Deadly Raid On Thai Army Base Shows Little Has Changed

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Deadly raid shows little has changed

By The Nation

Attack on Army base reinforces doubts about success of bid to to win 'hearts, minds' in South

Just when things were supposed to get better, the militants in the deep South brutally reminded the government in Bangkok that obtaining peace won't be so easy. On Thursday a group of insurgents stormed Task Force 38 in Narathiwat's Rangae district, killing four and wounding seven other in a daring blitz that jolted the security apparatus with what appeared to be a well-planned attack. Tree trunks and road spikes obstructed hot pursuit. And when reinforcements came, there wasn't much they could do except to pick up the bodies of the dead soldiers and whisk the wounded to Yala Central Hospital, where the best medical facility awaited them.

The militants reportedly took many machine guns and about 5,000 rounds of ammunitions. It that is true, then the logistics behind this attack are in the class of the January 4, 2004 raid on an Army battalion in Joh I Rong, when insurgents made off with more than 350 weapons.

No one is sure what went wrong in Thursday's attack. Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said "lax security" was the main reason. But then again, it's not very often that the militants charge into a secured camp and begin to pick off their targets.

If anything, it was a slap in the face for the political establishment, as well as security planners, who just days ago boasted how security and justice had improved in the region. There was also talk of lifting Emergency Law from more districts in the restive region, as well as gradually handing back control of the deep South to the Fourth Army Area command.

No one is certain how military analysts reached the conclusion that the security situation had improved. If anything, the attack in Rangae brought into question the kind of logic and rationales the military have been using to quantify success.

The colour-coded system may have worked during the Communist and Malay Muslim separatist insurgency two decades ago, when the rebels controlled pockets of mountain tops and foothills in the deep South. But today the network is so widespread and the insurgents' movement so fluid it is virtually impossible to put a real dent in the movement as a whole.

Already, news reports are coming out quoting officials saying they have information about the identity of the Rangae attackers and that some of them also took part in the Joh I Rong fighting in January 2004. It's interesting how quick and efficient security officials are after an incident. But whatever happened to preventive measures?

Instead of glowing remarks for domestic consumption, perhaps policy-makers and security planners should be more honest instead of looking for ways to score political and brownie points. More than 60,000 security personnel are in the deep South and billions of taxpayers' money has been spent.

Separatist ideology, radicalisation, and recruitment feeds on the authorities' failure to address local grievances - combined with ongoing heavy-handed tactics, human-rights abuses, mistreatment of Muslims, and blatant impunity. These factors are so pronounced in the so-called "red zones" - where insurgents continue to carry out deadly attacks, continue recruitment, and maintain local support despite being "squeezed" by counterinsurgency operations for years. But no one in the government and the army is willing to accept this fact.

Looking at the characteristics of attacks since the last quarter of 2010, we are witnessing a new cycle of insurgency - marked with well-planned and well-coordinated bomb attacks and raids on checkpoints and security bases. This new cycle is driven by more radicalised and hardened insurgents - who seem to have no interest in having a dialogue with the authorities.

At the same time, local Muslims see no difference between the government of Abhisit and his predecessors. Many of them seem to have concluded they will never be treated fairly and sincerely by the authorities. All the talk about winning hearts and minds is just rhetoric. Abhisit's decision to lift the state of emergency in Pattani's Mae Lan district is not a major concession. On the contrary, it is seen as "too little and too late" by the Muslims. It is just window-dressing without having any real impact on improving human rights and justice conditions - which are the core of local grievances.

It's time to think differently and creatively, even if it means asking for help from outside mediators and facilitators. Too many lives have been lost for our so-called leaders to continue as business as usual. They shouldn't let their egos get in the way of a sound policy.

-- The Nation 2011-01-23

[yellow1red1]

Wotta well written editorial.

[VictorOne]

Wotta well written editorial.

