Shame on Than Shwe for causing his military to lose all face!

By arranging a mass rally in favor of the government without lifting the ban against curfew and assembly, Than Shwe made his crackdown on the protestors even more transparently an abuse of the military's power.

Than Shwe does not understand that the childish trick fools no one. Even China's state press noticed the trick, despite their polite language in reporting it. How much more shame can Burma's military take?

Here is the report on the trick from Xinhua via People's Daily (emphasis mine):

A mass rally has been held in Myanmar's northernmost Kachin state in support of the constitutional national convention which was just finished as the first step of the government's seven-step roadmap [to democracy] early this month, according to an official press media Sunday.

"Entire people and the government except a group of people want to live in peace", the New Light of Myanmar quoted speakers of the ceremony as saying.

"UN delegation arriving Myanmar urged to report on true situation and genuine desire of the people," the speakers said.

The official report added that the rally was participated by over 100,000 local people.

The mass rally in the state took place amid the imposition of a 60-day curfew order and a ban of demonstration in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon and the second largest city of Mandalay following widespread mass demonstrations by Buddhist monks and people in several parts of the country since Sept. 18, especially in the two major cities.

The event also coincided with the beginning of the visit of Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar on Saturday via Singapore on an urgent mission to look into the tense political situation in Myanmar. [...]