Aung San recognized and was distressed by many of the early abuses of the BIA, and attempted to control them by threatening punishment and reminding them that he had intended the BIA to be composed of "true patriots irrespective of political creed or race". The Japanese recognition that many of the soldiers who had initially joined the BIA were "undisciplined" and "vicious" was one of the factors they cited to justify the BIA's abolishment and reorganization soon after the Japanese invasion of Burma. In 1943 he visited many of the Karen areas that had been attacked by the BIA, apologizing for his men, reassuring their leaders that he did not intend to attack them, and secretly agreeing with them that they would soon work together to fight against the Japanese.