Min Aung Hlaing Is Destroying the Myanmar Military

Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing during the armed forces day parade in Naypyitaw in March 2022 / Cincds

Last week’s decision to execute four political prisoners has not had the effect Senior General Min Aung Hlaing no doubt hoped for. Far from cowing the population, it touched off another round of protests and international condemnations and re-energized his opponents. When the general staged his coup last year, some predicted that it would be the end of the Myanmar military in its current form. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing is doing his best to prove them correct. His leadership has been cruel, immoral and devastatingly inept. The coup has brought terror, death and economic devastation to Myanmar’s population. It has also been a disaster for his own institution—the Myanmar military. The people’s opposition has only increased. The members of the Myanmar military need to wake up to the disaster of Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s leadership.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing is a classic example of Machiavelli’s warning against rulers overusing fear as the primary means to control people. Under any circumstances, the Myanmar people would have opposed the coup and overturning of the election. But it was Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s decision to turn guns on peaceful protesters that pushed tens of thousands of people to take up arms. His exclusive reliance on firepower and “hard power” to terrorize people into accepting his rule has had the opposite effect. His orders to systematically and indiscriminately kill, torture, pillage, rob, steal, rape and terrorize unarmed civilians have hardened the people against the military as a whole. His poor leadership characteristics and exclusive focus on maintaining his personal power have consistently clouded his judgement. He is unable to grasp that the people will fight until he is removed.

In hanging on to the power he seized for himself, he is taking the military down with him. Under him the military, once known by the term of veneration, the Tatmadaw, is now reviled across the country. He has turned the national military into his own personal army to rob the power from the people.

He has inducted hardened and violent criminals into his military organization to fill the shortfall of recruits. As such, he has turned the Myanmar military into an organized criminal gang. The military under his command has experienced an unprecedented level of defections and desertions, while many still within the ranks shirk when they can. Morale has plummeted. Drug use is rampant. Chains of command and discipline are in tatters as hungry soldiers roam the countryside killing civilians. Or simply looking for food. Moreover because of the enormous popular support for those willing to fight against Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the once mighty military is now losing. It is suffering its heaviest battlefield casualties in decades. On any given day, the military is losing five to 10 times as many soldiers as its opponents. Soldiers are the single largest group of dead in the wake of Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s coup. Somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 soldiers have been killed. And for what? To defend one man’s claim to power against a population that despises him?

Internationally, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has fared no better. ASEAN wants no part of him. The bloc has broken with its own policy of noninterference to exclude him from meetings. China is not impressed. Russia is going to get tired of him as it realizes he can no longer pay for weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to meet him during his trips to Russia in 2021 and 2022. Instead, he got to meet the leader of Tatarstan. Furthermore, whether Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing admits it or not, everyone knows he is running out of money—and fast. International financial sanctions have bitten hard and deep. International financial institutions suspended payments in February 2021. One after another the biggest foreign companies and foreign investors have left the country. Gems and jade sales have suffered a complete collapse. There is virtually no foreign exchange entering the country. Min Aung Hlaing has dug deep into foreign exchange reserves, which have plummeted from US$7.7 billion at the time of the coup to an estimated $2.5 billion now. How does he intend to continue paying for fuel or medicine? No one will take the kyats he is so busy printing? The desperate measures, like banning car imports, ordering businesses to default on dollar loans and forcing businesses and banks to immediately exchange dollars for kyats, are simply not going to work.

When Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing ordered his troops to shoot unarmed protesters in the head, he also put a noose around the neck of the Myanmar military. His orders were in clear violation of his soldiers’ Professional Code of Conduct. When he ordered his followers to hang the political prisoners, he also tightened the noose around the neck of the Myanmar military even further. Every time he has had a chance to exercise leadership and solve this political crisis of his own making in a smart way, he has instead chosen to use violence and brutality. Every step of the way, he has misread the operational environment and miscalculated. His latest action of executing the political prisoners was a perfect example of his ineptitude as a military and political strategist. This action awakened and reenergized everyone.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s poor decisions have no doubt been driven by inaccurate information and his personal isolation. People around him are unable or unwilling to provide information that is contrary to what he believes and what he wants to hear. This is a problem of his own making. As he continues to pull Myanmar further into isolation, he is also increasingly isolating himself within the walls of Naypyitaw. This increased isolation will cause him to make more detrimental decisions for the country and the Myanmar military.

Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Hawaii, and a retired US Army officer. The views expressed here are her own and do not represent those of APCSS or the US government or Department of Defense.


