Burma Cyclone: Exile Describes Victims' Anger | Newsweek International

BURMA
Yes, Big Brother Is Watching
Lennox Samuels 11/21/2007 12:00:00 AM
The ramshackle taxis that clog downtown Rangoon look ready for the scrap heap. No American auto dealer would offer more than a few hundred dollars for any of these aging and shabby cars, but here, in this impoverished nation, the drivers have paid up to $20,000 for the privilege of ownership. The reason: ordinary Burmese say they are not allowed to import or buy new cars. That's the prerogative of diplomats, foreign-company employees, the fortunate rich and, of course, the military regime.
The Silence of the Monasteries
Lennox Samuels 11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM
The men were crammed into a tiny, overcrowded Burmese government detention-center cell. With no latrines in the bare room, they were forced to urinate in a corner. But when the guards finally reacted to the spreading puddle and intensifying stench, the men recoiled from the rags brought in. The maroon fabric clearly has been torn from Buddhist vestments, and the prisoners tacitly decide they'd rather live with the mess than clean the floor with monks' robes.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Winds of Change
Melinda Liu
The massive storm that hit Burma on May 2 could not have come at a worse time for the generals who rule the country. As Cyclone Nargis raged toward them across the Indian Ocean, Burma's military government was busy preparing for a referendum—originally scheduled for May 10—they hoped would ratify a new constitution legalizing military rule.
THE LAST WORD
We Don’t Do ‘Regime Change’

Ibrahim Gambari is the U.N. point man on one of the world's toughest regimes to charm, Burma. Since taking the job in May, Gambari has visited Rangoon several times, urging the junta to respect human rights and recognize the opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. His last two visits came after the bloody September crackdown on monks protesting the rising price of fuel. Gambari is one of few outsiders to meet the secretive and isolated junta supremo, Than Shwe. He spoke with NEWSWEEK'S Patrick Falby on the state of Burma. Excerpts:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Free the Burmese

Brutalities in BurmaFareed Zakaria's Oct. 15 World View on sanctions against Burma was the most concise and logical article I have read about that country ("Sleepwalking to Sanctions, Again"). At last, someone finally did some homework and read the history of Burma and what it has gone through for the last 150 years. Naturally, the Burmese don't trust outsiders because of what outsiders have done to them during the last century. All they wanted was their independence from foreign rule, and those promises were always broken. Why punish them further with sanctions? Leave them alone. They are savvier than we think.Esther M. SmedvigLondon, England
Spin the Games
Melinda Liu
It wasn't your normal Chinese press conference. Last month, dozens of foreign journalists were invited to a dusty military training ground in Henan province to see the People's Liberation Army in action—specifically, Chinese combat engineers soon headed on a peacekeeping mission to Darfur. Media access to China's military is rare, but the PLA put on a good show.