We’ve seen it all before, in Asia, Africa and in Latin America. Military generals (sometimes colonels or even mayors) take over the government in the name of stability. Some of these coups were justifiable, most were not. Historically speaking, there has never been any military officer in any of these continents who took power by force and then successfully paved the way for democracy (though I stand corrected if anyone can point to one.) It has never been part of their military training to build a nation on the principles of freedom, rules of law, respect for human rights and democracy. They haven’t a clue about how to build democracy, let alone how to start one, and most likely, they have no interest in doing so.

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Threatening to boycott the Beijing Olympics may sound like a good (if not desperate) proposition to pressure China to prevail over Myanmar. We all agree that if anyone can push the Myanmar junta to stop persecuting the monks and students, it will be China. Beijing has propped up the country economically for years while the junta has defied one international condemnation or embargo after another for its appalling human rights record.

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