Burma Cuts the Line

Burma's military junta tried to shut down the country's Internet access as it escalated its crackdown against thousands of protesters who have been assembling in Rangoon.

The ruling military junta is fighting a battle to control the international spread of information about its bloody crackdown on democracy demonstrators in the streets of the Burmese capital and other cities.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Burmese citizen witnesses are "using cellphones and the Internet to beam out images of bloodied monks and street fires, subverting the Myanmar government's effort to control media coverage and present a sanitized version of the uprising."

"Burmese bloggers are on the front lines, providing news and photos of death and insurrection," the San Francisco Chronicle's Richard S. Ehrlich observed.

The regime's attempt to cut communications and isolate itself from the world called to mind similar tactics employed by violent revolutionaries like the Khmer Rouge.

"Internet cafes were closed and an official at Burma's main internet service provider said that the connection was not working because of a damaged cable," The Times of London reported, citing a Reuters dispatch.

Melbourne's Herald-Sun said on Friday that Burmese forces opened fire on civilians as the protest stretched into its second week.

"In Rangoon, soldiers marched down the streets warning over loudspeakers that protesters risked getting shot, according to reports reaching exile groups in Thailand," the Washington Post relayed. Burma has become a no-man's land for reporters—most dispatches are coming out of Thailand.

Burmese security forces raided a half-dozen Buddhist temples yesterday and opened fire on rebels who demand an end to military rule, the Post added.

World leaders condemned the Burmese government's actions. At the opening of the United Nations' annual General Assembly in New York, President Bush announced new sanctions against the junta.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals," he said in a statement.

Sam Gustin