Reports: Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma; Sniper reportedly killed Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai; Update: Videos added; Update: Worldwide condemnation
Update 9:15pm Eastern. There was a Free Burma protest in D.C. earlier today. Here’s video via This Aint’ Hell:
Update 9pm Eastern. The junta gains the upper hand…
Soldiers and police took control of the streets Friday, firing warning shots and tear gas to scatter the few pro-democracy protesters who ventured out as Myanmar’s military junta sealed off Buddhist monasteries and cut public Internet access.
On the third day of a harsh government crackdown, the streets were empty of the mass gatherings that had peacefully challenged the regime daily for nearly two weeks, leaving only small groups of activists to be chased around by security forces.
“Bloodbath again! Bloodbath again!” a Yangon resident yelled while watching soldiers break up one march by shooting into air, firing tear gas and beating people with clubs.
Update 1:30pm Eastern. White House blasts Burmese government for Internet shut-off:
he White House criticized Myanmar on Friday for cutting off Internet access and called on “all civilized nations” to pressure the military-run government to end its violent crackdown on protesters. “They don’t want the world to see what is going on there,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Update 11:30am Eastern. Worldwide condemnation:
Myanmar’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators drew condemnation and sparked protests Friday, with the top U.S. diplomat in the reclusive nation calling the violence “tragic” and the European Union denounced “gross and systematic violations of human rights.”
The United Nations said it will convene an emergency session on human rights abuses and dispatched an envoy to Myanmar who could arrive as early as Saturday. Britain demanded an end to “oppression and force” against the demonstrators.
Myanmar’s Asian neighbors expressed “revulsion” at the violence and urged the military rulers to seek a political solution. Japan said it had asked China to use its influence with junta to resolve the crisis. In neighboring Thailand, officials said airplanes were standing by to evacuate foreigners if conditions deteriorated further.
On Friday, soldiers clubbed activists in the streets and occupied Buddhist monasteries to try to put down the largest protests since The government said 10 people have been killed since Wednesday, although exile groups say the toll may be much higher.
Update 10:45am Eastern. The Lede points to more Burmese bloggers continuing to report despite the clampdown.
Update 9:50am Eastern. PJM pays tribute to monks and bloggers.
And read Agam’s Gecko, an Asian-based blog that has followed the Burmese democracy movement for many, many years. Agam has all the latest, including video of the junta propaganda news broadcast I mentioned below blaming foreign “destructionists” for the protests:
Update: Photo of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai as he lay dying…
Video here.
***
As I noted the other day, Burmese bloggers have been crucial whistleblowers and eyewitnesses to history–supplying the world with round-the-clock coverage and photos of their oppressive regime’s crackdown. Now, just as the Western press is lauding their role, the military junta has reportedly cut off Internet access:
Myanmar’s government appeared to have cut public Internet access and troops occupied key Buddhist monasteries on Friday, witnesses and diplomats said, in an effort to end demonstrations against the ruling junta.
The moves raised concerns that the military government may be preparing to intensify a crackdown on civilians that has killed at least 10 people in the past two days. The Internet in particular has played a crucial role in getting news and images of the pro-democracy protests to the outside world.
According to AFP, government officials are blaming a “damaged underwater cable.”
After two days of unrest in Yangon’s streets, Myanmar’s main link to the Internet has stopped working, according to a telecom official who blamed the problem on a damaged cable.
“The Internet is not working because the underwater cable is damaged,” an official with Myanmar Post and Telecoms told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Myanmar’s Internet service is tightly controlled and only sporadically available even in the best of times, but the military has tightened its controls amid anti-government protests.
In Bangkok, an official at a Thai telecom that provides satellite services to Myanmar also said some Internet service inside the country had been cut.
One western source inside Myanmar said she had not been able to access emails or Internet since late morning.
Yes, question the timing.
***
Several popular dissident blogs had already gone dark the past few days before the “damaged underwater cable” shut down Internet accesss.
The fate of one prolific Burmese blogger, Moezack, is unknown. The entire blog has been wiped.
***
The Times of London has gripping photos of murdered journalist Kenji Nagai of Japan, who was shot to death while covering the protests on a Rangoon street.
What’s being done?
— The United States ordered a freeze on the assets of Burma’s military leader and 13 other top officials
— President Bush urged Burmese troops “not to use force on their fellow citizens”
— Foreign ministers of the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (Asean) expressed “revulsion” at the treatment of protesters. “They were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used,” said George Yeo, the Singaporean Foreign Minister
— Burma issued a visa to Ibrahim Gambari, who was dispatched by the UN Security Council to investigate the crisis.
Also: The VOA has doubled its broadcasting in Burmese as the junta’s state-run TV broadcasts blame “foreign instigators” in the West for the protests.
The Democratic Voice of Burma continues to broadcast.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Bloodthirsty Liberal » Who Killed Myanmar? Why’n What’s the Reason For?
- PAXALLES
- Rhymes With Right
- Shedat.Com » Reports: Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma
- Captain's Quarters
- Tyrannies And Information Access at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source.
