The Daily Mail is reporting that Burma’s Saffron Revolution has disintegrated under the weight of a government crackdown:
Conservatives and liberals alike have watched as the Burmese people rose up against a brutal military government with little hope of defending themselves against a violent crackdown. There have been calls to exert pressure on China, Russia, and India in the hopes that those countries might prevent the slaughter. And there have been calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics unless the Chinese withdraw their support for Burma’s ruling junta. And what has this gotten us? Thousands of murdered monks. President Bush, in his second inaugural address, spoke grandly of America’s commitment to those struggling against tyranny:
But in Burma, this administration has fallen far short of those lofty promises. We did not stand with the people of Burma, but threatened toothless sanctions. The expectation that China might somehow be persuaded to support a democratic uprising in their own backyard was never more than wishful thinking, but the United States could have given Burma’s generals reason to doubt the wisdom of slaughtering their political opponents. A single aircraft carrier parked off the coast of Burma and the credible threat of the use of force against the regime there might have averted the disaster that is now unfolding. Is it so absurd to suggest the use of military force against the Burmese ruling elite? We needn’t invade the country in order to deter the junta from its crimes. Limited strikes against the infrastructure of that regime–its military headquarters, its intelligence apparatus, the lavish palaces of its rulers–would have been entirely justified. Were the president to take such action now, it might yet achieve the desired effect. Short of such a bold step, there can be little doubt that this country, and this administration, have failed our friends in Burma.
