(Anthony Davis’s article from the Asia Times on October 19, 2021.)
Myanmar's Tatmadaw is planning a massive offensive
against newly formed people's defense forces.
Sooner or later Myanmar’s military was bound to wheel out the big guns.
Since March, when peaceful protest against the February 1 coup turned to armed
resistance, the generals in Naypyidaw have watched too much go too wrong in too
many places for too long.
In the nation’s ethnic Bamar heartland so-called “people’s defense forces” (PDFs) have proliferated to challenge military authority; from the borders of China and Thailand ethnic armies have extended them sanctuary, training, and weapons; and in strategically vital regions of Myanmar’s west and east bomb blasts and killings have escalated into full-blown insurgency.