Divide and Conquer, Than Shwe Style
By Buffalohair Gazette
With dissention throughout Burma over Than Shwe’s latest attempt to legitimize his criminal reign with his proposed 2010 election. It is all too obvious his new publication, The New Lie of Myanmar, is in need of fodder to spread vial propaganda. Already there is news of old rivalries and religious differences springing up around Burma. Clearly this is a tactic to keep a suffering nations divided with old fears and past intercessions. With everyone arguing over forgotten differences his campaign of hate can continue while people are at odds with one another. The Roman’s called it “Divide and Conquer”.
The New Lie of Myanmar already tried to smear the KNU to UN Human Rights emissary Tom Quintana with total falsehoods and blatant lies. This propaganda machine tried to place blame for the rape and murder of the Karen’s on the KNU when in fact it was committed by Than Shwe’s death squads who rape and kill with impunity. With eye witness accounts, volumes of photos and video identifying Burmese Troops as the true perpetrators, it is still odd to me why Quintana needed to go to Burma and investigate. Shades of Gambari I fear.
But nothing highlights this act of divide and conquer than an event that took place on February 10. A military unit of 70 well armed soldiers dressed in camouflaged uniforms, AK-47’s M-22’s and other Chinese ordinance, typical of the Burmese Army, robber a convoy of trucks on the bustling Mandalay-Muse border trade route according to an article in the *Kachin News. This event might have passed as a rouge group if it were not for the fact the Burmese Army has done this kind of operation time and time again. The only thing missing were the unite patches but they clearly were the same players who robbed this trade route before.
Obviously this was an attempt to cause animosity between the different ethnic groups by casting suspicions between them. There is no question The New Lie of Myanmar will identify Shan or Kachin troops or even the KNU in the blatant armed robbery. Maybe they will blame the Free Burma Rangers or me. No matter who this trash liner of a publication tries to identify, it is clear Than Shwe’s psychological warfare tactics will try to divide ethnic groups. With this in mind one must weigh the facts fore the truth will be known eventually.
With many people living in the big cities, this propaganda machine could possibly taint public opinion to show cause for continuing Than Shwe’s war on truth and democracy. The outcome would be the continued wholesale arrests and murders of all opposition to his 2010 election. There is a saying that if you tell a lie long enough people will accept it for truth. By poisoning public opinion and causing dissention between ethnic groups Than Shwe will effectively divide a country with his acts of terrorism and placing blame on others. He would also show the world that he is fighting criminals to keep the peace in Burma and justifying his holocaust. Maybe this is just a show for Quintana and the rest of the UN or an excuse the UN needed to qualify the 2010 elections. We must stand vigil since there will be more events such as the one on the Mandalay-Muse trade route. If it smells like a rat, it most probably is. And we all know Than Shwe will stoop to any level to fool the public and the world.
