erobando

I really don't understand this argument about sending a message to Daesh. Does everyone understand who captured this Daesh leader?

The Tripoli government is the New General National Congress, which is the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned non-recognized group that took control of Tripoli after losing the 2014 elections.

Their actions are and will be geared towards their political goal of being recognized or, at least, solidifying their representation within the recent UN-sponsored unification agreement.

None of this has to do with "sending a message" to Daesh. They are enemies of Daesh but this is a secondary concern for them.

They may not surrender but they'll know we are not trucking around either.

I see several references uses of "we" in this thread.

Are there really multiple posters on Thaivisa who are part of the non-internally recognized government in Tripoli?

Are we splitting hairs now?

No. not at all.

I think it's funny that people people are saying "we" should do this and that and "we" will convey whatever message when it's doubtful that any posters are part of the Tripoli-based government.

But if you view the Tripoli government as your mouthpiece for grand messages, then that's fair enough but also funny.

Actually, I think the average person in Thailand is more likely to know Oman than Anaheim.

Who cares whether they think we are civilized or not?

The sooner that sappy elements in the West realise that you don't deal with ISIS by inviting them to encounter groups, the better.

These are brutal and mediaeval people with no intention of negotiating with anybody and the only way to deal with them is with extreme prejudice. Force is all they understand.

And the objective would be what, exactly? Do you expect that the rest of IS would subsequently throw down their weapons and surrender? All those who are contemplating joing them, would they be scared off?

They may not surrender but they'll know we are not trucking around either.

I see several references uses of "we" in this thread.

Are there really multiple posters on Thaivisa who are part of the non-internally recognized government in Tripoli?

OK guys. I'm willing to be educated. Links to credible news sources pointing this out. From what I've read, the Arab Spring uprisings were caused because of discontent from the general population. Dictators tend to cause these things.

Yep, the rats were not willing to share their wealth with the common people. What's new?

Imagine what happens when there is a one-government world. Can't have that happen folks.

Lord, am I glad I am old, sorry for my kids though.

Gaddafi was a dictator and his regime was violent but he did share the wealth better than most rats.

Under his regime, Libya's standard of living and life expectancy were the highest in Africa... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Libya_under_Muammar_Gaddafi

I think people like craigt3365 view the world like a Hollywood film... remove the "bad guy" and the story ends with everything magically better. But, without a solid political structure to replace the bad guy, the result is chaos and infighting, not a magical democracy.

In this case, Gaddafi was far from an ideal ruler, but he did some good things for the development of Libya as well as supported oppressed people internationally, such as with the Colonel's support of the ANC.

Why is there so much negativity? Just because the poorly chosen article title uses the word "flirt" doesn't mean that foreign relations are like a romantic relationship or should be "monogamous."

It makes sense for Thailand to have good relations with all nations, especially major powers like Russia, China and the US.

During Cold the War, many nations were forced to choose a side to their detriment (or deliberately did so to advance regional goals), but that concept isn't relevant now.

Let's ban all Malaysians and Indonesians from entering Thailand... most of them are Muslim.

Can we ban homosexuals, too? I'm equally afraid of catching the AIDS as I am of the ISIS.

It will be quite a heartwarming story in Hillary is elected president.

She would become not only the first female US Presdident but... if I understand my history correctly... the first female ever democratically elected as head of state anywhere in the world.

Those mischievous Kurds keep bombing Ankara... just like they did last October, right?

The phrase "his own people" is meaningless and frequently used by imperialists as reason to gain support to intervene in foreign affairs. It's a civil war... everyone is killing his/her "own people."

As far as chemical weapons... when I have cockroaches in my house, do I crawl on the ground fight each one individually? Of course not... the use of chemical pesticides is much more efficient.

The war isn't going to result in good result for Syrians anyhow. It's now just about whether the nation will be under the influence of Iran or the Turkey-Saudi Arabia aligned nations.

It's a majority Sunni country, so one would think it would align with the GCC.

Syria being dominated by the Saudi-Turkey-aligned nations would be good for Saudi and Turkish governments. I fail to see how that would be good for Syrians.

I can't quite see how removing Assad will make Syria a better country, unless of course the Iraq, Libya model is the preferred outcome. As of this moment we have the UK, US, France, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, IS, Kurds, Saudi Arabia, and so called "moderate rebels" all with a dog in this fight.

Assad at this time must be regretting destroying his chemical weapons.

So your saying it's OK for a dictator to use chemical weapons on his own people? Really????

The phrase "his own people" is meaningless and frequently used by imperialists as reason to gain support to intervene in foreign affairs. It's a civil war... everyone is killing his/her "own people."

As far as chemical weapons... when I have cockroaches in my house, do I crawl on the ground fight each one individually? Of course not... the use of chemical pesticides is much more efficient.

The war isn't going to result in good result for Syrians anyhow. It's now just about whether the nation will be under the influence of Iran or the Turkey-Saudi Arabia aligned nations.

Just to raise a small point. Why does Thailand not donate the provinces ceded to Thailand in 1909 back to Malaysia? Presumably the Buddhist population has been there for a long time, and has co-existed quite satisfactorily until recently. If not they could relocate to 'mainland' Thailand using the funds released from policing and supporting the Islamic provinces. Then the tossers who want independence are happy, Thailand ceases to lose its soldiers to terrorist activity. The borders can be closed , even build a wall/fence and the Islamic populace can then ponce off the Malaysian government for education, healthcare and follow the Islamic laws of Malaysia. Every body has what they want, Thailand has peace within it's borders and a big reduction on loss of life and finances, the Islamists have their own country to starve in. Too simple?

