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THE NATION: Make no concession to
- Subject: THE NATION: Make no concession to
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 20:52:00
Mailbag
Make no concession to
the Burmese junta:
protect the refugees
The reason refugee camps are established
is to shield innocents from war.
Traditionally, even during periods when the
Royal Thai Army unabashedly supported
the Karen National Union (KNU), rarely
were weapons taken into official camps.
The reason for this in the past was the habit
of some Thai soldiers and police to
confiscate the weapons and then sell them
back to the KNU.
Now the Army is going to send all young
men in camps back to Burma. This would
seem to be another self-inflicted black eye.
After rolling over and allowing the invasion
of Thai territory by the
Burmese-junta-backed factions of the
Karen, the ante is upped again, and further
concessions are made to the dictators in
Rangoon.
This flies in the face of claims the Army
must maintain control of border security.
There appears to be little ''security''. The
very word means that attacks should be
prevented and not answered with a few
indirect fire rounds, fired into the jungle to
show a false bravado in the face of
aggression.
As was bound to happen, the KNU finally
was forced, in the face of Thai Army
opposition, to retaliate itself. As should be
obvious, they have little trouble handling the
breakaway faction or the Burmese military.
At some point the image of this country and
the security of its borders are going to have
to take priority over tropical hardwoods and
business deals. That includes refraining
from sending unarmed young men into the
arms of the Burmese State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) to appease
these goons rather than do what an Army is
supposed to do and cut off the nose of any
Burmese army minion who sticks it across
the border.
In a time when Thailand must work with the
world's community to try and overcome the
financial fiasco of the last government, it
appears the image of the country must
continue to be damaged by those who cling
to the toadying foreign policy of money over
national honour of the previous Gen
Chavalit's regime.
In the face of SPDC denying any
connection with the raids by the Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army, the Royal Thai Army
should be saying something about the
KNU. At this point there is no connection or
support for the KNU. In this SPDC is lying
and the Royal Thai Army is telling the truth.
What was just seen in the KNU attack on
SPDC/DKBA was a demonstration of what
the true capabilities of the KNU are. To
protect innocent lives the KNU has
restrained itself on the battlefields near
Thailand. I fear if the young men are sent
unarmed into the arms of SPDC, to die, all
bets will be off, and there will be a real
bloodletting along the border.
Sadly all this could be avoided by simply
killing any armed intruder. But it seems
unarmed refugees are much easier to deal
with.
Mark A Smith
Major, US (retired)
Bangkok