Doesn't mention the fact that everyone (on the base) seem to have been asleep at the wheel. Court martials would now be appropriate.

[anterian]

I suspect some of these machine guns will end up in Afghanistan, in guerrilla warfare improvised bombs are more effective.

[housepainter]

Wotta well written editorial.

Describing a raid in to a military compound which results in 4 dead and the acquisition of 5000 rounds and machine guns as ' a slap in the face' is a tad disingenuous I'd say.

Furthermore, acknowledging that 'it's not very often that the militants charge into a secured camp and begin to pick off their targets' does lend weight to this being a rather productive, effective and victorious little sojourn these boys undertook. Marks out of ten would be at least a twelve. It is 4-0 after all.

So, in conclusion, if I may, I would actually differ from your somewhat optimistic and praiseworthy exegesis. Next time add 'understanding' to the task of 'reading'.

Personally, as far as terrorrism goes the Thai terrorist needs to do much better. When shooting fish in barrells, or in this case half a sleep, asleep, comotose conscripts who would rather be elsewhere, that is Thai soldiers, the numbers should have been higher. Much higher.

Considering the quality of the Iraquis, Al Quaeda and the Afghans who face a formidable enemy in the US troops, they actually put up a good show and are acknowledged by their US counterparts as being 'good fighters'. The British Commanders in the field subscribe to the same opinion when facing Helmund insurgents; the terrosists are determined, brave and resolute. They kill a lot of 'good guys'. The average Thai terrorist needs to get his act together. Death is a business.

Then we have Thailand.

One could hardly describe this little local difficulty in the same breath as that in which we consider the rest of the Arab world. Additionally, leaving aside the terrorists themselves let us consider the quality of the Thai Army. A dad's army on sleeping pills. But they are professionals; as they are only in it for the money; hence the trading in drugs, prostitution and ................. it's actually easier to list where the fingers aren't stuck. They don't do flower shops - yet.

Well that didn't take long did it? Cobra war games year in and year out have altered nothing, other then dent the time spent arranging drug shipments out of Burma. The Army still seems focussed on coups, corruption and running the country. As for the tough stuff, well the streets of Bangkok never saw much in the way of ending the seizure of Bangkok. Not like the old days then when the Burmese actually stopped at Ayutaya, but not for long.

Nowadays it seems that being beseiged in the capitol is just not worth getting out of bed for. Then there's the business of army factions not obeying orders, fighting each other on the streets, running separate militia mafias, army snipers shooting Colonel's in the head, in fact way to much in the way of earning a dishonest living to ever allow for actually doing one's 'other' duties. How bad are they? Over 100 bullets sprayed in to Sondi's car and they couldn't kill him at point blank range. No wonder they want to go nucleur.

Never mind.

Then there are the real bad boys. The southern terrorists and their religious free state ideology. Certainly, did well this week then. Four dead and the BBC report it as it happens whereas Thailand has to manipulate the facts for several days,along with the figures and produce a dose of gullible fiction before we shrinking violets can be exposed to anything so harsh as the truth. What would life be without nanny?

Well the terrorists deliver a sound dollop of reality this week by way of 4 dead. Signs of organisation, planning and the ability to strike at the enemies heart. Things must be looking up. Anymore of this and we'll be reading how terrorism has been totally subdued. I just hope the bad lads don't use it as a spring board and repeat the act. Even worse, imagine them targetting Bangkok. They'd probably be so confident as to travel up in asign written bus yet careful enough to avoid using a white Fortuner with red plates. A dead give away there.

But I don't think that will ever happen. Bangkok, not the Fortuner bit.

The army would never allow an alien group to gather on the streets of Bangkok and paralyse the city. It would, it could, never happen. No one in their right mind would accept a small group of determined terrorists taken up position on the streets of Bangkok and striking right at the heart of downt town Bangkok. Say some where like Central World being closed off; held hostage. Worse, the death of innocent tourists say at sky train stations would be the stuff of Hollywood's 'Bangkok Dangerous.' A film, by the way, that they had to omit the 'is' from the title or else no filming allowed.

