Sad Burmese Days

I was obviously too optimistic in my Sunday night post about Burma. I can't independently verify this report from the Daily Mail, but if it's close to true things are really dispiriting. Some people claim to have seen hundreds of bodies of dead monks thrown into the jungle, and perhaps thousands of civilians have been killed, according to this report. If so, it's on a scale with 1988. Perhaps the only bow to the "whole world is watching" syndrome might be the fact that the regime felt a need to conceal the bodies rtather than leave them on the street as a terrorist object lesson. Whether the carnage was on this scale or not -- other reports mention the possibility of hundreds dead -- it has obviously been severe.

The regime has given the cold shoulder to the UN envoy -- there's supposed to be a meeting today with the top general, presumably if his astrologer tells him it's OK. Perhaps the only hope is that the old scoundrel is 74 and said to be sickly.