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.
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