Military Maneuvers

In typically disingenuous fashion, Burma's military leaders are hailing the country's ongoing National Convention as a historic landmark. Last week, Prime Minister Khin Nyunt visited Malaysia and Thailand to sell the event as part of Burma's enlightened transition to what he calls a "modern democratic state." But it's been difficult for outsiders to assess the scale of the generals' democratic achievement, because foreign media and diplomatsalong with independent Burmese reportershave been denied access to the convention. There are other absentees, too, most notably Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which...