Thai Jihad Continues

The
Thai military has detained 160 Muslims in raids - many being held without charges. The military estimated about a quarter have outstanding warrants.

Colonel Acra Tiproch said the detainees, who can be kept without charge for 28 days under an emergency law, would be freed if found not to have been involved in the violence but DNA samples would be kept on record.

Acra said he believed about a quarter of the detainees were subject to arrest warrants and would be charged and those found to support or sympathise with the insurgency would go through a re-education camp.

The raids occurred last week in Yala and Narathiwat in the hilly jungles along the Malaysian border after rebels intensified attacks on government schools, civil servants and security forces.

In one of the most shocking attacks, three Buddhist teachers were killed earlier this month despite the presence of 30,000 troops and police in the region, annexed by largely Buddhist Bangkok a century ago.

Since taking office in October, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has fought off pressure from Thailand's Buddhist majority to take stronger action, saying he remains committed to a peaceful resolution.

He has apologised for the harsh policies of his ousted predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, and promised restraint in dealing with the violence. But he has had no more success than Thaksin in dampening the violence.

So, appeasement hasn't worked, and fighting the Islamist terrorists with half measures haven't worked (which of course are called harsh policies).

Instead, it is hoped that a reeducation will help these folks see the light. I doubt that will have the intended effect.

There are also reports that the government is meeting with Islamic leaders to come up with some kind of middle ground. The government is currently looking into putting cameras into schools in Southern Thailand - like that will stop them from being targeted? The attacks will continue and you might catch a few terrorists after they've already blown up or torched the schools.