"Gideon"

Mahn Robert Ba Zahn
"Phu Khi Doh"
with Homemade rocket launcher
Kawthoolei, 1996
In the following brief narrative, War, Love, Loss, and...Hope, Karen guerilla fighter, Mahn Robert Ba Zan, recounts his war experiences in an honest and no holds barred fashion. Members of Zan's ethnic group, the Karen, have been embroiled in armed conflict with successive Burmese governments for the last 50 years. His accounts clearly show the heavy price this war has extolled on combatants on both sides, as well as the civilian population. Zan's story is one of both victory and waste, revolutionary fervor and hopelessness, and is perhaps, a miniature representation of the nature of war itself. Living in a torturous paradox, Zan, a man who detests killing, feels impelled to shield his people from the savagery of the Burmese Army. Despite the travails of war, Zan holds fast to his ideals and wishes to see all those who are abused and exploited by the Burmese regime, including the Burmese foot soldiers whom he must face on the battlefield, to someday realize the dream of peace and hope for Burma.
Phu Khi Doh
at the front line

Background: The Struggle
The Karen revolutionary struggle in Burma is among the most brutal, longest running, and least known armed conflicts of the modern era. The current military dictatorship in Burma, whom the Karen revolutionaries oppose, has been staunchly criticized by a myriad of nations, as well as world, religious, and human rights organizations for brutalizing its own people. Today, in the hills and jungles of Burma the Karen and a handful of other anti-Burmese military dictatorship groups continue to hold out against the illegal and abusive Burmese regime. Presently, there are nearly 300,000 people from Burma that are refugees. Continue

Aung San Suu Kyi

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Dear Supporter,

Many people have compared Burma's Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi to Martin Luther King Jr.

These comparisons came into focus last Sunday -- on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. day -- when Suu Kyi was given the "Trumpet of Conscience Award" by the Realizing the Dream foundation, which is led by Martin Luther King III.

In a ceremony attended by over 1,000 people in Washington, DC, the award was presented by Jordan's Queen Noor and accepted by U.S. Campaign for Burma co-founder Aung Din on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi. Each year, Realizing the Dream honors individuals who embody the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.

For the past three years we have organized events on Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday to draw attenton to the struggle of Burma's democracy movement. Each year, these events grow larger and larger.

In 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama joined the effort, issuing a statement of support that said "[Aung San Suu Kyi] has sacrificed family and ultimately her freedom to remain true to her people and the cause of liberty. And she has done so using the tools of nonviolent resistance in the great tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, earning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize."

This year, we are asking all of our supporters, including you, to help Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma by making a New Years Resolution to host an event for Burma at your home. You can hold your event at any time between now and Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday on June 19th. Please join us in this important effort!

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