Myanmar Civil War : Six Army Generals With Troops Surrender To Rebel Army

 Some wild stuff is going on in Myanmar :

 

Myanmar’s Military Faces Stunning Losses as Rebels Gain Strength
Junta leader increasingly in danger of being sacked by the military
Jan 25
 
By: David Scott Mathieson

six brigadier generals and troops surrendered early Jan to rebels 
dramatic indication of rebel progress in war-torn country
junta sentenced three generals to death (in absentia) 
another three to life imprisonment 
rebel Three Brotherhood Alliance (3BA) continues to destabilize army  
3BA made up of Arakan Army, Democratic Alliance, Ta’ang Liberation Army
Fighter aircraft, helicopters shot down, arms and equipment seized
hundreds of bases lost, thousands of soldiers dead or surrendered
junta’s leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing 
increasingly divorced from reality
disregard for major, growing losses on front lines
Arakan Army (AA), methodically seizing key towns and military bases in the west        

My Comments : Looks like the junta which grabbed power In Myanmar through the coup de etat a few years back did not know what to do with the country they had acquired. This seems to be the problem elsewhere too.  

Myanmar's problems are much, much more difficult. This is a 54 million population  'ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct officially recognised ethnic groups. These are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races" :      Bamar,  Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine (Rohingya?), Shan.

To get to the point they all hate each other. The Bamars (Burma) make up 68% of the population. They generally dominate. All the others do not like them. And they all do not like each other either.

In the 1960s Burma (Myanmar) had a fantastic chance at becoming a developed country in South East Asia. They inherited exactly the same British education system which we and Singapore had. Burma used to produce highly trained doctors who used to work in Malaysia in the 1960s and 1970s. The lingua france in their education and in their civil service was English.

Burma (Myanmar) has the honour (if you can call it that) of producing the longest serving Secretary General of the United Nations. Mr U Thant (remember Jalan U Thant) was the UN Secretary General for 10 years from 1961 to 1971. That was indeed a reflection of Myanmar's ability in the early 1960s.

Sadly in 1962 a wacko general by the name of Ne Win carried out a coup de etat and seized power. General Ne Win set up the military dictatorship which has almost continuously ruled Myanmar until today. Ne Win was a socialist, almost communist. He almost abolished the English language in Myanmar and switched everything to the dominant Bamar language. The 'kita akan mengikut acuan kita sendiri' rhetoric.

According to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew that switch in language was among the reasons (of course there were many other reasons) for the Myanmar people regressing from becoming a developed country. They really committed suicide. And they have come to where they are today.

What will happen next. 
That is easy to predict folks.

First the Myanmar Army junta will be defeated. 
I dont know how long that will take but it will happen.

The 3BA (Three Brotherhood Alliance) rebel army will come into power. 
Then the 3BA will start fighting among themselves. 
Their ethnic hatreds are quite deep seated. 
Myanmar will burn for a very long time. 

The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.