It’s not politically wise to focus on the gruesome & deranged but in a time of genocide harshest realities must be confronted. Wirathu, the Buddhist nationalist “monk” who was the face of genocide in Burma before Aung San Suu Kyi took over that role, has been chanting hate mantras to cheer the death squads on in Arakan state. In a public speech on Sunday he said:

“Do these animals [Rohinga Muslims] eat with their asses when they have meals? For example, do they put their rice into their bottoms instead of their mouths? When they go to toilets, do they invert their asses & excrete from their mouths?”

If you are equivocal about or supportive of the genocide against the Rohingya people because of the crap about their being jihadi terrorists, this “monk” is who you will allied with. Just as Assad supporters are aligned with fascists, Islamophobes, & anti-Semites in Syria.

A Burmese nationalist justified military & nationalist death squads executing Rohingya children by burning, stabbing, beheading because “They are future generations to be terrorists in Rakhine state.” All Assad supporters are now lining up in agreement that the Rohingya are terrorists. So while they denounced the revolution against Assad as all jihadi head-choppers, they now enthusiastically support head-chopping in Arakan state, including of small children. No further condemnations necessary.

A little Rohingya girl, a newly arrived refugee in Bangladesh.
Unicef reported yesterday that more than 200,000 Rohingya children refugees are at great risk in Bangladesh. They’ve spent days fleeing from death squads, haven’t slept for days, are weak, hungry, sick, traumatized, & in urgent need of medical care.

Stand with the Rohingya against genocide & for human, democratic, civil, & refugee rights.

(Photo by KM Asad/AFP/Getty Images)

A Sikh team member from Khalsa Aid at the Bangladesh border with a little Rohingya refugee. Doing what the best of human beings do when other human beings are in need.

(Photo from Khalsa Aid)

Counterpunch published an article titled “America’s Long War: US Tightens the Noose on China” by a guy named Sean Stinson where he accused the persecuted Uighur Muslims of China & the Rohingya Muslims of being “insurgents backed by Western political interests, receiving arms & training from the usual sources”–meaning, of course, by the CIA. He said: “Playing the role of agents provocateur in the latest round of psy-ops, their violent crimes against the local Buddhist population have provoked brutal counter attacks against ethnic Muslims across the country–violence which the “international community” blames on the Burmese authorities.” How does that accord with Israel’s sale of weapons to the Burmese generals? Because if there is one thing we know for sure, it is that libertarian rednecks hate Israel based not on support for Palestinians but on a profound anti-Semitism. So are they on the same side as Israel in the genocide against the Rohingya people?

Counterpunch is not a progressive journal but a genocide denier. It is filled with Islamophobic hatred & paranoia & should be used for cleaning up horse manure.

Maung Zarni, a leading Buddhist dissident in exile, says Aung San Suu Kyi’s deeds are as genocidal as the generals who are her partners.

The government of China & Kofi Annan have both offered condolences for the deaths in Arakan state. By which both mean not the Rohingya subjected to genocide but the security guards allegedly killed by Rohingya terrorists. Not a word about the 370,000 Rohingya refugees.

With deep sadness, I relinquished Gustavo to the shelter here, not a no-kill one & certain to euthanize him within the week. Bianca must have sensed something was up because when I tried to get her in the car, she hid under the house & refused to come out. I thought it would require two trips to the shelter since it was impossible to keep them any longer & of the several rescues I contacted, none would take large dogs. I won’t describe how awful it was to see Gustavo resist & whimper as the shelter attendant took him away.

One of the women from Yaqui ranch animal shelter came by since they will be taking the bambinos tomorrow for adoption in Arizona. When I told her about Gustavo she was as devastated as I was. This morning a Yaqui person called to say they were so upset about Gustavo that they would pull him from the shelter & find a foster for him (with high fences) until they could find someone willing to adopt. Miracles do happen. Even for dogs.

This is Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese military since 2011 & the man organizing genocide against the Rohingya people in Arakan state as well as war crimes against other ethnic groups in Kachin & Shan states.

The European Union has maintained an arms embargo on Burma since 1996 which comes up for renewal on April 30th. Under the sanctions, it is illegal for EU countries to sell or export weapons, with the exception of non-lethal military equipment. Since India classifies pellet guns as non-lethal for use in Kashmir, that designation probably covers a multitude of lethal loopholes.

On April 23rd, just days before the renewal date this year, before it was certain what decision the EU would make about renewing sanctions, Germany & Austria hosted a delegation of top Burmese military officials led by Hlaing. They toured arms & aircraft factories & met with senior military officials in both countries. A week later, the EU renewed the arms embargo until April 30th, 2018.

Last November, whilst the EU sanctions were in place & during a major military assault in Arakan state that sent nearly 90,000 Rohingya fleeing for their lives, Hlaing was being given red-carpet treatment by Belgium & Italy where he also visited arms factories. Britain has been providing free military training to the Burmese army since 2013, sarcastically calling it “training in human rights & the law of armed conflict.” You can’t make this Kafkaesque crap up. Last year that training cost the UK £305,000 ($405,000 USD). A few days ago, 157 British MPs urged the government to suspend the training.

That would explain the dead silence by those European countries & for that matter the EU in response to the genocidal crackdown going on. Is what the Rohingya are sustaining the result of British “training in human rights & the law of armed conflict”? Or is the UK teaching them the methods it used when it was a colonial power & in its wars in the Middle East?

No military aid to Burma. Stop the genocide of the Rohingya people. Stand with them in their struggle for full human, democratic, civil, & refugee rights.

(Photo of Hlaing from Reuters)