#2 First, the Kingdom of Thailand is an "unsavoury regime?" Obviously, the bigots at the Economist can only generalize a few well-worn leftist memes about "the (non-communist) third world" and know nothing of Thailand, its culture or history. Piss on them.
Louise Arbour, head of the International Crisis Group (ICG), says the Sri Lanka model consists of three parts: what she dubs “scorched-earth tactics” (full operational freedom for the army, no negotiations with terrorists, no ceasefires to let them regroup); next, ignoring differences between combatants and non-combatants (the new ICG report documents many such examples); lastly, the dismissal of international and media concerns.
The winning formula for those threatened by terrorist uprisings. This takes away the terrorists' only strong ally, the global media, and neutralizes their most effective tactic, the use of human shields. |