DECEITFUL DRUG POLICY

Rarely has the Herald published anything as disingenuous and
breathtakingly cynical as the article by U. Aye (May 1), Burma's
Ambassador to Australia. Defending the drug policy of the military
junta that he represents, the ambassador would have us believe that
Burma's drug trade is nothing but a colonial legacy, stoutly resisted
by the good and patriotic generals of the regime.

Of course, these are the same generals who also resist handing over
power to the democratically elected government of Nobel peace prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and who are universally accused of the
grossest of human rights abuses.

As the US State Department, the UN and countless international bodies
have consistently reported over many years, the biggest beneficiary of
Burma's drug trade is the Burmese regime itself.

Not content with leaving the poppy farmers in such dire straits that
they have little choice but to produce opium, the regime has formed a
number of co-dependent relationships with various drug lords. The
latter are provided sanctuary by the Burmese regime, and their drug
money and its associated laundering provides the means to prop up
Burma's ailing economy.

By far the largest portion of the heroin on Sydney's streets comes
from Burma. This attempt by Burma's ambassador to justify his regime's
policies in the pages of our free press insults the intelligence of us
all.

Sean Turnell,
Economics Department,
Macquarie University.