If a small group can not achieve this then how on earth could tens of thousands ever march in and strangle the life out of the city? And if one such group did exist , which it clearly doesn't, - then why not another? The streets of Bangkok would then have to resemble those of Baghdad where one faction wages war against the other in unending battles.

This Thai military is far too credible and professional to ever be so lax as to allow the enemy to strike at its heart, again, like it has just done, again, and on an equally impressive scale, at the same time stocking up with enough armaments to start a small war. Continue the small war that it's already engaged in.

No. They are winning this one. Honest.

Edited January 23, 2011 by housepainter

[OzMick]

".......radicalised and hardened insurgents - who seem to have no interest in having a dialogue with the authorities."

Of course! If they did, the funding would stop, and they would have to get a haircut and a job. As they spent most of their school time learning to recite the koran in arabic, this is not a very attractive option compared to dieing for the faith and being rewarded with 70 virgins, which I hope turn out to be goats.

Muslim madrassas use the mushroom method - keep you in the dark and feed you <deleted>.

[asiawatcher]

It's a bit hard to try to get the Muslims to any table as they insist they are being ignored on 'Human Rights'. I wonder if they consider the rights of those they bomb and maim? Another fine example of the religion of peace.

[jayjay0]

".......radicalised and hardened insurgents - who seem to have no interest in having a dialogue with the authorities."

Of course! If they did, the funding would stop, and they would have to get a haircut and a job. As they spent most of their school time learning to recite the koran in arabic, this is not a very attractive option compared to dieing for the faith and being rewarded with 70 virgins, which I hope turn out to be goats.

Muslim madrassas use the mushroom method - keep you in the dark and feed you <deleted>.

Well said. And all to true.

Because they are sexually stifled they look forward to martyrdom so they can at long last be sexually satisfied.

Bear in mind that they consider a martyr to be any one killing others who happens to get dead himself.

Sex is a natural desire To deny it only invites trouble. Ask the Catholic Church how they are doing with there policy about no sex for priests.

In Islam they all do it.

I would have no problem with there policy against the natural desire to have it if they would be so kind as to apply it to the natural desire to breath.

[MaiChai]

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter...

I would be interested to hear the other side of the story. I don't agree with or condone violence like this. However I can't believe both sides have been totally civil.

What I don't understand is that if a group wishes to live in a Muslim state, why these people don't immigrate to Malaysia or another Muslim country? Thailand is tolerant of other religions, however as we all know its predominatly a Buddhist country and thus will be biased in this way.

Sorry if I sound ill informed; maybe someone can post more background to all the problems so I can understand the situation better?

[powderpuff]

The Army were outgunned. There is a way to fix that.

As to "well written article" Could it have been written by a falang? Maybe.

[IAMHERE]

It appears the attackers had machine guns as the reason for the attack. We'll be hearing more about those guns. I doubt they will wind up anywhere other than Thailand. These guys were shopping for weapons so they can do their own Mumbia somewhere in the Kingdom. They have already shown they can plan and carry out an attack, now they just need some true believers willing to die and get those virgins.

Edited January 23, 2011 by IAMHERE

[elshaheen]

Thai Muslims in the South have issues which Thailand Central government completely ignores. The average Thai citizens do tolerate Southern Thai. Muslims to a point, but once Thai Muslims turn around, Thailand Central government gouge them in the back. Thai Muslims have a long history of being in Thailand before the founding of Sukhothai kingdom from Malaysia to Iranian Traders, to Javanese Economic Migrants, Vietnamese Muslim Soldiers from the Kingdom of Cham, South Asian traders and most recently Chinese Hui Warriers back in 1950’s

Check out the link: http://muslimwiki.com/mw/index.php/Islam_in_Thailand for more information about Thailand Muslim history.

