Gandar Mount P.S.O

Bush signs law to ban gems trade

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush on 29 July 2008 renewed a ban on imports from military-ruled Burma and also signed a new law that aims to keep Burma’s Gems from entering US markets via third-party countries.

In parallel the US treasury slapped financial sanctions on 10 companies owned or controlled by the Burmese Government or Government officials, including companies involved in the gem trade.

“On the Burmese regime,our message is: the United States believes in democracy and freedom,” Mr. Bush said during a White House ceremony in which he signed the two laws.

The Burmese freedom and Democracy Act renews a sanctions regime imposed since 2003 over the suppression of opposition leader Aung Sun Sukyi’s democracy movement.

Mr Bush also signed a new sanctions regime aimed at stopping gems including jade and rubies from entering the United State via third nations such as Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

The so-called Tom Lantos Block Burmese jade Act will deprive its ruling junta of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.

The gems trade is one of the most lucrative sources of profit for the Junta, accused of blatant human rights abuses and stifling democratic opposition.

The bill also makes the generals and their families ineligible for visas to the United States and enhances existing financial sanctions against the regime.

It includes new reporting requirements that will provide greater transparency about the Junta in terms of financial holdings,information about countries that provide military aid to the regime,and background on Burma’s timber trade.

The US sanctions targeted two state-controlled conglomerates, the Union of Burma Economic Holdings Limited and the Burma Economic Corporation, which are both involved in the gem trade, banking and construction directly and through subsidiaries. AFP

“The world has known that the work and activity of the US DEA is creating funds for personal use only”, said the Warlord.

“The more funds they have, the more mistresses and cars they can have. and overstating as well. They have been using me as abait for more funds for their operation”.

“My people need to grow opium to make a living, if American and Europeans didn’t come here there will be no drugs trade”. He adds in typical guerrilla logic that” the DEA helps bring heroin to America through imcompetence”. “They say I’m a tiger and that I eat people, they know that I want to stop opium ,but they only refuse my offer so that they can continue their own positions. The US policyis not to necotiate with the criminals, and there is a warrant out for Khun Sa.” We are the good guys.

They are the bad guys. We are the ones that have the rules ,then we become like term, “responsed DEA chief Cooper based in Bangkok”.

It must be remembered that Shan are not the genesis of the heroin problem. It was the exploited cultivation and passed laws to protect distribution of opium that addicted East Asia. During the french Indochina era drugs continued to be used for political and commercial advantage by fereign interests. The America CIA Colonel Edward G. Lansdale reported in July 1953 to his superiors in Washington, D.C. that the Fresh military had bught up the entire ‘53 opium harvest on oders of the French commander –in — Cheif, General Raoul Salan. The opium was flown to Saigon for sale and export. Through the U.S. war in Vienam, heroin prodution was accelerated to help finance CIA mercenary expansion campaigns in Laos and Cambodia. It was further used to destroy the will of the American people at home and on the battle fields. Today the operation remains the same, only a few of the names have changed as people have died or been promoted. After the Communist takeover in 1975, the CIA stockpiled weapons in Thailand and the Philippies to continue operation in Southeast Asia. Heroin provides the means. Officials arrange the laundry of funds through international banks. Mafia contacts handle worldwide distributil.

The DEA believed that most of the heroin smuggled into US came in small quantities. Then they began to single seizures of up to 380 kilogram, and acknowledged that Southeast Asian heroin traffickers, dominated by ethnic Chinese, are smuggling increasingly large amounts by commercial ships, air freight and international mail.

The Chinese gangs known as “triads”. Since 1970, the traids served as the suppliers in the Mafia’ s heroin network. They, along with various ethnic Chinese smuggling group, move the bulk of the Golden Triangle heroin through Thailand, Lao, Shan land and mainland China to its ultimate destination; The United State Gen. Khun Sa is the triad’s best source.