HOW TO STAGE A COUP

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_ By Ethan Bourne

When you are in the army, you have sworn in to serve the army. When you are sworn in to serve the army, you are serving your country. When you are serving your country, you should know that it means you are serving your fellow country men and women. You are not sworn in to serve these generals who are now putting the nation on the verge of economic collapse and anarchy. They are corrupted by power and the whole nation is now suffering due to their mismanagement and misrule. It is your responsibility to eliminate the leaders who cannot lead your army, your country and your people. Therefore, it is now time for you to think what you should do to help rebuild your army and your nation. The first thing you need to do is to form a military secretariat and choose colonels to mount the coup. When forming a military secretariat, you have to select the colonels you know like your pocket. You have to know them in and out. You have to make sure that a colonel you select is the one who wants to participate in the coup. You have to make sure that he is the one who wants to change the status quo. You have to investigate his background, his motives and his intentions. It is necessary that you investigate his relations with superior officers. Is he a colonel loyal to General Thura Shwe Mahn? If so, he may inform the general of the coup plot and sabotage the coup plot. You cannot choose a colonel whose loyalty to a superior officer is unequivocal. Participating in a coup is not as easy as counting peas. It is risking everything you have. You are doing this at your own risk. You will be hanged like Ohn Gyaw Myint if they find it out. Ohn Gyaw Myint did not know how the information got out about the coup plot. He did not organize the coup properly. He did not inform the U.S. Embassy of his need for help. He went to the U.S. Embassy only when the coup plot failed and he was about to be arrested.

Anything can happen even before you start a coup attempt. While organizing a coup or even in the middle of forming a military secretariat, things can go wrong due to a wrong move. If you have chosen a wrong officer, you are done for even before you start a coup attempt. Try to know the colonels you choose. Know their affiliations. Choose a colonel who is respected by young officers. When communicating about the coup, never talk on the phone. Meet in secret places. Use codes at all times. Be subtle. Don’t be obvious.

Intelligence is one key factor that comes into a successful coup. Collect intelligence about the generals, their meetings and where they will be on the day of the coup. You need to know who are the security forces guarding these generals. On the day of the coup, you need troops to go and arrest these generals. If you are confronted by the security forces, you must use your troops to shoot and kill them. If you can contain all generals in a conference at the same time, it is easy. But do not hope that it will happen and it may be more difficult. Containing them at their residences is much easier than at a military headquarters. The coup plan has to be exercised again and again to make sure nothing goes wrong. Groups must be formed to take responsibilities. Eight groups may be responsible to arrest eight generals and the other group to occupy the national television and radio station to announce the successful coup.

It will not be easy but it is worth trying. Today you are colonels. Tomorrow you will become Major-Generals. Do it and the people of Burma need you to change the course of history of Burma. The international community is also with you.