and the people they were fired at didn't bother to tell all the leftwing press about it??? please... smells like cBS to me.
Posted on 01/17/2006 6:35:40 AM PST by ZayYa
MYANMAR (ANS) -- Two soldiers in the Burmese Army who defected to the Karenni forces on April 25 have testified to the widespread use of chemical weapons.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Myo Min, 15, had been in the Burma Army for one month and Soe Thu, 16, had been in the Burma Army for two months.
When asked about 'chemical or poison' weapons, Myo Min told CSW's International President, Dr Martin Panter, that he had to carry boxes of chemical weapons to the front line almost from the day he arrived.
Dr Panter visited the region between April 27-29. He reports: "The sergeant commander of his unit told him to be very careful carrying these weapons, as if he dropped them the chemicals would spill and he could be killed.
"Asked how he knew they were chemical weapons, he said that the sergeant showed them all around the arsenal where weapons were stored at the army base camp and pointed out these poisonous weapons. Each box had the emblem of a skull and cross bones on it, and he proceeded to draw one for us. He said that whenever these chemical shells were fired soldiers had to wear full head masks and gloves. They were usually launched from a mortar launcher but said there were a number of ways in which they were delivered. But he had only seen the mortar launch, and said that during an artillery attack on Karenni positions they worked on one shell in four being a chemical shell. Sometimes he went with a truck to the front line when a large number of artillery shells were shifted at a time. In the truck on one occasion he counted five boxes of chemical devices, out of a total load of about 30, on another occasion he counted seven boxes, all with the skull and cross bones emblem."
Dr Panter also interviewed Soe Thu, who explained that the chemical shells were quite different to normal heavy artillery; they were lighter and painted a "white color."
Dr Panter reports: "He had sometimes picked one up to feel it, but was scared as the sergeant had said they could die if they dropped them and the chemical leaked out. He drew a picture of a chemical device and a mortar launcher next to it."
Dr Panter reported that both boys said they had been told that if they ever deserted and went to the Karenni, they would be cut up, put on bamboo sticks across a fire, roasted and eaten "with salt."
Dr Panter said: "Both lads' stories had the 'ring of truth' to them. They had no reason to lie, and little to gain by it. They both know they will be shot if they return or are caught.
"Both boys told us that there were many other 'children' soldiers in their division. They thought around 30 kids of 16 years and younger, out of a total of 120."
Panter said both boys were dressed in their military uniforms, with their belts bearing the badge of the Burma Army insignia. Myo Min said he came from a village in the Irrawaddy delta area. In February, Burma Army troops came into his village, rounded up all the young lads and gave them a stark choice of either joining the army or going to prison for two years.
Myo Min said he had no desire whatever to fight, and in fact had no idea what he was fighting for. He received virtually no training, and was sent straight to the front line in the 112 division of 55 Battalion light infantry brigade.
CSW said the two were interviewed separately. They know they will be summarily executed if they are caught and are currently being held at a secret location.
Panter said further allegations of the use of chemical weapons could not simply be denied by the Burmese regime: "The Burmese army is guilty of crimes against humanity under the Geneva conventions of war and needs to answer to the international community for its behavior, especially in the light of strong and robust denials by the Junta's information minister at a press briefing in Rangoon on April 22, that Burma has chemical weapons, and has never and will never deploy them."
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW UK, said: "These disturbing testimonies from two former soldiers in the Burma Army lend further credibility to reports of the use of chemical weapons by the Burmese regime. This regime has long been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Karenni and several other ethnic groups and it is sadly no great surprise to learn of allegations of the use of chemical weapons. CSW urges the international community to press the military regime for answers that go beyond the usual flat denials."
CSW has also received the full medical report on the possible use of chemical weapons on three Karenni soldiers.
The doctor who examined them stated that on February 19, 20 Karenni soldiers from the Karenni resistance were exposed to a substance released by shells as these exploded. The identity of the doctor is not being revealed for security reasons.
The substance in question was described as a yellow-brown vapor. Those exposed to the substance described the vapor as tasting mainly like chilli hot pepper. A witness who was standing at a safe distance and who was not exposed to the substance described seeing many shells releasing a yellow substance.
The doctor stated: "I would like to submit that the description of this yellow vapor, as well as the physical symptoms experienced by those men exposed to it, as well as the clinical signs present, strongly suggest that these patients were exposed to some kind of chemical or biological munitions."
The doctor continued: "Three of the soldiers who were exposed to the yellow substance were evacuated and brought to me at great risk to themselves and to those helping them. These men presented to me as patients on the sixth day following this event.
"The Karenni officer who brought his men to me has been a soldier for over thirty years and prior to that day had never encountered shells releasing a yellow substance and making people sick on exposure to it. Whilst he was not sure as to what that yellow vapor was, he soon realized that it was some kind of poison as demonstrated by the way the exposed men started to get very ill. He told me that during the first few days before bringing them to me, his men looked like they were dying and not going to pull through.
"That Karenni officer reported that the shells fired by the Burma Army were a combination of ordinary high explosives and some form of poisonous/chemical munitions. The shells were, 81mm and 120mm mortars, and 75mm and BA8 Recoilless Rifles. The Burma Army used multiple weapon systems at once. Up to 40 shells per minute impacted on Karenni positions. According to this officer, the ratio of high explosives to chemical rounds fired from the mortars was 40 rounds of high explosives to 4 rounds of the unidentified poisonous/chemical munitions.
"I was able to interview the patients, take their medical history and examine them. This I did over the first two days, as they were first too weak to be interviewed. The story of each patient was consistent with the other patients and many of their symptoms were identical to one another."
For more information, please contact Dr Martin Panter in Australia on (0061) 740 938100 or 740 921061. Alternatively contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager, CSW on 020 8329 0045 or email: richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
Wonder where they got them from?
Burma's reputation as "the North Korea of South Asia" is well-deserved.
and the people they were fired at didn't bother to tell all the leftwing press about it??? please... smells like cBS to me.
I agree that it doesn't pass the smell test, but it might be a tad hard for the people fired upon to get with the leftwing press after being hit with a chemical weapon.
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