Pattani was never part of Malaysia.

The conflict could be ended the people that "matter" are fine with the status quo as long as long as the violence stays localized doesn't effect business interests in Bangkok, etc.

Independence isn't realistic but autonomy is... but that won't happen because the elite will worry that areas in the North, Northeast, etc., will also demand more local control.

On a related topic, I recently saw people collecting donations to buy bullet proof vests for soldiers based in the South.

The Thai government really can't afford this? Considering who controls the budget, this is evidence that that the lives of the soldiers aren't viewed as a high priority.

Can the mods re-name this thread: "Cockfighting in Thailand: How violent is it?"

What makes me most angry is that I had to read 10 paragraphs of that article until they finally mentioned where on Kowloon the protests actually are.

When there is an inevitable Charlie Hebdo-style attack in Ottawa, will the Canadian politicians change their minds?

Daesh is a scourge on this planet and need to be wiped from the face of it.

Normally, I'm a quite peaceful fellow......

You're Welcome!!

Uh, it's Canada. It really doesn't matter whether or not they participate.

My village has two 7-11's. They're open all night. I guess my village is like New York City, too.

Man, the "religion of peace" line every time.

There is instability in areas of Pakistan. The population is over 95% Islamic... so, yeah, probably people involved are Islamic.

But violence is seen wherever you have instability. Does FARC represent the Religion of the Pope?

With so many people viewing the world with such a simplistic viewpoint, it's no surprise that major power's "solutions" to regional struggles are so awful.

Your point is illogical.

You can't really suggest equivalency between FARC and the Taliban except that they are both use terrorist tactics.

Taliban is an ISLAMIC fundamentalist movement.

FARC is not a religious movement in any way.

Nope. They both are/were power struggles in areas of instability.

That one (likely) uses religion as it's reason to obtain power is a minor detail.

Otherwise, it's just like any other power struggle in human history.

Can anybody enlighten me why they are brawling, fighting or killing each other?

Thainess? Either that or an unemployment solution.

These "vocational colleges" seem have been fighting each other forever. I suppose that looking back, during "metalwork" classes in school, we did used to spend a lot of time making weapons of some description, so it's probably just a natural progression.

Yeah, this has been going on for decades.

And, occasionally people in power have been able to channel this aggression into "useful" purposes like the Red Gaurs in the 1970's.

Young, angry, violent people can be found everywhere, though.

Man, the "religion of peace" line every time.

There is instability in areas of Pakistan. The population is over 95% Islamic... so, yeah, probably people involved are Islamic.

But violence is seen wherever you have instability. Does FARC represent the Religion of the Pope?

With so many people viewing the world with such a simplistic viewpoint, it's no surprise that major power's "solutions" to regional struggles are so awful.

Thailand's problem is that there are a number of small elite groups that constantly fight for power.

Then non-elites who potentially could force changes to the system just cheer for (or even fight for!) one side or another like they're at football match, with little emphasis on actual policy.

At one time I thought things might change once the older generation fades away and younger people ran things but now I'm not so sure... actually, I'm not even sure that the older generation will even fade away as they seem to be eternal.

I can understand the protester's sentiment. I lived in New York City and worked downtown at the time of the World Trader Center incident.

All the pigs and military checkpoints were pretty annoying.... a 2 minute walk from the subway to work turned into 5.

Someone could have still conducted some small-scale bomb or suicide attack... yet it never happened.

The fear-mongering continued on as excuse for the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq and consequences that we're still experiencing today.

Major city of nation with a corrupt government and mediocre-to-poor economy has a bunch of poor people. That's not a surprise.

Somehow this conversation turned to Cold War-era topics of communism vs. capitalism. Maybe we can solve some problems form 1972.

Sweet! Once everybody agrees on everything, Thailand can move forward.

I think that heaven would give me migraine.

He cited recent battlefield successes by the Taliban, who he said are being aided with weapons from Iran

Lovely...

Now let's start a war with Iran.

Lovely...

Where did I say that? Iran is one of the biggest problems in the ME. Supplying weapons to all sorts of terrorist groups. Or perhaps you didn't know this???

If Iran is one of the "biggest problems" in the Middle East, then so is every other nation in the region.

Iran is engaged in a regional power struggle and acts like pretty much other nation has in the history of the world. They ally with groups that further their interests, in this case taking the "enemy of my enemy" approach. (In this case, the enemy is Daesh.)

Posters can make moralistic statements but Iran must co-exist with others in the region. If they think the Afghanistan government (who they generally support) will fail, it's better to have positive relations with other groups who they think will likely end up in complete (or a share of) power. They obviously think that Daesh is the bigger threat.

As far as supporting terrorists, Saudi Arabia and it's allies also support groups like Al Nusra.

Who Israel might support is questionable... but we do know that they conduct targeted assassinations and bomb sovereign nations however they see fit. From Iran's perspective, Israel is bully nation... the most powerful military in the region, equipped with WMD's and backed by the most powerful nation on earth.

And Iran's biggest "terrorist" project, Hezbollah, is a legal entity in its homeland which holds elected seats in Parliament. And when was the last time they were even accused of targeting civilians?

The Middle East now isn't much different the constant power struggles that existed in Western Europe until the end of WWII... this part of SE Asia was the same until the late 80's.

Maybe decades from now nations in the region will realize that cooperating economically is better than non-stop war.

The US engaging more with Iran is at least a start. Demonizing / blaming Iran as the primary cause of the Middle East's problems is not.

These dolls looks really cool.

But I prefer the 21st Century Schizoid Man doll.