In the north of Laos, the US and UNODC decided that there would be complete opium prohibition, no matter how or what the cost.
They lived up to that.
They eradicated most of the opium, and a few thousand children.
But events have names and faces and this one was no exception.
We can call them the dogs of war. Because they all played crucial parts in building the “ovens”.
Who can say which one did more evil, but they all got paid well for the role they did play.
Did they act as a part of their agency or did they act on their own while concealed in an agency?
Krister Winer, he worked for Norwegian Church Aid. Helped supply arial photography to the eradicators. Why would you do that? In a telephone interview with workers with Norwegian Church Aid, they said that they continued to support the eradication efforts and denied that any people had died as a result of the way in which the projects were carried out.
GTZ, the large German Govt. agency located in Muang Sing, what role did they play? Reports say that what ever occurred, they went along with it willingly, as if they didn’t even notice what was happening to the people. They did not oppose the forced relocations despite the fact that it was obvious how many people were dying.
Finn Riske-Neilsen ran UNDP, Antonio Maria Costa ran UNODC (Office of Drugs and Crime was UNDCP).
Mr. Halvor Kolshus, a Norwegian, was jubilant to work closely on the project as an employee of UNDCP and make sure all goals were reached on time, no matter what the cost. He helped maintain the death penalty despite EU objections, he struck villages off the list for getting any aid if he thought they might still have an opium field. But his own life or livelihood was never insecure.
He now works on a new “development” project in Vietnam with the Swedish Development Agency SIDA. His salary was and is in excess of $10,000 per month.
The US opium eradication efforts in Phongsali area continue. The Government of Laos has NOT been told that eradication of opium will increase the use of injected drugs like heroin, which are faster to use, and HIV. Yet studies in the border regions of China, Myanmar and Lao-Vietnam, show that once the users have switched to heroin over opium, HIV rates soar.
In Thailand, the eradication of opium led to a boom in meth, ecstacy and other more dangerous drugs. Yet this was clearly spelled out decades ago, what will follow on the heals of opium eradication. For the moralists, even an HIV epidemic is acceptable as compared to opium or needle clinics (Vancouver BC. Needle Clinics opposed by US), as “due punishment to the users.” But ultimately the financial and human cost of the problems caused by replacement drugs and the militarization-criminalization of the Drug War does show up at the doorstep of governments.
All the reports state clearly that the mountain people are some of the poorest, and there is no excuse that anyone would eliminate one food and economic system, without knowing what the consequences would be. The attitude is that a few dead people is acceptable for the end goal, the end justifies the means.
Unless you are the dying children.
Thousands died and continue to die, none of the white people who made the genocide happen are held accountable, but their names are adding up. They drive comfortable vehicles, take salaries up to and well BEYOND $10,000 per month.
The most wealthy and powerful of the world are not held accountable, and it is little wonder that the world is descending into mayhem and war.
Mr. Halvor, Winer, and a score of others need to be held accountable for the wanton death they have brought to so many in Laos.
For more information, do google searches on the names:
Krister Winer
Halvor Kolshus
Norwegian Church Aid
David J. Wise
Sida
Opium eradication in Laos
Resettlement in Laos
UNODC
UNDCP
Antonio Maria Costa
Check all links in the ongoing comments section.
