Burma (The Union of Myanmar)

War with a smile 2009-11-11 - 2010-01-13

It is quite astounding how many people try to get into Burma. Maybe the danger attracts them. Or maybe compassion. One thing is for sure- most of them are idiots. A long trail of cretinous ignorance has left the information supply to those outside the struggle dry and occasionally violent.

In the same way that people building a school in Africa or donating to Oxfam don't realise the damage they are doing, these people clearly don't understand the implications of what they do, or what happens when they leave. Spilling what is quite rightly a sensational story (complete with all the right amounts of blood, guns espionage and distressed mothers to satisfy most appetites) into the public domain without having to worry about the mess is akin to leaving a man behind. Those implicated know exactly where the resistance are based and have no other option but to clear up the only way they can- ensuring future silence. The price of the world knowing exactly what is happening is an erosion of resistance effectiveness. Although the biggest country in sub-China Asia the jungle only has a limited number of places to hide. And the locals have a hard enough time convincing the SPDC they don't know anything about the effort as it is.
Places, people, organisations are identifiable to those in the know or those asking questions after you leave. Sometimes it doesn't take a great leap to pinpoint exactly how or where information was learnt, and the obvious ramifications to the original owner.

Never underestimate effectiveness of playing the stupid tourist.

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from the nikon

of the rants: The NGO Question

This is a very contentious issue. If you are offended, please make a note of it. There seem to be several billion NGOs, some religious, some french, some global, some preventative, some medical, some secret, some gigantic, some grassroots, some volunteer, some reactive, all with various, often parallel goals. These NGOs contribute a huge effort to whatever crisis, pandemic or issue they are trying to fight. But I'm not alone in questioning their effectiveness. I recently had the opportunity to attend the London showcase of one such small group, refocus. They took cameras out to Palestinian, Afghani and Iraq...»

of the jaunts: Coming Soon

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stats in brief

Countries involved: 5 :