Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03RANGOON1025
2003-08-25 10:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:  

BURMA: PEOPLE'S MILITIA TO THE RESCUE?

Tags:  MARR PGOV PREL PHUM BM 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001025 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2013
TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: PEOPLE'S MILITIA TO THE RESCUE?


Classified By: COM CARMEN M. MARTINEZ FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001025

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2013
TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: PEOPLE'S MILITIA TO THE RESCUE?


Classified By: COM CARMEN M. MARTINEZ FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) According to local military and civilian contacts, the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has ordered
the formation of a "People's Militia" ("Pyi-thu-sit" in
Burmese) in the administrative division of Rangoon. Military
commanders allegedly issued written instructions ordering
local authorities to provide at least 200 persons from each
of the division's 45 townships, which includes the capital
city of Rangoon, to begin service by the end of August. The
instructions also stated that military officials would
provide each of the division's roughly 9,000 "volunteers"
with meals, a daily wage of 200 Kyat (about 20 cents),basic
military training "to protect (Burma) from subversive dangers
such as a U.S.-led invasion."


2. (C) Local sources also claim that since July the Myanmar
War Veterans Organization (MWVO) has played a leading role in
training female members of the regime's so-called "social
associations," such as the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare
Association (MMCWA),in basic defense techniques. Former
military officers apparently equip the women members with
bamboo poles for attack exercises and instruct them to defend
their families against "external forces." Emboffs have
witnessed ragtag platoons of women, armed with assorted poles
and sticks and dressed in assorted uniforms, drilling in the
Rangoon area in recent weeks (Note: SPDC Adjutant-General Lt.
General Thein Sein chairs the Central Organizing Committee of
veteran's organization (MWVO) and SPDC Chairman Senior
General Than Shwe is the official patron. Dr. Khin Win Shwe,
wife of SPDC Secretary-1 General Khin Nyunt, chairs the
maternal and child welfare organization (MMCWA). End note)

Comment: The Enemy Within
--------------


3. (C) The creation of a People's Militia would be the next
logical step in the militarization of a country whose
governing and economic functions are almost wholly
administered by military authorities. Local officials in
Rangoon Division reported to our contacts that the formation
of the Rangoon "Pyi-thu-sit" is an exercise designed to
prepare the local population for an invasion of enemy forces
from outside of the country. Such propaganda is expected
from the regime, particularly in the wake of new U.S.
sanctions and in unison with SPDC opposition to U.S.-led
action in Iraq, and is also indicative of rising
anti-American sentiment propagated by some senior officials.


4. (C) It is uncertain whether SPDC Chairman Than Shwe, Vice
Chairman Maung Aye, and other regime leaders truly believe
military action against Burma is realistic. However, the
SPDC is quite capable of creating and training a militia as a
pretext for more aggressive tactics aimed at internal
opponents of the regime, including the NLD and its
supporters. End Comment.
Martinez