Image Credits: AP.
See, if any of this sounds familiar to your American ears:
Myanmar’s military has seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders…
…The army alleges the recent landslide election win by Ms Suu Kyi’s party was marred by fraud…
…The military takeover follows weeks of tensions between the armed forces and the government following parliamentary elections lost by the army-backed opposition.
The opposition had demanded a re-run of the election, raising allegations of widespread fraud that were not backed by the electoral commission…
…The timing of this coup is also easily explained. This week the first session of parliament since the election was due to start, which would have enshrined the election result by approving the next government. That will no longer happen.
Maybe it’s a little clearer now why I opposed granting a waiver to Gen. James Mattis to serve in the civilian role of Secretary of Defense, and why I also did not support a waiver for Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve in that capacity in the Biden administration. It’s not personal to those two gentlemen. It’s just a bad idea to put generals in political positions.
Notice that a huge part of the problem in Myanmar is that there was an “the army-backed opposition.” When that opposition lost, the military pulled a Trump and claimed fraud, demanded a do-over, and then intervened before the new parliament could legitimize the results.
Trump failed because he didn’t have the support of the military, and that’s the only reason he failed. We’re a lot closer to being Myanmar that people want to admit.
