Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

THE “PINT‐SIZED TERRORISTS” OF GOD'S ARMY

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 2; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17482790802327459

1748-2801

Lisa Brooten,

Political Conflict and Governance

Abstract This study explores US media coverage of the child soldiers of Burma (or Myanmar) in order to better understand how such coverage functions ideologically. The study examines coverage during the past 20 years in five top U.S. print news sources: The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, and US News & World Report. The coverage is dominated by representations of two prepubescent twin boy soldiers, Luther and Johnny Htoo, who became famous as the child leaders of God's Army, a splinter group of ethnic Karen minority rebels. A close textual analysis reveals a heavy Orientalist framing combined with a lack of context, such as the situation facing the Karen and US investment in Burma, functioning to divert attention from the predicament of the Karen and maintain an image of US superiority. The analysis also reveals how a 2002 report by Human Rights Watch successfully intervened to challenge earlier representations. Keywords: Burmachild soldiersethnic minoritiesmediaMyanmarOrientalismrepresentationtextual analysis Notes 1. The name "Burma" has taken on political connotations since the military government changed the country's name in 1989 to the Union of Myanmar. The government claimed the new name is ethnically neutral and would provide a greater sense of national unity, but the opposition movement opposed the name change, since it was made without consulting the people through a referendum. The UN has accepted the name change, although the US has not, and the terms have become an indicator of one's political position in the struggle for control over the country. The term "Burman" is used here to refer to the ethnic majority of the country, and "Burmese" is used as an adjective to refer to the language and the various peoples of the country. Thus, an ethnic Karen, for example, is both Karen and one of the Burmese peoples. 2. Human rights groups working in the area contest that the twins themselves formed God's Army, arguing that it was in fact their uncle who did so, and that journalists reporting this in fact either got it wrong or twisted the story to sensationalize the twins' role. 3. Chevron continues to operate in Burma despite US sanctions, due to a loophole grandfathering in companies that were already investing when the sanctions were enacted; Unocal's exemption was passed on to Chevron. 4. The other articles of that length focus on the children fighting in Angola, Sierre Leone, Mozambique, and in gang wars in Los Angeles; the rest focus on the phenomenon in general. 5. Of the remaining five articles from this period that mention child soldiers, one focuses on the World Summit for Children with a brief mention of Burma, one on the superstitious nature of the Burmese regime, one on drugs in Burma, one on human rights issues with a brief mention of Burma, and one on child labor, with Burma as a case study. 6. The remaining article from this time period focuses on the dismal situation in Burma generally, and makes only a brief mention of child soldiers. 7. Of the remaining eleven articles in this period that mention child soldiers, two focus on drugs in Burma, three on the general situation in Burma, two on the issue of economic sanctions on Burma, two on human rights issues with a brief mention of Burma, one is a review of a book on Burma, and one provides a brief update on the whereabouts of the Htoo twins.