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Japanese journalist shot in Burma
- Burma: Cyber Treasure of Burma, Identifying Thugs by Face Photos (UPDATED) » The Moderate Voice
- Blue Crab Boulevard
- Burma bans blogs, Bitsblog hit hardest | BitsBlog
- Dave Lucas' Notes
- Spanish Pundit » Blog Archive » Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma
- Sister Toldjah
- Mudville Gazette
- The Florida Masochist
- The Marshian Chronicles»Blog Archive » Short Rounds #64
- Internet Cut Off in Myanmar : The American Pundit
- Puykif.Com » Reports: Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Burma burns
- This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Free Burma Protest in DC
- Photos of Brutally Murdered Victims of the Southern Thailand Pattani Insurgency « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
- Reports: Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Ed Driscoll
» Charges Filed In Kenneth Gladney Case
The Other McCain
» Alan Colmes, having fun at #1Riehl World View
» Bet: Ratings Fail - Oprah/Obama Christmas SpecialMudville Gazette
» The five-year planNewsBusters.org
» Oprah To Do Primetime Christmas Special With The ObamasNewsBusters.org
» To Kos, Taliban's Real Crime Is Being Un-PC
Typical of thugs and murderers… they cannot stand the light of day, much less the truth of direct video exposure of their actions.
The pictures are frightening, camera vs machine gun? whats wrong with these people?
They are oppressors, and cannot stand to have people disagree with them.
My heart goes out to the people of Burma; this is a disgrace – what will we (I mean our country) do to help them?
But we cannot intervene. After all, Iraq is the biggest mistake the UK/US ever made. Stop the war. Conversation not confrontation. bla bla bla.
Except of course we’ll not hear a peep from the anti-war movement regarding this. Why? There are pictures showing the violence in Myanmar and how bad the situation really is. Some will argue that Iraq was different, yet the Kurds in Norther Iraq would beg to differ on such views.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke
Send the troops in. Now.
Chilling.
The world continues unabated, spiraling into darkness and chaos while the girlymen of the west eat popcorn and watch.
Or should I say the cat is out of the bag…the West is run by girlymen…which is why we may likely see more of this, not less? Hmm….
I was in Burma about 9 years ago. There was no American economic investment that I noticed, but there were tons of Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and French examples of investment (hotels such as the Novotel, Korean and Japanese billboards, etc.
They have propped up the regime through their investment, and the junta knows if it cracks down there will be no consequence, just as there was no consequence in China when they cracked down.
Unfortunately there is not much we can do diplomatically or through use of our military (little too busy in the several countries they are already operating in).
Boomer,
And also if we used military force to topple every repressive regime in the world, we would be in about 90% of the countries around the world. Iraq was a definite security threat (supporting Al Qaeda, funding suicide attacks and terrorism, trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction); Burma is not a security threat.
I am doing security consulting for an organization in the region and the colleagues, too, reported they lost email contact with our people in Chiang Mai Thailand. We are trying to get the people out of the country but with communication, even cell phones going bad, it compounds the difficult situation. Pray for the country.
After reviewing the video it appears the soldier right in front of the Japanese photographer shot him point blank in the groin area. Likely he bled to death. Some people better hang for this blood bath.
Not holding my breath.
Schweggie, I share your pessimism. There isn’t much we can do. We can’t stretch our military that thin and we already refuse to invest or trade with Burma. The best case scenario is an uprising in international outrage. The media is our best hope.
The internet has become a critical link to freedom.
I think the next time I encounter some feather-brained moonbat screaming hysterically about how the evil bush/cheney/neocon regime has stripped away all our rights and turned this country into a fascist dictatorship, I’m going to respond with one word: Burma.
I saw a Reuter’s photo of a protester holding a sign saying ‘We need UN sanctions now’. Be careful what you ask for.
Wait for the howling left to ask why we didn’t send troops to help the civilians…
Though Honestly, I wouldn’t be too pissed if we sent a division of Marines. Give ‘em a couple of days, and they’d stop the “police” (Read: Thugs) from “policing” (Read: killing) any more civies…
There should be a volunteer brigade of bleeding hearts who want to go to the Sudan, Burma, etc., to fight. The hardasses are usually fairies who’ve never been in combat and would never volunteer except on behalf of the U.S. military.
We misjudged Somalia and Iraq. From the perspective of the majority of the Iraqi people, we are the oppressors. Look at the Burmese crackdown as a “surge.” And don’t forget to ask the Kurds how they like Bush sending special forces in to help Turkey fight the Kurds.
I realize this is a difficult concept for you, but here it is:
Stating your opinion as fact does not actually make it a fact.
I think the left will be silent. They don’t know what to do when they see real oppression in front of their faces. Notice it was not one of our vaunted journalistic/academic heroes in Rangoon. Too scary!
…from the news video…My God that is creepy. Root source can only be…
when you think about it…
I bet the American Left will be extremely confused. On the one hand, if they keep reporting about the situation in Burma, Americans will realize what REAL oppression is and how good we have it in America, which they want Americans to forget.
On the other hand, the Left always wants us to invade countries we never will because they pose no security threat or else we couldn’t possibly invade at the moment–Sudan, NK, the Congo, etc. They will probably start saying we should have invaded Burma–not Iraq– and demand that we do something militarily about Burma. . .because they know we can’t and that we wouldn’t anyway because Burma is not a security threat.
