In Burma, as in so many other places, many people seem to have thought that opinion, namely the good intentions of the majority, were more important than firepower - they appear to be mistaken.
"You are showing lack of respect for the dead" - perhaps, but I am warning people not to stand against men with rifles when you are unarmed. Get the firepower, one way or another, and learn how to use it, then you may have a chance at liberty - you can not have it, or keep it, without firepower. And that remains true even if you win some soldiers over to your side with appeals to their reason.
Meanwhile, a horrifying silence fills Rangoon.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2007/10/what-the-burmese-need/224947/
