Guest Comments by the Burma Partnership Secretariat
“They want to produce a bomb… nuclear bombs for warfare.”
- Former Burmese Military Major Sai Thein Win
NEAR BURMA -- The Burmese military junta's fixation on military might and “national security” isn't news to the people of Burma. Nor is the junta's focus on protecting the interests of high-ranking military and government officials at the expense of the people.
Surprisingly conclusive evidence has emerged, based on testimony by high-ranking defectors and photo documentation, of the Burmese military's efforts to develop a program that one day may produce viable nuclear weapons. Such information filled a recent documentary by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) aired on Al Jazeera.
The documentary focused on a former major, Sai Thein Win, who had managed a highly secure factory to produce parts for equipment to enrich uranium. He defected after watching an earlier DVB documentary on a military-bunker system being built across the country.
Another army defector, Soe Tint, says the bunker system is modeled on tunnels built by the Vietcong to evade American troops in Vietnam. Amid human-rights condemnations, Burma's military perceives itself as a potential target for international bomb attacks.
A network of tunnels under Naypyidaw, Burma's new capital and home to the military, contains defenses against atomic, biological or chemical attacks. The military regime spent about US$3.5 billion on the project. North Korean experts advised and did frequent progress checks.
The bunker system isn't the only North Korean-aided project. Sai Thein Win revealed how North Korea also mentors on the production of SCUD missiles and nuclear weapons.
Burma's military junta has invested heavily in stocking two large factories with machines for building missiles and making parts to enrich uranium, big steps toward nuclear weapons. Experts conclude the intention is to produce weapons, not energy. “There's no conceivable use for creating nuclear power,” said Robert Kelley, a former director at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Funding comes from the Yadana gas project operated partly by international companies Total (France) and Chevron (United States). The controversial gas project also led to serious human-rights violations -- forced labor, relocation and land confiscation.
In a country where poverty, malnutrition, inadequate health care and illiteracy mark the daily existence of so many civilians, such military expenditure can't be justified. The regime spends 40-60 per cent of the national budget on the military, versus 0.4 per cent on health care and 0.5 per cent on education.
Equally appalling is the sheer waste. A report by experts concludes that probably Burma has little chance to succeed in its quest. The military's deplorable spending on a nuclear project that may not create the desired products shows the regime stealing money from its people, only for the funds to evaporate into nothing due to its arrogance and paranoia.
Intent is important. Whether Burma's immature efforts can produce nuclear technology may be debatable, but the regime wants nuclear weapons, not balking at the difficulty or cost. International organizations must react and investigate.
ARCHIVES
|
Burma's leaders want ultimate weapons.
|
