Pubdate: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Website: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Address: 44 Moo 10 Bang Na-Trat KM 4.5, Bang Na district, Bangkok 10260 Thailand Copyright: 2002 Nation Multimedia Group Fax: 66-2-317-2071 DRUGS: LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR When Chart Thai deputy leader Kobsak Chutikul said some weeks ago the US should not rule out a military option in the fight against one of the world's largest drug armies, operating freely along the Thai- Burmese border, many dismissed him as mad. After all, such a suggestion concerns Burmese sovereignty. Bilateral ties, people said, are on the upswing and such drastic action would put the two countries back to where they were just over a year ago - cross-border shelling that ended in scores of deaths on both sides. In the interim since Kobsak made his statement people have had time to think. It is not easy to dismiss such a comment, especially from a man not known for making knee-jerk, off-the-wall statements. The more one thinks about it, the more sense it begins to make. Drugs and terrorism are two sides of the same coin. In other words, one feeds on the other. And if our leaders are serious about fighting drugs and terrorism, perhaps the option of giving the military more flexibility should be given a high priority. When Kobsak made the statement, he was pointing to the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army, a pro-Rangoon outfit which is based just a stone's throw away on the Burmese side of the border with minimal interference from the Burmese government. Before the September 11 terrorist attacks, the idea of using the military to actively counter narcotics would have been quickly shot down. But today, as defence strategists and military planners redefine their security mandate and consider their options in an emerging international order, using military might to fight a drug army makes a lot of sense. This is not something entirely new, however. Admiral Dennis Blair, commander of the US military forces in the Pacific, has made it one of his priorities to untangle the murky links between terrorist groups, drug runners and other outfits in the world of transnational crime. Blair's Pacific Command Joint Interagency Task Force sees the police and military working together to curb the movement of drugs and transnational crime in the region. For Thailand, Task Force 399 in Chiang Mai province was one of the more progressive models that jointly addressed border security and drug trafficking. It was here that Thai elite units, Border Police and soldiers from the Third Army, with the help of US Special Forces instructors, came together to coordinate their activities in order to strengthen the northern Thai-Burma border, an area prone to all sorts of transnational crime. Kobsak was right to say that the international community has the right to take action against those who pose a threat to society, wherever they may be. He's also right to say that surgical air-strikes against the Wa army would be in line with the emerging international order. For years Rangoon has been using the UWSA as a powerful bargaining chip in dealing with the Thai government. Rangoon would scream and holler whenever Thai troops clobbered the Wa for stepping out of line. But, the junta has no control of the Wa's activities. It's high time the government and the military came together and let the Burmese generals know they must be accountable for the Wa's illicit activities. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth