"FEAR", the lady used to say, "is a habit." This week, inspired in part by the lady herself, Aung San Suu Kyi, partly by the heroic example set by Buddhist monks, Myanmar's people kicked the addiction.rnDefying the corrupt, inept,rnbrutal generals who rule them, they took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to demand democracy. They knew they were risking a bloody crackdown, like the one that put down a huge popular revolt in 1988, killing 3,000 people or more. In 1988 Burma's people were betrayed not just by the ruthlessness of their rulers, but also by the squabbling and opportunism of the outside world, which failed to produce a coordinated response and let the murderous regime get away with it. This time, soldiers are once again shooting and killing unarmed protesters (see page 27). Can the world avoid making the same mistake twice?
展开▼
