Myanmar is on most lists of the world's most totalitarian, repressive governments. Their military leaders take a dim view of opposition in any form. They have been able to operate hidden from view over much of their history, but that may change.
Recent protests by monks have tested their ability to effectively clamp down dissent, both for the sheer size of the protest and because they have all been televised. Though the leadership may have few moral qualms about a broad attack on the monks, it could look bad.
Some have argued that the most effective tool for expanding individuals liberty has been mass communications, especially satellite television, and now the Internet. Little happens in secret anymore. Television coverage of the attacks on civil rights marchers in the 1960s helped build support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but this result isn't inevitable. The Rwanda massacres were fueled by radio propaganda, so the sword is double edged.
