tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post2826769625592777819..comments2024-01-09T17:16:02.647+07:00Comments on JOTMAN: Burma emergency enters its second weekJotmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02485510513271661365noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post-44535072922984903582008-05-12T11:46:00.000+07:002008-05-12T11:46:00.000+07:00Your comment about the moral authority of Stalin h...Your comment about the moral authority of Stalin hits on a point that always stops me cold. In many ways, the Junta has been backed into a corner. Another concern is what these generals might do to their own people if we pushed too hard - say, by going after those people who accepted direct and unapproved aid from foreigners.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, you make a good point - how long should good people stand by while the innocent are preyed upon?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post-90257594768428218902008-05-12T10:19:00.000+07:002008-05-12T10:19:00.000+07:00J-P, your comments are always appreciated. "They ...J-P, your comments are always appreciated. <BR/><BR/>"They would, I believe, have no problem attacking aid convoys to save face." <BR/><BR/>If they did this sort of thing, I think they would lose face, not only in the estimation of the world, but especially before their own people and soldiers.<BR/> <BR/>The risks hypothetical, the opportunity to mitigate a peoples' desperation simple: provide them with food, water, medical attention, shelter.<BR/><BR/>This word "invasion" has connotations that do not seem inevitable. That's why I think we might think in terms of the Berlin Airlift. <BR/><BR/>Even if our resolve to go to war is less than it was in 1948, the Burma regime is not the USSR. Stalin had just won a great war. Today's regime lacks even the moral authority of Stalin.Jotmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02485510513271661365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post-64952987373119531672008-05-12T06:36:00.000+07:002008-05-12T06:36:00.000+07:00I hope you don't mind me commenting on this subjec...I hope you don't mind me commenting on this subject again, but I think an invasion of any sort would be extremely ill-advised. Part of the reason the Soviets allowed the airlift to continue is because they were trying to rebuild after a devastating war. They knew that they couldn't have won a war with the west, not that soon after V-E day. On the other side, the west was very willing to go to war over the airlifts.<BR/><BR/>The Junta works differently. They take the events of international politics as elements of personal pride. They would, I believe, have no problem attacking aid convoys to save face. And, I also believe, the international community is not willing to escalate the situation as much as the Burmese generals are.<BR/><BR/>Besides all this, there is also the risk to aid workers - if they become to be perceived by tyrannical governments as the advance force of an invading army, they will all be put in danger.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com