now sun is bright,and temperature below zero,our preferred winterweather,hope it will last.
How are thing in dutchie-land?A friend said you had 18°C below zero,is that true?

Thanks for your answer and good council.Stay well.

What are we become the day they shut down all of the internet?

Posted by: willie | Feb 12 2021 9:50 utc | 96

@willie | Feb 12 2021 9:50 utc | 95

Dunno about -18, but locally we had -15, yeah. Lots of snow too, more than in a decade.

The USA has been grooming ukronazis all throughout the cold war. It is a long and complicated story, but I found a literary summary in the comments to this consortiumnews article about Reagan:

F. G. Sanford
June 26, 2015 at 17:17

Well, it’s the “Gipper” here, speaking to you from my cozy little grave. You know, I just had to laugh reading this. Speaking of small government, I guess nobody remembers when the Feds investigated me for conspiracy. That’s when I was a paid Hollywood informer for Hoover. My fiscal austerity program increased the national debt by 350%, but so far, nobody’s trickling down on my grave. Me and Bill Casey imported tons of cocaine, then, we gave minor drug offenders long prison terms – just to help out with unemployment. Paul Krugman blames the 2008 melt down on me, but we’ll talk about him later. That cocaine operation was done with the help of Klaus Barbie. Good old Klaus, I got hooked up with him through Helene Von Damm, who was Otto von Bolschwing’s protege. You may remember Otto: he was Adolf Eichmann’s boss, but somehow, he slipped past Nuremberg. Well, I made Helene my Personnel Manager, which made it a lot easier to get Nazis on my staff. Allen Dulles brought them into USA under the Crusade for Freedom (CFF) program, and I found them all good jobs. By the way, that’s how we got OUN-B Nazis into America to help swing the ‘ethnic vote’. And y’all thought the “Southern Strategy” was clever! Back on the 50’s I was spokesman for the CFF, and Casey headed up the International Rescue committee. That’s how we got Nazi big shot Laszlo Pasztor, and made him director of the Free Congress Foundation. I even made Ykaterina Chumachenko of the OUN-B my Deputy Director of Presidential Liaison. Yep, back in the day, Harry Truman slipped past Dewey because of the “Jewish vote”. We had to come up with the “Eastern European Ethnic Strategy” to counter that, and Ukrainian and Hungarian fascists helped a lot. You know, I have to laugh today when I see all these Jewish Neocons working so hard to help make my program work. And before I forget, when we were bringing all these Nazis in, George was there, and he helped. That darned leaker James Bamford let the cat out of the bag when he told about the secret office inside the NSA. They call it the “Jew Room”, where they keep an eye on folks like Krugman. But I bet you think I’m making this up. We count on that! Yesirree, if I wasn’t so senile, I could tell you lots of Nazi stories, but I have to be careful. It could tarnish my treacherous reputation. But don’t worry, America, my Nazi legacy is so embedded that you can go back to sleep. I know none of you will bother to follow up on any of this. You’re already too confused with Iran-Contra.

Here's some reports about what the ukronazis have been up to more recently:
The Center for U.S. Banderite Relations
The Banderite Foreign Policy Council
Bandera and the Atlantic Council

PS: People survived just fine for hundreds of thousands of years without the internet. Even I remember spending the first half of my life without it and had plenty of fun playing outside.

Posted by: Lurk | Feb 12 2021 13:45 utc | 97

@willie | Feb 12 2021 9:50 utc | 95

Dunno about -18, but locally we had -15, yeah. Lots of snow too, more than in a decade.

