by
Joel Barlow.
The bulwark of heroin supply originates in places where people
need the income for survival. East of Mandalay in the Shan
State, profits from poppy cultivation and narcotic refining are
the backbone of resistance to Rangoon's oppressive, arguably
racist military regime. The armies protecting production areas
and trade routes, however, have been more competitive than united
against the junta, the State Law and Order Reclamation Committee
(SLORC).
The SLORC renamed its country Myanmar, supposedly in order to
display inclusion of the country's many ethnic groups. The
name, like the junta, is a bit questionable. The name of the
national airline, Myanma, would be better, referring as it does
to the majority lowland rice cultivators. Preferable should be
"Bama," which gives inclusion to all the tribal groups.
Here is a map of Burma ... provided by our CIA.
Nationwide elections in 1990 showed overwhelming support
(outside of Shan State, which voted for Shans) for Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, now six years under house arrest. Her father was
independence hero Aung San, who persuaded independent ethnic
leaders to accept his negotiation for terms ending Britain's
colonial rule. He promised choice for secession, after ten
years, to the Shan and Kachin states, which had never submitted
to authority from Rangoon. He was assassinated before
independence, however, and his promises were made void. She is
English educated, married to an Englishman, and her children are
in England. This English influence is of deep concern to
military leaders, the foremost of whom date from the country's
colonial days.
Burma contains perhaps 135 ethnic groups (over twice as many
as China). Besides the Myanmars or Burmans, there are the Kachin,
Karenni (Kayan), Karen, Chin, Arakanese, Mon and Shan, for which
states have been named, other tribes of some relation to one of
them, and tribes of Mongoloid origin, including Mizo, Lahu,
Palaung, Naga and Wa. Most of these have their own ethnic
independence armies; additionally there are descendent remnants
of the Kuomintang Chinese (KMT), the now mostly defunct Burmese
Communist Party, an All-Burma Students Democratic Front, and
totally mercantile opium-trade protection organizations and small
groups of armed bandits, of which in the last few decades there
have been several hundred. The total of ethnic or ideological
rebel armies once exceeded 26, but 14 of the remaining have now
agreed to a cease-fire with the government, in hopes of
development help. Non-governmental armed, trained, organized and
active forces are estimated from approximately 75,000 to above
125,000 (some merely boys); figures quoted for insurgent fighters
are much lower as these do not include the opium armies. In the
SLORC's army of almost 300,000, the Tatmadaw (pronounced Tah-mah-
doe), moral is not high, especially as there is little if any
civilian support (except from many families dependent on army
money). If the insurgent armies would unite, overthrow of the
SLORC could happen. Variant politics, however, along with lack
of geographic commonalty, historic animosities, communication
difficulties, religious differences, and conflicting financial
support bases make this very unlikely. For example, in addition
to entrenched and opposed Buddhists, Moslems, and Christians,
there are animistic and charismatic cults, and many strong clan
rivalries. Most Karen and Mon are decidedly anti-narcotic, but
also competitive, even sometimes combative, with each other, and
sometimes even internally, as seems to have been the case with
the recent fall of the Karen headquarters at Mannerplaw, due at
least in part to Buddhist soldiers' dissatisfaction with their
Christian leadership.
The largest insurgent forces in Burma, the Mong Tai Army
(MTA), also referred to as the Shan United Army (SUA) (since
recent Khmer Rouge defections it is the largest insurgent army in
Southeast Asia) is headed by Zao Khunsa (referred to in media
usually as Khun Sa, originally named Chan Cheefu or Zhang Qifu,
and heriditary Loimaw headman). He is on America's "Most Wanted"
list, although he has never set foot on American soil. A
Brooklyn, New York court indicted him on heroin trafficking
(narcotics racketeering) charges. He is a charismatic leader and
protector to millions in Shan State. For almost twenty years he
has offered to eradicate Shan opium/heroin supply in return for
such security and stability, for his people, that at present only
narcotics trade efficiently supplies. The price for this is but
a tiny fraction of the "street value" of the product, or American
tax dollars spent in response to the narcotics problem (on
surveillance, interdiction, incarceration, rehabilitation,
hospitalization, etc). But such requests for help with crop
substitution, schools, hospitals, and some infrastructuring have
prompted little response.
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