Coup, then counter-coup can set Myanmar straight

Hence it is okay for Aung San Suu Kyi not to criticise military atrocities, including the war offensive in the north and the Rohingya genocide in the west.
Such views are wrong. The most important thing the generals got from her surrender to arrest in 2011 was legitimacy (not more money through business deals, or new weapons, or anything like that). This is their greatest strength.
To the international community – starting with the Myanmar generals’ benefactor, US President Barack Obama – they are now legitimate. Contrast this to Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who also commits mass atrocities against his people, but who has no such international backing – just the self-serving support of Russia and Iran.
If the Burmese generals stage a coup, they will lose their new legitimacy.
They can’t have that. Hence, this is what we should push for. Myanmar has always been a case of good versus evil. The generals were evil and the population good. Suu Kyi’s actions destroyed that perception. The reality, though, remains unchanged. The generals are evil and the people are the victims. But the world no longer has to act on that basis.
The best thing Suu Kyi could do is criticise Than Shwe and Min Aung Hlaing and make them so angry that they launch a coup. If she did this, she would regain her status as a democracy fighter. Everyone could then unite against the military and force them out of politics. Then a real democratic age could begin.
If Suu Kyi refuses to confront the dictatorial military, she is part of the dictatorship. She and her disciples might argue otherwise, but the effect is the same. She should be opposed no less strongly that the rapist-murderer police and soldiers.
The very best thing would be if the generals’ coup triggered a counter-coup by secret democracy-sympathising subordinates, after which Than Shwe, Min Aung Hlaing and the other top generals could be executed.
Roland Watson
(www.dictatorwatch)