I go by polls. Wishing doesn’t make it a fact either.
Do the hawks have a postwar plan for Burma? Who shall we install as leader? We’ll want to disband the army of course, since they are evil and we are the axis of good. We’ll want bases over there because of Burma’s strategic location next to China.
Then the disbanded Burmese army can fade into the jungle and start a guerrilla war against us, well supplied by China no doubt, as they wouldn’t understand why we are building enormous military bases right next to them. They might even stop loaning us money to pay for all our military adventurism.
I look forward to a 50 year occupation of Burma.
This would be the human rights commission that is being run by thugs right? Good luck with that.
We won’t do anything, because Burma has no value. No strategic locations, and no oil. Like it or not, Iraq was about securing the oil, because the world economy runs on oil.
Of course if we would just let our troops fight to win the way we fought WWII, then we would be able to respond to “trouble spots” around the world.
When the libs start demanding action, we can tell them “We’ll be willing to provide the equipment, supplies, transportation and support if they will provide the bodies. After all, they don’t want to be accused of sending others to fight a war that they aren’t willing to fight in, now would they?
The regime in Burma is acting a lot like our Democrats.
The problem is you’ve got the ChiComs backing the government. Oppression is just another day at the office for the comrades in Beijing and as long as they can get the resources they want cheaply from the junta, they’ll prop up the current regime.
If we had a CIA that was worth anything and was less interested in toppling the Bush administration, we could do a lot to help the democracy movement behind the scenes and win. But we don’t.
The only solution is long-term international outrage and pressure, particularly on China. Good luck with that.
The United Nations said it will convene an emergency session on human rights abuses…
The UN? Ya, that ought to have them quivering and shaking in their boots.
I really wish people understood what the hell a poll really is.
It is a sampling. It is not a population study.
If you are going to cite a poll as though it were infalable, un-corruptable thing, please use the propper terms.
“The majority of Iraqis polled”, not “the majority of Iraqis”
Stupidity does not excuse sloppy arguments.
That statement is so stupid and insensitive that I have to assume its misguided sarcasm.
Anyone who wants to make a political point here is missing the point. Someone asked on the Miller Lite/Folsom Street Fair thread why that got 160 comments and this gets considerably fewer. Well, with the Folsom Street Fair there was lots of room for disagreement. Here, there isn’t. Amercians on both sides of the political spectrum should be united in their horror over what’s happening in Burma. This is a horrible situation with no obvious solution. I feel outraged, yet impotent.
The best we can do is pray for a happy ending. I am not optimistic.
I hate to say it cRusters, but I believe I am in agreement with you.
This is really sad, and makes you really appreciate our country on so many levels. Not much to argue about there.
It is not that I do not care about good people being harmed in Burma. It is we have an invasion going on in this country. We should use our money, and military to shore up the borders, and deport illegal aliens, and moon god worshiping POS caught funding terror.
66 years ago we fought the first battles of WWII where? … in Burma … most everyone knows Dec. 7, 1941 … but do not realize we invaded Burma on Dec. 8, 1941 to take on the Japanese there first … the name of the country has changed … but not much else … still a barbaric rule there … has been ever since it split off from India to become Burma …
That is the dumbest thing I have ever read.
Ok, I am taking a poll.
How many men on this site have stopped beating their wives?
I see, all of them.
Conclusion: All of the men on this site used to beat their wives.
Polls are skewed and are NOT evidence of anything except for the fact people can be manipulated.
In the mean time, this reporter is 100% dead and this atrocity is reminiscent of what power does to insane people without morals.
Wars and rumors of wars. Oh, the evil that men do. It just sickens me.
I fail to see what’s all the fuss about. It’s not like the New York Police Department looked into activist organizations who threatened to cause trouble protesting the Republican National Convention. Now that’s oppression.
Pray for Burma. Pray for all those oppressed.
China and India depend on the natural resources the junta provides at cut rate prices…. plus China gets a market for the $500 motorbike.
Thailand and even Laos get cheap illegal immigrant labor.
Nope.
Not gonna happen. Burma gets screwed.
Peace people are almost demanding the US send in the Marines.
Oh
Why not demand the Chinese do it?
Or the Koreans (I realize the Japanese can’t for obvious historical reasons)
Oh no. Not India.
The USA has to do it.
Right
Thanks for helping! FREE Burma!!!
Bush slammed the UN and the rulers of Myanmar in his UN speech last week. The only country that has any influence over Myanmar is China, and they can’t and won’t push too hard. There is too much Oil & Gas there that they need.
The UN must do something, but they never use military force to fight.
That is a huge problem.
Illegal drug and ruby fortunes are a BIG part of this too.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe wants
complete narco states
criminals in power
loving the corrupt drug war
.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
shoot peaceful protesters
calling for democracy
which you must never allow
.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe thinks
keep trying communism
you can never KILL too much
pursuing Utopia…
.
http://free-burma.org/
http://absurdthoughtsaboutgod.blogspot.com/
.