Mike Pouraryan
The Burma Tragedy: Why?
As America celebrates its' indepedence, people around the world continue to suffer at the hands of thugs who supposedly rule in their name. One such country is Burma. The thugs that rule it call it Myanmar. It has been ruled by the military for twenty years. The key opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been in detention for almost 15 of the past twenty years.
As the leaders continue to live in luxury in their new capital, their people continue to live day-by-day. The UN Secretary General saw the leader of the thugs, Than Shwe, to discuss the plight of Burma's political prisoners. As this scene (courtesy of the BBC) shows, the opulence of this is sickening. What was even more sickening was that the Secretary General was not allowed to see the Madame (as the junta likes to call her) because the General said that he did not want to "interfere with the judicial process". This is the biggest joke that could have been laid on the Secretary General. Why is the junta so afraid of the "Madame"?
The Secretary General's Visit was, unfortunately, ill-advised. It shows that the Secretary General's authority is next to non-existent and shows another reason why he may lose his bid for a second term.
Burma is just one of many countries around the world where self-appointed leaders take it upon themselves to decide what is right. America, however, is a unique experiment that continues on. It is absolutely vital to insure that this vitality is maintained for the sake of generations to come.
