christo-f Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 What dickhead. Yettaw Says No Regrets Irrawaddy daily CHICAGO — American John Yettaw said Wednesday he has no regrets about taking a secret swim to the home of Burma's detained democracy leader—a decision that landed them both in prison—and indicated that he still believes his bizarre visit somehow saved her from being assassinated. "If I had to do it again, I would do it a hundred times, a hundred times, to save her life," an exhausted-looking Yettaw said of Aung San Suu Kyi in an interview with The Associated Press after arriving in the US on Wednesday. He added, "That they locked her up, it just breaks my heart." John Yettaw of Falcon, Mo. waits for a tram between terminals at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on August 19. (Photo: AP) Yettaw, 53, has testified that he swam to the Nobel Laureate's house in May to warn her that he had a "vision" that she would be assassinated. Though Yettaw was released, Suu Kyi and her two live-in aides remain in detention because of Yettaw's visit, and Yettaw has been called a fool and a madman by some of her supporters. Yettaw was wearing a blue surgical mask and clutching a green Harrods bag as he was pushed in a wheelchair through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after his arrival. Yettaw, who has been ill since his arrest in Burma, wore the mask to guard against infection. The American is from the tiny south-central Missouri town of Falcon, but he generated global headlines after he was arrested and sentenced to hard labor for visiting the home of Suu Kyi. Yettaw was deported Sunday from Burma after the intervention of Democratic US Sen. Jim Webb. As he waited in Chicago to board a flight to Springfield, Missouri—his last destination after a nearly 24-hour journey from Bangkok—Yettaw sat with his head in his hands, his eyes bloodshot. His companion, who did not identify herself, said he was "very tired." He flashed the sign language symbol for "I love you" and nodded and smiled when asked whether he was happy to be home. When asked later if he would comment further, Yettaw said "I wish I could talk more. I can't" and made a zipper motion across his mouth. When he arrived in Springfield on Wednesday night, he was greeted by a police officer after collecting his luggage. He did not speak to media on the flight. Yettaw had flown with Webb to neighboring Thailand on a US government plane Sunday and underwent two days of medical tests at a private Bangkok hospital. Webb said Yettaw had suffered a "medical incident" just before leaving Burma as authorities there read him his deportation order. While in custody in a Rangoon jail during his trial, he had a seizure and was hospitalized for a week. He also reportedly suffers from diabetes and asthma. Yettaw, a Mormon who lives on a military pension from serving in the Army for about a year in 1973, traveled to Burma in early May and donned homemade flippers for a nighttime swim to Suu Kyi's lakeside home. The incident led to a trial that sparked global condemnation in which Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months of detention for breaching the terms of her house arrest. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention. Suu Kyi's lawyers have described Yettaw's release was a "very ugly" turn. Yettaw testified that he was on a divine mission to save the democracy leader, saying he had a "vision" she was going to be assassinated and wanted to warn her. Suu Kyi testified that she repeatedly asked Yettaw to leave but relented because he complained of exhaustion and she was concerned for his safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 bet he stayed at the, Grand Plaza Park Royal Yangon Hotel not at a guest house with no windows. Total dickhead hope his car beaks down in an inconvenient place and time good info and research on that, christo-f Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 today she is to be released from house arrest this has happened before we'll see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Well I guess this happens. She's been free from house arrest and is now in government at, what Senate level? Anyway a politician. A movie was made about her life pre current status. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1802197/ It went through indie theaters then U-Toob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20261408 obama to make trip to burma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Oh wow, that really puts Myanmar as a central point of the US Asia-Pacific pivot as well as the strategy behind shaping/containing China. Can See the US working with India a lot there too in order to increase cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPS Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 not sure that Pakistan would apreciate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 The US can't dump Pak though, Washington needs Pak for a workable exit strategy in Afghanistan. Also, the US/India relationship has been building for years, the nuke agreement under Bush was the watershed. India has also made it clear that it intends to have a very independent foreign policy and won't be the kind of US partner that you see in countries like Australia, UK, Japan, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPS Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 not sure that Russia would appreciate neither Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasser Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 ive been following aung too, and she is the poster child for imperialism, representing the corporations to the fullest. an enemy of the people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Which corporation(s)? Are you confusing independence and nationalism ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Secondly, corporations are not by default evil entities. People in developing economies want investment, development and jobs, that's what corporations can offer. Yes, they also want to make profit and yes they can do bad things. But then again, 'the people' also want profit and 'the people' can also do bad things - it's not as if corporations are owned and staffed by 'the robots' either, they are people with families as well. I often find that people posting stuff on forums that target 'the corporations' as evil doers and sociopathic all raping, unempathetic leviathans are people who have had access to education, have a safe and secure home, don't have to scrounge for a living and own microwave ovens, computers and smartphones. All luxuries that without corporations would not have existed and all luxuries that people in developing economies would also like the opportunity to own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Yesterday was the 8th in Burma. We'll see if the military concedes to defeat or 1988-89 all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/aung-san-suu-kyi-rejects-misleading-genocide-claims-at-un-court-1.4111978 "Under it's 2008 constitution, Myanmar has a military justice system. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hua Guofang Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Yep, the darling of the West that was going to bring democracy to Burma turns out to be just another grubby Burmese politician willing to find ways to justify genocide (admittedly, I haven't been following that closely but it's what seems to be happening at a glance) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 I haven't been following current affairs in Burma lately either, beyond what the western media provides. I finally found time and a link to what is titled to be Suu Kyi's statement in FULL. It's worth the 28 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Back in detention again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hua Guofang Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 The military never stepped out of the picture. Under the constitution they still held a mandatory 25% of seats in the parliament and commanded all the security agencies. To change the constitution you needed over 75% of the vote in parliament. It was never an actual democracy and with the NLD sweeping the seats in the recent election, the military wasn't willing to risk allowing the groundswell to grow any greater. Hlaing was also supposed to retire a year ago and it seems like that he wasn't prepared for ASSK to wait him out. It will be interesting to see what kind of protest action, if any arises in broader society given the participation rate in the election and the huge turnout for the NLD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 Always dig your detailed reply posts in this thread. There is a video of someone doing yoga or some regular everyday thing then behind them is the military rolling through right at the beginning of the coup. Looking for it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hua Guofang Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 Yeah, it's a chick doing aerobics for the Dept of Education (assume it's sent out to school kids that are at home due to pandemic). She was dancing to a song called Cool it Mr Hotshot, which is from Indonesia and was used as a bit of a protest song over there recently (not sure what for). The poetry of it all is really quite something. Myanmar is a place with a lot of sadness due to the many ethnic conflicts and the dictatorship of the military. I'd love to go there but I fear it would break my heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 Found it and just watched it. Watched a few other ones as well. People are like, what's next? Weird to see in these videos, people wearing pants and shorts. I've been there a few times but back then when I went there was no internet and 99% of people wore longyi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko SprueOne Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Two years for now, more later. I wonder if they'll send her to prison or house arrest again? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/world/asia/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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