The Fighting Monks of Burma
I dig the idea of hundreds of peaceful Buddhist monks engaging in non-violent protest against a cruel military regime:
“The monks are the only ones who really have the trust of the people,” says Khin Omar, an exiled dissident now living in Thailand. “When they speak up, people listen.”
Then I read this:
On September 5, protests by clergy members in the holy city of Pakokku turned violent when security forces fired warning shots in the air, only to have the monks respond by taking officials hostage and torching their cars.
Come on, Burmese monks… torching cars? I expect that from rioting UMass students on Halloween not the holy of the holy.
