Stop the Terror in Burma

Opinion Journal ^ | October 10, 2007 | Laura Bush

[Kaslin]

President Bush is preparing further U.S. sanctions against the dictatorship.

It is 2 a.m. in Rangoon, Burma. In the middle of the tropical night, army troops pour into the neighborhood surrounding a peaceful Buddhist monastery. The soldiers occupy nearby homes, so that residents will not peek through their windows or go outside to witness the raid. Troops then storm the monastery, brutalizing, terrorizing and arresting the monks inside.

Eventually the monks are imprisoned inside Rangoon's former Government Technical Institute. According to one eyewitness, hundreds are crammed into each room. They have no access to toilets or sanitary facilities. Many of the monks refuse food from their military jailers. There is no space to lie down and sleep.

These are the stories of Burma's "Saffron Revolution." The protests that started a few weeks ago with a 500% spike in regime-controlled gas prices have now unleashed 19 years of pent-up national anger. As the demonstrations play out on front pages, computer monitors, and TV screens across the globe, millions of people have been inspired by the sea of orange-robed Buddhist monks standing up to the military dictatorship.

Millions have also been stunned by the junta's shameful response: nonviolent demonstrators struck down with batons, tear gas, smoke grenades and bullets; civilians, including children, seized at random; innocent men and women slain.

[at bay]

Laura Bush is quite an articulate writer and great friend of the Burmese people. God Bless her efforts and prayers to the thousands now imprisoned, tortured or killed for the sin of clapping.

[at bay]

Laura Bush is quite an articulate writer and great friend of the Burmese people. God Bless her efforts and prayers to the thousands now imprisoned, tortured or killed for the sin of clapping.