Myanmar - Karen - Prof. Desmond Ball a military adviser to the KNLA ? Spy expert Des Ball warns of continuing attacks on Myanmars minority ethnic groups By Matt Peacock A prominent Australian security academic who has advised one of Myanmars largest armed rebel groups says the military continues to inflict grave human rights violations on ethnic groups in the country. Professor Des Ball, who was recognised in this years Queens Birthday honours for services to international relations, has made a special plea for an end to violence against minority groups in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Scandalised by the brutal treatment of the Karen people by pro-government forces, he began to advise the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on military tactics a decade ago. A couple of particular guys were involved in taking large numbers of young girls, raping them, mutilating them and when they had finished with them, putting them in the bark and thatched huts and then burning the girls alive or just machine-gunning them, Professor Ball said. I was very uncomfortable with all of that and thought I just cant go home and forget about this. I should be doing something. I took my contact with the armed groups another step forward, in terms of working out operational techniques for, in fact, tracking down and getting rid of these guys. Professor Des Ball So I took my contact with the armed groups another step forward, in terms of working out operational techniques for, in fact, tracking down and getting rid of these guys. Professor Ball has helped enhance the security of KNLAs communications and boosted its capacity to intercept enemy transmissions, at times personally funding equipment the group required. The typical strategy is to use the snipers to take out the officers, he said of his methods. Most of the rank and file are then going to just sit down with their legs crossed and literally not move, until replacement officers are brought in who will give them orders. How you set up ambushes, which particular battalions, Burmese army battalions, which officers ... some of them are just gross beyond human imagination, and so planning the intelligence structures that you need to distinguish between which ones you really want to go after. Despite democratic reforms in Myanmar, the Australian National University military intelligence specialist believes in recent months the situation has become worse for some of the countrys ethnic groups, who comprise 45 per cent of the population. Security adviser Professor Des Ball receives an award Senior KNLA officers say they appreciate the support of Professor Ball. (ABC) He said wholesale land grabs for mineral and plantation wealth are now the focus of the once all-powerful militarys activities, but skirmishes with ethnic groups continue. Weve seen, in the last couple of years, the first use of helicopter gunships against villages, weve seen the first use of jet fighter aircraft launching missiles against villages, he said. The KNLAs Major General Isaac Po said the Karen are grateful for Professor Balls advice in perfecting their brand of guerrilla warfare. Des Ball has been a good friend to the Karen for many years. Des shared his knowledge and skills with us and we appreciate what he did for us, Mr Po said. Professor Ball acknowledged his level of support to the Karen goes beyond what is normal for academics but he says he has no regrets. Ive done things which do go well beyond what is done by a normal academic but there is nothing that I believe has been wrong and there is nothing there that I regret, he said. Former US presidents tribute to Professor Ball Professor Ball is best known to most Australians as the ANU academic who first exposed the role of Americas secret spy stations at places like Pine Gap and Narrungar. What is less well known is his role during the 1980s in advising the US on its nuclear strategy. While working with the CIA, the Pentagon and the White House, he concluded that the concept of a limited nuclear strike was unworkable. By the time you started to use even small numbers of devices your command and control system starts crumbling, Professor Ball said. Desmond Balls counsel and cautionary advice based on deep research made a great difference to our collective goal of avoiding nuclear war Former US president Jimmy Carter Inevitably you lose your eyes and your ears and you start moving into very large-scale, all-out strategic nuclear exchanges very, very quickly. It was that work which has seen him hailed in the media as the man who saved the world. Former US president Jimmy Carter recently paid tribute to Professor Balls advice and observations while he was in office. Desmond Balls counsel and cautionary advice based on deep research made a great difference to our collective goal of avoiding nuclear war, Mr Carter said. In recent years Professor Ball, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, has focused his attention in Asia, and particularly on the Thai-Myanmar border. abc.net.au/news/2014-06-09/academic-warns-of-continued-attacks-on-myanmars-ethnic-groups/5510954
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 07:59:45 +0000