WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:05.000 AMNA NAWAZ: It has been more than 10 months since Myanmar's military seized power in a coup. Since 00:05.280 --> 00:10.280 then,soldiers have fought with urban protesters and rural militias using violence activists call 00:11.520 --> 00:16.520 brutal. They accuse the military of killing more than 1,300 people and detaining more than 11,000. 00:17.600 --> 00:22.080 And, today, the United Nations called for an investigation into a new massacre 00:22.080 --> 00:24.720 that the U.S. described as barbaric. 00:24.720 --> 00:25.920 Nick Schifrin reports. 00:25.920 --> 00:30.920 NICK SCHIFRIN: In Eastern Myanmar, a line of cars was trying to escape nearby violence. But soldiers 00:34.080 --> 00:39.080 torched the vehicles and burned the 35 people who were hoping to flee, possibly including two 00:39.520 --> 00:44.520 staff of Save the Children, other photographs of the Christmas Eve massacre too horrific to show. 00:46.640 --> 00:51.440 It's the second time in four weeks soldiers are accused of burning their enemies' bodies. 00:51.440 --> 00:55.280 The junta that reseized power in February has ruled through horror 00:55.280 --> 00:59.680 and fear. It's helped spark an exodus. On Christmas Day, 00:59.680 --> 01:03.920 families in the southeast saved only what they could carry and fled to neighboring Thailand. 01:04.880 --> 01:09.880 Thousands have become refugees to escape military airpower, even if they had to walk across rivers. 01:11.840 --> 01:16.114 Myanmar's military ruled the country for half-a-century before civilian leader Aung San 01:16.114 --> 01:21.114 Suu Kyi came to power in 2015. Her National League of Democracy Party easily won the 2020 election. 01:23.040 --> 01:26.560 But on the February the 1st, when the new Parliament was supposed to sit, 01:26.560 --> 01:31.440 General Min Aung Hlaing declared a state of emergency and arrested Suu Kyi and hundreds 01:31.440 --> 01:36.440 of pro-democracy activists. Earlier this month, Suu Kyi was sentenced to two years in prison. 01:38.880 --> 01:43.880 That day, protesters took to the streets in Myanmar's capital, continuing their resistance to 01:43.920 --> 01:48.920 military rule. All year, they have demonstrated. A massive civil disobedience movement has paralyzed 01:50.400 --> 01:55.400 basic services. In response, the military has turned urban streets into battlegrounds. 01:57.920 --> 02:02.920 But the resistance extends to the countryside, where ethnic militias attack army checkpoints. 02:03.200 --> 02:07.360 For decades, ethnic minorities have fought what they consider central authorities' 02:07.360 --> 02:12.360 political persecution. Myanmar has about 20 ethnic armed groups in yellow that control 02:12.800 --> 02:17.800 about a third of the country's territory. The Christmas Eve attack took place in Kayah State, 02:18.000 --> 02:22.240 where the Karenni ethnic army has been fighting the military on and off for years. 02:23.600 --> 02:27.600 But since the coup, urban civilians have teamed up with ethnic militias, 02:27.600 --> 02:29.760 united to resist military rule. 02:29.760 --> 02:34.760 MAN (through translator): Everyone came here with their resentment and revolutionary spirit. 02:34.960 --> 02:38.720 So, that is why they can only focus on fighting for revolution. 02:38.720 --> 02:42.560 NICK SCHIFRIN: To understand how critical this moment is for Myanmar, 02:42.560 --> 02:47.520 I'm joined by Priscilla Clapp, previously chief of mission in Myanmar and is now 02:47.520 --> 02:52.160 senior adviser to the U.S. Institute of Peace, which was established by Congress. 02:52.160 --> 02:54.720 Priscilla Clapp, welcome back to the "NewsHour." 02:54.720 --> 02:57.360 This attack was brutal, but we have seen 02:57.360 --> 03:01.760 other attacks just as brutal over the last few months from the military. Why? 03:01.760 --> 03:05.840 PRISCILLA CLAPP, Former State Department Official: The better part of a year, in fact, many months. 03:06.400 --> 03:11.400 They have run into very, very serious popular opposition in the country that they did not 03:11.680 --> 03:16.680 expect when they took over in a coup on February 1 in this past year. The original 03:18.240 --> 03:23.240 demonstrations against the coup-makers have turned into violent opposition. 03:23.520 --> 03:28.520 And so the military is fighting for its life now, and particularly attacking areas of the country 03:29.440 --> 03:32.640 where the resistance is the strongest. And 03:32.640 --> 03:36.240 the area that they attacked on Christmas Day is one of those. 03:36.240 --> 03:40.560 NICK SCHIFRIN: And so you referred to those original protesters, 03:40.560 --> 03:45.200 the civil disobedience movement in the cities. We have also got ethnic militias, 03:45.760 --> 03:49.680 so-called. People's Defense Forces as well are expanding. 03:49.680 --> 03:54.160 How unprecedented is that widespread resistance? What is the implication of it? 03:54.160 --> 03:57.600 PRISCILLA CLAPP: It's quite unprecedented. It has not happened before. 03:57.600 --> 04:02.600 When there have been rebellions against military rule, they have been largely urban. They have 04:03.760 --> 04:08.760 been in the form of protests, in-the-street protests. They have not really turned violent. 