williamonthehill

Burma Cyclone Disaster

The present situation with the Military Junta refusing foreign aid and assistance brings up an interesting question. Can one force aid on another? In this case, can the United Nations actually use force and coercion on the Burmese government and compel them to accept aid and assistance from the UN and its member natons?

It is day six and the initial death toll (estimates of 200,000) will be added to - by day 15  with the situation unchanged from what it is today, we can expect deaths to have at least doubled (half a million).

What the Un cannot afford to do is to allow the Burmese military carte blanche to control the supplies distribution which is what the Burmese military are wanting to do. For one thing, they have not the experience, the equipment or the administration to do this even half efficiently. A photo in today's press (and stage-managed for the occassion) showed a long line of Burmese matelots unloading a supply ship on the Irriwaddy river. One sack at a time going down this long chain. Would take weeks to unload a ship at that work rate. Weeks! Another, and perhaps bigger issue is that the military will distribute the supplies not to where they might have greatest need, but to their allies and friends inside Burma, mainly the middle class and trhe military itself. In the hands of the Red Cross high energy biscuits can save many hundreds of thousands of children. In the supplies depots of the Burmese military they will become a weapon of war and the Burmese military only conduct war against their own people.

There is a hard, tough war of diplomacy going on right now and we must hope that the Burmese government will cave in. It will already be too late for tens of thousands of the Burmese but better late than never... It might make a terrific difference if China was brought on board. China has much influence over the Burmese government and they could use that influence for good. Perhaps if the Un stood aside in favour of a Chinese-led relief operation much good would come of it. It would be a win-win situation since China and her reputation could only benefit following the rather negative image China has developed of late thanks to its heavy-handedness in Tibet.

At the moment the Burmese people are in a l0se-lose situation and they are dying in their tens of thousands for so long as the present logjam remains unbroached.

Persepolis

My son and I saw this cartoon movie last week. It was brilliant even if not a great bundle of laughs. The cartoons are great art. And no GCI animation. This is an old-fashioned cartoon drawn with ink and each and every frame is worth all the effort.

Beginning in 1979 it is the story of a young girl growing up as the Iranian revolution breaks out. She is the daughter of liberal, westernised vaguely Marxist parents who have grandparents who were Persian Princes and Bolshevik revolutionaries!

The points are well made but there are one or two scenes where the writers soapbox shows. For example, in Junior High school our heroine argues against the history teacher when teacher claims how things were bad under the Shah: " you say that under the Shah there were 30.000 dangerous Marxist revolutionaries imprisoned; but now there are 300,000 political prisoners, including my uncle. How is that an improvement?"

There are many, very dark moments in this movie. As the grip of the revolutionary (see Religious) guards tightens on Tehrain it becomes a very dangerous occupation to be a woman. As for being a westernised, liberated woman... forget it.

The history of the war between Iraq and Iran (1980 - 1988) is not well known here in the west. What is not in doubt is how the western powers (especially USA, France and UK) sold arms to both sides without discrimination or moral scruple. One Million (conservative estimate) people on both sides were killed. The most poignant were the young revolutionary guards, boys of 13,14,15 who were recruited by the Iranian Mullahs. They were often given a small, plastic key which they were told was the key to paradise, and promised a martyrs death where they would inherit a harem of virgins. Sound familiar? Death was what most did receive as they were sent, en masse, in front of the Iranian forces to detonate the minefields and to bear the brunt of the firepower. Truly this is a regime of death, and not life.

Our heroine is driven out of Iran and into exile in Vienna. She becomes a young, liberated woman, has love affairs, gets her heart broken, spends two very bad months on the streets until she catches Pneumonia. She nearly dies but returns home where she becomes very clinically depressed by her expereinces. She goes to Tehrain University but she will not admit defeat. Instead, she cocks a snook at the religious authorities once too often. She has to go into exile, this time to Paris, where she still lives and works.

Altogether  a film to make one think about what it is like to live in exile, to lose one's country, freedom, family. Although I would agree that the film succeeeds in making the Iranian into a human being, I came away feeling very angry at the nature of the regime in Tehrain with its misogynistic and doom laden religious oppression.

Go and see this movie but be prepared to be taken to some emotional places where you might not want to go. Laugh but feel uncomfortable.

Light Blogging

It has been a few weeks since I last posted on the Blog. Many apologies for that. The full-time ness of the job, plus the commuting rather take it out of me. I arrive home too often exhausted and with my mind a complete blank with regard to writing anything witty, meaningful or even literate!

I promise to do better in May.