The USA has been grooming ukronazis all throughout the cold war. It is a long and complicated story, but I found a literary summary in the comments to this consortiumnews article about Reagan:

F. G. Sanford
June 26, 2015 at 17:17

Well, it’s the “Gipper” here, speaking to you from my cozy little grave. You know, I just had to laugh reading this. Speaking of small government, I guess nobody remembers when the Feds investigated me for conspiracy. That’s when I was a paid Hollywood informer for Hoover. My fiscal austerity program increased the national debt by 350%, but so far, nobody’s trickling down on my grave. Me and Bill Casey imported tons of cocaine, then, we gave minor drug offenders long prison terms – just to help out with unemployment. Paul Krugman blames the 2008 melt down on me, but we’ll talk about him later. That cocaine operation was done with the help of Klaus Barbie. Good old Klaus, I got hooked up with him through Helene Von Damm, who was Otto von Bolschwing’s protege. You may remember Otto: he was Adolf Eichmann’s boss, but somehow, he slipped past Nuremberg. Well, I made Helene my Personnel Manager, which made it a lot easier to get Nazis on my staff. Allen Dulles brought them into USA under the Crusade for Freedom (CFF) program, and I found them all good jobs. By the way, that’s how we got OUN-B Nazis into America to help swing the ‘ethnic vote’. And y’all thought the “Southern Strategy” was clever! Back on the 50’s I was spokesman for the CFF, and Casey headed up the International Rescue committee. That’s how we got Nazi big shot Laszlo Pasztor, and made him director of the Free Congress Foundation. I even made Ykaterina Chumachenko of the OUN-B my Deputy Director of Presidential Liaison. Yep, back in the day, Harry Truman slipped past Dewey because of the “Jewish vote”. We had to come up with the “Eastern European Ethnic Strategy” to counter that, and Ukrainian and Hungarian fascists helped a lot. You know, I have to laugh today when I see all these Jewish Neocons working so hard to help make my program work. And before I forget, when we were bringing all these Nazis in, George was there, and he helped. That darned leaker James Bamford let the cat out of the bag when he told about the secret office inside the NSA. They call it the “Jew Room”, where they keep an eye on folks like Krugman. But I bet you think I’m making this up. We count on that! Yesirree, if I wasn’t so senile, I could tell you lots of Nazi stories, but I have to be careful. It could tarnish my treacherous reputation. But don’t worry, America, my Nazi legacy is so embedded that you can go back to sleep. I know none of you will bother to follow up on any of this. You’re already too confused with Iran-Contra.

Here's some reports about what the ukronazis have been up to more recently:
The Center for U.S. Banderite Relations
The Banderite Foreign Policy Council
Bandera and the Atlantic Council

PS: People survived just fine for hundreds of thousands of years without the internet. Even I remember spending the first half of my life without it and had plenty of fun playing outside.

Posted by: Lurk | Feb 12 2021 13:45 utc | 98

Controlling both sides of a color revolution would make for better profits and a certainty over outcome. Just throwing that out there.

Posted by: Old and Grumpy | Feb 12 2021 14:14 utc | 99

Thank you Lurk,that's very interesting stuff.I'll look up your links.On first look I can't bake bread out of your quotation.
The guy in your quote talking bout himself,would that be rather G.Soros?His language does not sound the eighties,more of a parody isn't it?I'll definitely will look at the link.

Of course there is life without the internet.I pity the people who walk the streetwith smartyphone in their hand,and watching it all day.At the same time I pass a lot of time on my screen as well.
Two year old children are put to rest with a computergame nowadays.Actually I was thinking of how to organize and find others like ourselves to part with without the internet.Short wave radio?

Ukraine is were the strategy of Karl Rove's creating reality is the best performed.Now Zelensky shut off three stations.A few weeks ago there was an ukranian on live television stating his cousin,or was it his brother-in-law,who lives in Crimea,had a pension six times higher than himself.

Today I watched little video of Macron talking about Iran and JCPOA,in an article on Le Figaro website,like there are always little videos in articles nowadays,with government propaganda,and figure,that it was signed AP/Atlantic Council!As if the latter has become a news provider.

Posted by: willie | Feb 12 2021 16:33 utc | 100

next page »

The comments to this entry are closed.