Optimistic analysts hope the appalling suffering in Burma will inevitably lead to the collapse of the junta and its replacement by a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s a forlorn hope: the Burmese army is willing to kill civilians in large numbers. So long as the army stays united, nothing will change

General Ne Win, Burma’s former military dictator, who dragged his country from near prosperity to poverty during his 26 years in power, died today under house arrest, family members said. He was 91.