Football news:

<!DOCTYPE html>
Kane on Tuchel: A wonderful man, full of ideas. Thomas in person says what he thinks
Zarema about Kuziaev's 350,000 euros a year in Le Havre: Translate it into rubles - it's not that little. It is commendable that he left
Aleksandr Mostovoy on Wendel: Two months of walking around in the middle of nowhere and then coming back and dragging the team - that's top level
Sheffield United have bought Euro U21 champion Archer from Aston Villa for £18.5million
Alexander Medvedev on SKA: Without Gazprom, there would be no Zenit titles. There is a winning wave in the city. The next victory in the Gagarin Cup will be in the spring
Smolnikov ended his career at the age of 35. He became the Russian champion three times with Zenit

3:00 မြန်မာပြည်သတင်းဒိုင်ယာရီ July 2023
2:56 မြန်မာ့ဂဇက် အယ်ဒီတာ့သင်ပုန်း – ဇူလိုင်၂၀၂၃
8:53 အရောင်ရင့်မှတ်တမ်း – Bold News
0:59 Junta Watch: Min Aung Hlaing Orders Budget Cuts to Fuel War Machine; Anger at East Timor Over NUG Invite; and More  
12:52 Thailand’s Deportation of Undocumented Children Branded Cruel
12:22 Six French Financial Institutions Still Investing in Myanmar Junta-Linked Firms: Report
12:14 Myanmar Junta Aims to Boost Ties to the Mideast to Evade Isolation
11:30 Myanmar Junta Troops Slaughter Seven Villagers in Sagaing Region 
10:53 Rohingya Camp Gunfight Leaves Five Dead in Bangladesh
10:52 Myanmar Junta Forces Raid State-Owned Oil, Gas Company
10:36 How Myanmar’s Smallest State Became a Giant-Killer on the Junta’s Doorstep
9:36 Chin Rebels Open New Front with Myanmar Junta on Rakhine Border
12:09 Clashes Expected to Resume Amid Tense Lull in Fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin State
11:21 Sagaing Resistance Attacks Pro-Myanmar Junta Militia Base
11:02 Myanmar Junta Detains Over 60 Villagers in Sagaing Region
9:43 Killings by Pro-Myanmar Junta Militia Surge in Mandalay
7:25 Myanmar Junta Targets PDF Camps in Sagaing Region for Destruction
4:54 Thai Parliament to Vote on New Prime Minister on July 13
12:45 Myanmar Junta Leader Appoints Business Chief as Advisor
12:13 Three Ethnic Armies Pledge to Protect Chinese Investment in Myanmar
12:05 Myanmar Junta Jet Bombs Kayah Refugee Camp, Wounding Toddler and Parents  
11:28 Six Coordinated Explosions Rock Myanmar Junta Targets in Yangon
10:08 Wives of Generals Pray for Their Husbands on Myanmar Women’s Day 
8:29 Junta Orders Nightlife Shutdown as Narcotics Flood Myanmar
7:51 Nearly 100 More Singapore-Based Entities Found to Have Supplied Myanmar Military
11:57 Fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin State Displaces Over 1,000 Villagers
11:49 Prominent Myanmar Democracy Activist’s Artwork Auctioned to Fund Resistance
11:42 Myanmar Junta Achieves Nothing Without Shelling and Airstrikes: Army Defector
10:56 Junta Blames Ousted Government for Myanmar’s Economic Crisis
9:58 Blackouts Persist Across Myanmar Despite Rainy Season
9:08 Myanmar Supreme Court to Hear President and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Appeals
6:11 Committee to Protect Journalists Demands Myanmar Junta Free The Irrawaddy’s ex-Publisher
12:32 Three Sagaing Civilians Killed in Myanmar Junta Shelling
11:57 Myanmar’s Arakan Army Denies Carrying Out Deadly Attack on Rival Rakhine Group
11:01 ‘I want to be a crony’: The Rise of Zeya Thura Mon in Junta-Ruled Myanmar
9:48 KIA Denies Myanmar Junta’s Accusation of Attacking Chinese Army Convoy
9:41 Sagaing Resistance Seizes Myanmar Junta Base
5:27 Around 40 Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks
14:01 Myanmar Resistance Shoots Down Junta Aircraft
13:26 Myanmar Junta Seizes Over 100 Sacrificial Animals During Yangon Eid Celebration
9:27 Myanmar’s Civilian Government Appoints Rohingya Activist as Deputy Minister
2:03 Myanmar Art is in Exile, But its Power is Rising
0:59 Junta Watch: Regime Demands Return of Looted Artefacts While Bombing UNESCO Heritage Sites at Home
13:02 Number of IDPs in Myanmar Has Surged Above 1.8 Million
