Updates: Burma, Monks versus Junta

With talks of sanctions and meetings going on in Burma, New York Times' Choe Sang-Hun takes another look at the battle between the junta and monks. From the way he sees it, the junta prevailed this time by waving their guns around and patrolling the streets, ready for anything.

During captivity, the monks were "de-monked," questioned as regular people and then were re-blessed as monks. This was the junta's way of respecting religion, but they must be kidding themselves if they thought it was that simple. Parents are pulling their children out of monastaries, afraid of what will happen to them in the near future. The balance needs to be re-established between religion and the government and really, the only way to do this is to decrease the power of the junta. The people of Burma are unhappy already, and this needs to change.