Monday, February 26, 2007

Thais Struggle With Violent Insurgency

NYT reported Some are already calling it war, a brutal Muslim separatist insurgency in southern Thailand that has taken as many as 2,000 lives in three years with almost daily bombings, drive-by shootings, arson and beheadings. It is a conflict the government admits it is losing. A harsh crackdown and martial law in recent years seem only to have fueled the insurgency by generating fear and anger and undermining moderate Muslim voices. A new policy of conciliation in the past four months has been met by increased violence, including a barrage of 28 coordinated bombings in the south that killed or wounded about 60 people on Feb. 18.

Well the moderate Muslim voices angered at the crackdown and martial law now see what a policy of conciliation does. Conciliation is seen as a sign of weakness by these savages, and they just attack harder. You need to face them with overwhelming force.

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