12:28 Myanmar Junta Cronies Donate Billions for Min Aung Hlaing’s Marble Colossus
12:19 Myanmar Junta War Crimes Rising: UN Report
10:15 Myanmar Junta Jails ex-Publisher of The Irrawaddy for Five Years
10:13 Myanmar Tycoon Jailed for ‘Bribing’ Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Donates to Junta Boss Upon Release
8:48 Drones Kill Myanmar Junta Officials Inspecting Blown-Up Bridge in Mon 
8:42 Junta Troops Shoot Women, Child in Predawn Attack on Village in Northern Myanmar
7:10 Myanmar Military Denies Involvement, Blames KIA After Shots Fired at Chinese Convoy
5:01 Around 30 Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks
12:37 The Mirage of the ‘United Front’ in Myanmar
12:01 Cash-Strapped Myanmar Junta is Pinning its Hopes on Russian Bank Cards
10:47 Myanmar Junta Cuts Phone, Net in Kayah State After Troops Surrender  
10:38 35 Resistance Fighters Killed by Myanmar Junta in Sagaing in Four Days
9:17 Magwe Resistance Blocks Key Myanmar Junta Supply Route
9:06 Ex-NLD Lawmaker Accused of Junta Collaboration Arrested by Myanmar Resistance
11:45 Zara Factory Staff Face Prison in Myanmar After Protest For Wage Rise
11:38 Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Kill 11 Sagaing Civilians
11:33 Power Outages, Malnutrition Plague Myanmar, World Bank Says
11:02 Fears Grow for Missing Myanmar Monk Who Criticized Junta Chief
9:24 Myanmar Regime Pinned Down in Mindat 
9:24 Myanmar Regime Troops Pinned Down in Mindat
9:11 Myanmar Junta Chief Rewards Departing Russian Envoy With Title 
4:50 Around 40 Myanmar Junta Forces Killed in Four Days of Resistance Attacks
4:27 Yang Ho: Myanmar Junta Arms Production’s Key Supplier
12:57 Dozens of Myanmar Regime Troops Surrender to Resistance in Kayah
12:16 Myanmar Junta Drives Largest Micro Lender Out of Business
11:53 Medical Association Issues Urgent Global Appeal to Deliver Healthcare to Myanmar 
11:28 Son of Myanmar Resistance Chief Killed Trying to Rescue Him From Junta Troops
10:25 Kayah Civilians Killed in Myanmar Junta Airstrikes: Aid Group
9:42 Myanmar Military-Linked Group Closes Companies Amid Sanctions, Owner’s Thailand Arrest 
5:31 Ethnic Leadership in Foreign Policy Needed If Myanmar Resistance Is to Make Significant Gains
5:20 Over 70,000 Houses Burned Down by Junta Since 2021
11:58 Junta Condemns Indo-US Statement on Deteriorating Situation in Myanmar
11:52 School Life in the Crosshairs of Myanmar Junta’s Warplanes and Gunships
11:45 Myanmar Regime Restricts Entry to Town in Sagaing
11:39 Sagaing Resistance Fighters Killed in Myanmar Junta Raid
10:40 Former NLD Economist: New US Sanctions Will Disrupt Myanmar Junta Funding
8:35 Myanmar Junta Outposts Fall to Karenni Resistance in Kayah State
5:53 မြန်မာပြည်သတင်းဒိုင်ယာရီ June 2023
5:25 Over 40 Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Week of Clashes With Resistance
12:12 Myanmar Junta Turns Thai-Sponsored Talks Into Propaganda Tool
11:49 ASEAN Urged to Cancel Myanmar Junta and Russia-Led Joint Military Exercises
3:21 မြန်မာ့ဂဇက်အယ်ဒီတာ့သင်ပုန်း – ဇွန် ၂၀၂၃
1:59 Thailand’s Policy on Myanmar Stinks
0:59 Junta Watch: Failed Commander Sent to Laos; Bad Omens Trigger Regime Rituals; and More
12:12 Shareholders Urged to Divest From Myanmar Junta’s Indian Arms Supplier BEL
11:38 ‘No Escape’: Inside Myanmar Military’s Deadly War on Civilians
9:54 Rohingya IDP Camp Relocated by Myanmar Junta to a ‘Sea of Mud’
12:53 Myanmar Junta Raids KIO Office, Kills Seven
11:28 Five Mandalay Resistance Fighters Killed by Myanmar Junta
10:30 How Myanmar Juntas Have Tried – and Failed – to Silence Suu Kyi’s Supporters 
10:05 Let’s Build Our Own – Libraryကိုယ်ပိုင်စာကြည့်တိုက်လေး ထူထောင်ရအောင်
9:28 Myanmar Sees a Post-Coup Fire Sale of Hotels
6:40 US Slaps Sanctions on Myanmar Junta Defense Ministry, Regime-Run Banks
13:06 Myanmar Junta Targets Beauty Salon in Yangon Over Flower Strike Arrest Video
10:05 Tanintharyi Resistance Groups Drive Out Raiding Myanmar Regime Troops
9:20 Kayah Border Guard Forces Defect to Join Fight Against Myanmar Military