F rom a distance the jungle at Kawthoolei, Burma, looks peaceful. Dense, green plant growth covers hills that march endlessly onward. War is everywhere. Underrepresented in ethnic Karen villages are young males.
War consumes their lives.
Gen. Ne Win seized power in Burma, now officially Myanmar, in 1962. Mass democracy protests in 1988 were crushed with martial law backed by bullets. The ruling junta foolishly called elections two years later, which were won by the National League for Democracy, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. Although international attention has focused on Suu Kyi, the more serious threat to the ruling junta comes from the Karen and other ethnic groups, which have been fighting for autonomy since Burma won independence. During the last decade several of them have come to terms with Rangoon.