The insurgency in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat -- an Islamic sultanate until Bangkok annexed the region a century ago [...]

It would be very Leftist, I mean, tempting, to suggest Thailand give up those provinces. No doubt some on the Left would say the Thais had it coming for annexing that region, much as they say about Israel and the "Palestinian" territories taken in 1967.

This pandering to "root causes" and "indigenous resistance struggles", however, has not been of any efficacy to Israel, nor, closer to Thailand, to India. Muslims operate by the Salami Method, a cycle of doing jihad, demanding concessions, getting concessions, finding another pretext of "wrongdoing" and starting all over again--a cycle that ends only upon the subjugation of the non-Muslim state. The Gaza Strip, fully evacuated of Jews (I prefer the term "judenrein" myself), isn't satisfactory to the "Palestinians", hence their use of the evacuated territories as bases for jihad. Nor has the concession of Pakistan (and Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan) brought India any rest, not on their border with Pakistan, not in Kashmir and not from the sizable Muslim minority within them. And Thailand too will get more demands for "justice for Muslim minorities" after cordoning off the troublesome provinces.

I needn't say what the solution is, I think all of us wakeful here already know what it is. I need only say it involves things that the Left and its propaganda arm, nearly all of the mainstream media, will decry as "inhuman" and "oppressive" and "imperialist". Yes, even in the case of Thailand, a case that would be of Asians against Asians, because the Left has fallen in love with the Muslims (for they know how to sucker them by imitating their Marxist language), and will condemn any harm done to them, even by non-Westerners, as being influenced and spurred on by Western imperialists.

I'm reminded of that line of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, in Dune: "I have something more valuable than ten legions of Sardaukar!" He was talking about Dr. Yueh, the faithful doctor close to Duke Leto Atreides whose will he had managed to bend to betray the Duke. Indeed, our greatest impediment in this war is from within, from those who took 9/11, and will take any further attacks (G-d forbid), no matter how catastrophic, to be a call for soul-searching and appeasement of the perpetrators instead of a call for righteous anger and crushing the head of the snake. The fact of Muslim violence has split the non-Muslim world into two dichotomous schools of interpretation of it, vying for the helm.

Posted by: ZionistYoungster at October 22, 2006 5:19 PM

There's something very sad about attacking Buddhist monks with a bomb while they're collecting alms.

Muslims still have the nerve to talk about religious respect and tolerance while not even lifting a finger to condemn attacks like this.

Posted by: Jesus Christ Supercop at October 22, 2006 6:55 PM

Reuters is one of the least reliable sources for information on Thailand. Toxin Taksin was about as "hawkish" as Jimmy Carter. Surayud is offering the carrot now knowing they will reject it as these terror attacks show. Once it is clear to the world that the Muslims will never negotiate in good faith, he will be get the political mandate to turn the army loose on the Muslims.

Thailand did the same with the Communists in the late sixties. The words about desiring a "peaceful solution" is virtually identical to Prime Minister Sarit's words back then. The king offered the reds concessions that they coudn't agree to, then turn the army loose to utterly crush them.

Posted by: Provoslavni at October 22, 2006 8:52 PM

Absolutely shameful. But not at all surprising from the "religion of skulkers". No doubt the attackers were simply defending themselves against that most aggressive and violent of religions,right?

Posted by: ISLAMSFORLOSERS at October 22, 2006 10:04 PM

Hello from Thailand. Every time the BBC comments on the violence in our southern provinces they refer to the monks being murdered as “persons” and always end their report by implying we ethnic Thais deserve what we get because we somehow discriminate against the Muslim minority. They never acknowledge that the interior minister in the previous government was a Muslim, that the army and present government is headed by a Muslim, and that the king and constitution guarantee equal rights for all Thaïs.

What goes on in the south is really more of an ethnic cleansing of non Muslim and non Malay ethnics from the territory than an insurgency. The crimes against humanity and religion the Muslims there commit daily are rarely commented on by the media. Even our own Thai media, who keeps babbling on about finding peaceful solutions to the “unrest, never really gets around to saying what is going on.”

It would be easy to drive out all the perpetrators militarily but our country would receive international condemnation, especially from Europe and OIC countries. But even if we did drive them out they would be sheltered in Northern Malaysia and receive assistance of the state in launching terror attacks from Malaysia across the rugged timbered borders, as happens already.

In my opinion, Thailand has failed to try to integrate these people into mainstream. Actually, I dont think it is possible but the effort shoudl have been made. You don’t see this kind of murderous behavior from Muslims elsewhere in the kingdom. Only “down there” where they don’t even speak Thai language.

The only real solution is proably to flood the area with massive amounts of people from other parts of the country, and Christian, Buddhist, Hindu refugees from Indonesia and Malaysia who want to become Thai and who would value their Thai citizenship unlike the Malay monsters who prey on monks and children at night that lurk there now.