04:11.120 --> 04:16.120 Separately, the army has been fighting ethnic militias and armies for 70 years, 04:18.080 --> 04:22.880 unsuccessfully. They haven't won any battles against them. In fact, during that time, 04:22.880 --> 04:27.880 they have become more organized, better funded, better armed, and stronger control over their 04:30.000 --> 04:35.000 territory. So the army is actually in a losing battle overall over time. 04:35.440 --> 04:36.720 And they are fighting for their life. 04:36.720 --> 04:41.720 NICK SCHIFRIN: And so we have seen, as you just said, these ethnic militias confronting the army, 04:43.280 --> 04:48.280 fighting the army, even grabbing a little bit of self-governance in their territories. 04:48.800 --> 04:53.800 But could this go further than self-governance? Is the very state at risk of fracture? 04:55.840 --> 04:59.360 PRISCILLA CLAPP: I believe it is. That is a debatable point, 04:59.360 --> 05:02.400 but it is going in that direction, there is no question. 05:02.400 --> 05:07.400 The area along the China border where there are some very strong armies and militias 05:09.360 --> 05:14.360 and on the west along the Bangladesh border, the Arakan Army, which has taken over Rakhine State, 05:16.320 --> 05:20.160 which used to be called Arakan, is very strong. And they basically 05:20.160 --> 05:25.160 beaten the military at their own game there. And they have virtual control over most of that state. 05:26.880 --> 05:31.680 The military doesn't dare to attack either of those areas, because they know they would lose 05:31.680 --> 05:33.920 NICK SCHIFRIN: As the military struggles 05:33.920 --> 05:38.880 with those fights that you justified, what is the moral inside the military? 05:38.880 --> 05:43.360 Many soldiers are being asked to fight where it's very cold. There's some trench warfare. 05:43.360 --> 05:48.320 And there's attempts to actually get soldiers to defect. So what's the morale inside the military? 05:48.320 --> 05:52.800 PRISCILLA CLAPP: At the lower level, the military is suffering from very bad morale. 05:53.840 --> 05:58.840 The people that are on the front lines fighting are losing. They're losing a lot of people. 05:58.960 --> 06:03.200 They're getting killed themselves. And there are many defections. And the defectors are going 06:03.200 --> 06:08.200 off into the People's Defense Forces and fighting back against the military and helping the People's 06:09.120 --> 06:14.120 Defense Forces learn how to fight. They're arming them with their weapons and so forth. 06:14.320 --> 06:18.000 So it's becoming a real civil war. 06:18.000 --> 06:20.720 NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you think the United States government should do? 06:20.720 --> 06:25.720 There are experts I talk to who say squeeze the military sources of revenues more. That 06:26.272 --> 06:31.272 is oil and gas. Pressure the U.N. to support the opposition group, the National Unity Government, 06:31.600 --> 06:34.880 even declare what the military did against the Rohingya a genocide. 06:34.880 --> 06:36.320 Do you think those steps could help? 06:36.320 --> 06:40.960 PRISCILLA CLAPP: All of those steps are good steps, and -- but there are more as well. 06:41.920 --> 06:45.600 And the U.S. government will be coming up with a new strategy soon, 06:45.600 --> 06:50.600 at the request of the Congress. So we will see many more things happening. 06:51.440 --> 06:55.120 I think -- I believe they are looking very hard at how 06:55.120 --> 07:00.120 to cut off some of the revenues from oil and gas and other things. It is not that simple. 07:00.560 --> 07:05.440 So we have to be careful. But there are ways of squeezing them. And that 07:05.440 --> 07:10.440 is definitely the main thrust of U.S. policy, is just to squeeze the military more and more. 07:12.720 --> 07:17.720 I believe that they should be accused of genocide, but I don't think it's just Rohingya. 07:18.080 --> 07:21.360 It's not even ethnic cleansing anymore. They're cleansing all -- they're going 07:21.360 --> 07:23.920 after all ethnic groups, including their own. 07:23.920 --> 07:26.000 NICK SCHIFRIN: Finally, in the brief time we have left, 07:26.000 --> 07:30.080 let me just ask about the humanitarian situation, that U.N. warns that half 07:30.080 --> 07:34.320 of Myanmar's population could fall into poverty, millions could face hunger. 07:34.320 --> 07:36.400 How dire is the humanitarian crisis? 07:36.400 --> 07:38.080 PRISCILLA CLAPP: Absolutely dire. 07:38.080 --> 07:42.720 In fact, that has already come to pass. I would say that half or more of the population 07:42.720 --> 07:47.720 is all already facing enormous hunger. But part of the strategy of the opposition 07:48.800 --> 07:53.800 is to destroy the economy. They're willing to take this in hand just to bring the army down. 07:56.640 --> 07:58.960 And it is very difficult to predict what the end 07:58.960 --> 08:03.960 will be. But it's going to go on for quite a long time, unfortunately. And people will suffer badly. 08:05.120 --> 08:07.600 NICK SCHIFRIN: Priscilla Clapp, thank you very much. 08:07.600 --> 08:11.840 PRISCILLA CLAPP: Thank you.