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Wall Street Journal editorial: "Sub



Subject: Wall Street Journal editorial: "Substance Abuse in Burma"

Editorial from the Wall Street Journal
February 26, 1999
Page A14

Substance Abuse in Burma

Holding an Interpol conference on heroin trafficking in Rangoon was certainly
a novel idea.  Apparently someone at the international police organization
figured that if you want to talk about heroin why not do it in a country where
a large chunk of the world's supply originates.

But it is also easy to see why some of the stalwarts of Interpol, which
facilitates cooperation among police organizations around the world, chose to
sit this one out.  The U.S., Britain and France, among others, didn't think it
very appropriate to dignify the Rangoon regime with a conference of this sort.
Not only is the military regime's human rights record one of the worst in
Asia, but there are plenty of reasons to doubt it's sincerity when it says it
wants to cooperate with international drug enforcers.

Given the Burmese government's effectiveness in suppressing political
opposition, who can doubt that it could be almost equally effective in
patrolling the poppy fields, rounding up the country's drug kingpins and
putting them out of action.  That is, if it wanted to.  If Interpol thinks it
has some evidence that such an effort is being made, it should share that
information with the rest of us.

Certainly, the statistics don't show any diminution of the heroin flow out of
the Golden Triangle region that for years has been a major source for the
world.  There is widespread speculation that much of the heroin and other
drugs from Burma move northward into China these days, for distribution into
the illicit channels that get it to users in Europe and North America, not to
mention Asia.

The Western countries who stayed away this week had good reason to believe
that Rangoon wanted the conference not just as a badge of honor and
recognition for the regime, but more importantly as a forum at which it could
direct blame for the drug trade away from producing countries to the consuming
countries.  Indeed, that was precisely the line taken by Burma's Minister of
Home Affairs, Colonel Tin Hlaing, at an opening address to the conference.
"These huge markets fuel a global narcotics trade which threatens to affect
many countries in the developing world, including Myanmar," he said, referring
to Burma by its modern name.

There is, unfortunately, enough truth in his statement to give it a sting.
Without doubt, the U.S. under President Bill Clinton has made only a weak
effort to continue the efforts to educate young people about the evils of
drugs that were begun in the Reagan administration.  Certainly, both the U.S.
and Britain could be doing more to discourage use.

But this charge is also a cop-out for Burma.  Attracting the Interpol meeting
was another gambit in the charm offensive the regime has been running.  But it
will be truly surprising if any pledges of cooperation that may be made there
are ever fulfilled.  Inexplicable economic statistics and a host of other
pointers now strongly support the allegation that narco-dollars help sustain
the regime and its operations.  That is just another reason to believe that
whatever happens in Rangoon this week, Burmese overtures are not likely to
have substance, but rather are more on the order of substance abuse.