Doing this would also incite cries of racism and genocide against the Thai government from the very same people who shed no tears over the loss of buddhist children and monks, so it is unlikely we will see a population shift take place in the manner I suggest because the goverment is afraid of these countries calling us names and they kknow the UN will back them up selectively. We have already seen that with the lying hypocrite Louse Arboure from the UN human rights commision. The policitcal will is just not there to act and our goverment keeps clinging to hope that muslims who are not bothered at all by taking a knife to the throat of a parent in front of his children will somehow respond to peaceful measures, whatever that means, and so the killing will just continue until the Thai nation either abandons its land to these people or ignores the international apologist countries that facilitate them and goes to war.

Posted by: laosuwan at October 23, 2006 2:22 AM

Hello from Thailand. Every time the BBC comments on the violence in our southern provinces they refer to the monks being murdered as “persons” and always end their report by implying we ethnic Thais deserve what we get because we somehow discriminate against the Muslim minority. They never acknowledge that the interior minister in the previous government was a Muslim, that the army and present government is headed by a Muslim, and that the king and constitution guarantee equal rights for all Thaïs.

What goes on in the south is really more of an ethnic cleansing of non Muslim and non Malay ethnics from the territory than an insurgency. The crimes against humanity and religion the Muslims there commit daily are rarely commented on by the media. Even our own Thai media, who keeps babbling on about finding peaceful solutions to the “unrest, never really gets around to saying what is going on.”

It would be easy to drive out all the perpetrators militarily but our country would receive international condemnation, especially from Europe and OIC countries. But even if we did drive them out they would be sheltered in Northern Malaysia and receive assistance of the state in launching terror attacks from Malaysia across the rugged timbered borders, as happens already.

In my opinion, Thailand has failed to try to integrate these people into mainstream. Actually, I dont think it is possible but the effort shoudl have been made. You don’t see this kind of murderous behavior from Muslims elsewhere in the kingdom. Only “down there” where they don’t even speak Thai language.

The only real solution is proably to flood the area with massive amounts of people from other parts of the country, and Christian, Buddhist, Hindu refugees from Indonesia and Malaysia who want to become Thai and who would value their Thai citizenship unlike the Malay monsters who prey on monks and children at night that lurk there now.

Doing this would also incite cries of racism and genocide against the Thai government from the very same people who shed no tears over the loss of buddhist children and monks, so it is unlikely we will see a population shift take place in the manner I suggest because the goverment is afraid of these countries calling us names and they kknow the UN will back them up selectively. We have already seen that with the lying hypocrite Louse Arboure from the UN human rights commision. The policitcal will is just not there to act and our goverment keeps clinging to hope that muslims who are not bothered at all by taking a knife to the throat of a parent in front of his children will somehow respond to peaceful measures, whatever that means, and so the killing will just continue until the Thai nation either abandons its land to these people or ignores the international apologist countries that facilitate them and goes to war.

Posted by: laosuwan at October 23, 2006 2:23 AM

Laosuwan's remark about the BBC reminds me of how news from Israel is reported by the same medium of mass disinformation. For instance, a few years ago two Jewish women riding in a car in the Judea-Samaria region, somewhere south of Bethlehem, were shot dead. The bbc reported that "two settlers" had been killed. No mention that they were women, let alone that they were both mothers, or that each one had five or six children. If an Arab woman had been killed, the bbc would have fully opened its spigots of pathos. We would have heard not only how many children each one had, but how she loved her husband and nursed the little one who still cannot stop weeping for Mom, and how hubby was distraught, and her sisters and brothers and neighbors are all broken-hearted, blah blah blah. On the other hand, the bbc has dehumanized Jews. During the Holocaust, the bbc minimized reporting of the mass murder going on. Now, the bbc distorts events in the Jewish homeland.

Soon, no doubt, the bbc will be telling us that Jiminy Cricket --the USA president who (in the name of civil liberties) together with his national insecurity advisor, Zbig Brzezinski, helped give the world the Khomeini regime in Iran-- is calling Israel an "apartheid" state. Of course, that's a big lie. And Carter is a big liar. But that won't stop the bbc. It will broadcast the big lie day and night. Truth is not a consideration.

Posted by: Eliyahu at October 23, 2006 5:30 AM

Excellent analysis, laosuwan! I am always shocked and appalled at the way Western media misreports Thailand.

Posted by: Provoslavni at October 23, 2006 11:21 AM

Jesus Christ Supercop wrote:

There's something very sad about attacking Buddhist monks with a bomb while they're collecting alms.
.........................

Yes, and remember this little band of five monks were already being escorted by at least two soldiers, obviously in anticipation of just such violence. Shameful.

Posted by: gravenimage at October 23, 2006 5:34 PM

I doubt "negotiations' will lead to any lasting peace because you cannot have peace with a groups of people who seek only your destruction and the cleansing of infidels from what they regards as muslim land.
in the end you will have to use force and relocate the islamists to areas to the north of Thailand where they are small minorities and will be unable to cause murder and mayhem.
At the same time you will have to financialy encourage Thai buddhists to move into the southern areas so they demographically outnumber the muslim population.
The BBC will condemn you whatever you do and the muslim run UN wil do the same.
Don't pay any attention to them.
And remember there will no Bill Clinton to enforce an islamic state in South thailand as he did in Bosnia.

Posted by: chevalier de st george at October 25, 2006 2:39 AM