“The SPDC has virtually invented its own ‘great game’ in which it has become a masterful manipulator and has been winning to the consternation of the wider world,” he said.

However, none of the three powers seem prepared to go beyond words in their dealings with the junta, ruling out sanctions as they jostle for a chance to get at Myanmar’s bountiful and largely untapped natural resources, especially its oil and gas. The regime, Thitinan says, adroitly plays one off against the other.

Japan, the biggest aid donor, has also said it would not impose sanctions, even though one of its journalists was shot in the demonstrations.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/30/asia/AS-GEN-Myanmar-Losing-Hope.php

http://www.cfob.org/women.html

Burma’s generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters — but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks’ color red, and on the internet– where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma’s powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China’s attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we’ll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven’t already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php

The pressure is working – already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We’re broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let’s do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

But the flow of information from Myanmar has been slowed by interruptions to Internet connections, and the monitoring groups said they were having difficulty reaching their contacts.

“They don’t want the world to see what is going on there,” a White House spokesman, Scott Stanzel, said Friday.

Little is known about the hundreds of people who were pushed into trucks during the demonstrations or about the monks who were hauled during the night from their monasteries. Prisons are reported to be overcrowded and detention centers have been created in schools and other public buildings, human rights groups said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/30/news/myanmar.php