It won't too long be long until this country is ripped apart by Social and Religious upheavals.

[bangon04]

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter...

I would be interested to hear the other side of the story. I don't agree with or condone violence like this. However I can't believe both sides have been totally civil.

What I don't understand is that if a group wishes to live in a Muslim state, why these people don't immigrate to Malaysia or another Muslim country? Thailand is tolerant of other religions, however as we all know its predominatly a Buddhist country and thus will be biased in this way.

Sorry if I sound ill informed; maybe someone can post more background to all the problems so I can understand the situation better?

I seem to remember reading in history books produced outside Thailand, that the southern states were ac tually stolen from tha Malays/Musims during some dodgy border disputes. Difficult to believe that Thailand could ever be involved in dodgy border disputes with its neighbours..but this would go some way to explain some of the grievances.

Religion is a red herring here - as it often is - the insurgency is about power, control, and money...

[bangon04]

The Army were outgunned. There is a way to fix that.

As to "well written article" Could it have been written by a falang? Maybe.

The Royal Thai Army is frequently outgunned, even during peaceful protests by hill farmers.

and the Royal Thai Navy has an empty aircraft carrier too. Just imagine the leadership qualities of the general staff.

[jayjay0]

a friend sent this to me.

Read and form your own conclusions.

It helped me understand what is going on in the Muslim world and the countries they have immigrated to.

Nature of the Islam

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam:

The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components. Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.

Here's how it works:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:

United States -- Muslim 0..6%

Australia -- Muslim 1.5%

Canada -- Muslim 1.9%

China -- Muslim 1.8%

Italy -- Muslim 1.5%

Norway -- Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs.

This is happening in:

Denmark -- Muslim 2%

Germany -- Muslim 3.7%

United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%

Spain -- Muslim 4%

Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:

France -- Muslim 8%

Philippines -- 5%

Sweden -- Muslim 5%

Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%

The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%

Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:

Guyana -- Muslim 10%

India -- Muslim 13.4%

Israel -- Muslim 16%

Kenya -- Muslim 10%

Russia -- Muslim 15%

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:

Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia -- Muslim 40%

Chad -- Muslim 53.1%

Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of nonbelievers of all other religions (including nonconforming

Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:

Albania -- Muslim 70%

Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%

Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%

Sudan -- Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is ongoing in:

Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%

Egypt -- Muslim 90%

Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%

Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%

Iran -- Muslim 98%

Iraq -- Muslim 97%

Jordan -- Muslim 92%

Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%

Pakistan -- Muslim 97%

Palestine -- Muslim 99%

Syria -- Muslim 90%

Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%

Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%

United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a

Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%

Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%

Somalia -- Muslim 100%

Yemen -- Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.

'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel. --

Leon Uris, 'The Haj'

It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrasses. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death. Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate.

Today's 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world's population. But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and all other believers.. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this century.

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

Well, boys and girls, today we are letting the fox guard the hen house. The wolves will be herding the sheep!

Obama Appoints two devout Muslims to homeland security posts. Doesn't this make you feel safer already?

Obama and Janet Napolitano Appoint Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim, who was born in Damascus, Syria as ADC National Executive Director as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).

NOTE: Has anyone ever heard a new government official being identified as a devout Catholic, a devout Jew or a devout Protestant...? Just wondering.

Devout Muslims being appointed to critical Homeland Security positions? Doesn't this make you feel safer already??

That should make our homeland much safer, huh!!

Was it not "Devout Muslim men" that flew planes into U.S. buildings 8 years ago? Was it not a Devout Muslim who killed 13 at Fort Hood?

Please forward this important information to any who care about the future of our Country.

[housepainter]

a friend sent this to me.

Read and form your own conclusions.

It helped me understand what is going on in the Muslim world and the countries they have immigrated to.

Nature of the Islam

Adapted from Dr. Peter etc etc [yawn] etcetera ....................

Try choosing your friends more carefully next life.