Pubdate: Wed, 18 Dec 2002
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page A29
Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

REWARD FOR BURMA'S ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS UNLIKELY

The State Department has decided not to recommend that Burma be "certified" 
for its anti-narcotics programs, dealing a heavy blow to the repressive 
regime's efforts to improve ties with the United States, according to the 
Burmese government and congressional sources.

Department officials, the leading advocates within the U.S. government for 
taking small steps to improve relations with Burma, had been close to 
recommending that the nation be rewarded for meeting anti-drug goals that 
the United States had set earlier in the year and made eligible for some 
drug eradication aid. But when news of the pending decision leaked last 
month, a series of negative editorials in newspapers in the United States 
and Asia, along with congressional protests, persuaded officials to reverse 
course, the sources said.

The final determination is still up to the White House, but few expect 
President Bush to overturn the recommendation and risk congressional anger 
for a regime with few friends in the world. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the 
incoming Senate majority whip, sent national security adviser Condoleezza 
Rice a note last month that stressed the need to maintain a tough policy on 
Burma.

In an unusual move, the Burmese government announced that it had been 
informed that its effort to win U.S. approval for its anti-drug efforts had 
been denied. In a statement issued by its Washington lobbyist, the country, 
also known as Myanmar, denounced the decision.

"The denial comes after a massive effort by Myanmar to achieve a series of 
drug-eradication accomplishments, including significant decreases in opium 
production and cooperation with U.S. law enforcement authorities," said the 
statement, which added that "denial of U.S. certification followed an 
intense media and lobbying campaign in Washington by those who favored 
linking drug certification with political issues."

"Drug traffickers and their associates will be pleased with the U.S. 
government's decision to remain on the sidelines in one of the world's 
largest narcotics control challenges," said Hla Min, a government 
spokesman. "Our regret is, without U.S. cooperation the time frame to 
totally eradicate drugs in Myanmar is significantly longer."

In its statement, Burma suggested that a more rapid decrease in cutting 
opium poppy production would lead to a humanitarian crisis. But Burma is 
also the primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants in Asia, producing 
an estimated 800 million tablets per year. There is substantial evidence -- 
recently detailed in the Asian edition of Time magazine -- that the 
government is linked to major drug traffickers, including joint ventures 
with the military and frequent meetings between traffickers and junta leaders.

"Given Burma's horrendous record on the drug front, it would have been an 
unmitigated disaster to take Burma off the list of the world's worst 
offenders on drugs," said Rep. Tom Lantos (Calif.), the senior Democrat on 
the House International Relations Committee.

Officially, the State Department said no decision had been made. "The 
announcement, I would say, is premature at best," State Department 
spokesman Richard Boucher said. The Burmese government "may have formed an 
impression from some conversations," he added, "but we have a final 
determination to make over the next several months about whether or not 
they failed demonstrably to cooperate."
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