JOURNAL: Thailand's open source war

John M Glionna writing for the LA Times ("In Thailand, a New Model for Militants?" October 1, 2006), writes about its growing open source insurgency:

Terrorism experts believe that the insurgency is led by a coalition of regional groups, including the National Revolutionary Front Coordinate and the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO, which are vying for control of the region. ...experts differ over the roots of the insurgency. Some say it's a battle over religious freedom, others say it's a fight for territory and self-rule. Still others say it's both.

Without any identifiable hierarchy or political platform for the insurgency, the government becomes confused. Further, the insurgency's targeting of economic systems (infrastructure and tourism) with increasingly sophisticated methods (example: cell phone triggered attack on electricity infrastructure) is also a source of confusion. Due to these factors, standard counter-insurgency breaks down since it is impossible to determine the messages that need to be countered to "win hearts and minds" and the systems that enable the government to deliver political goods (necessary for legitimacy) is malfunctioning. Which leads to this:

"The nation's best military intelligence concedes we are waging a war on ghosts," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkla University. "We don't have a clue as to who their leaders are or what they want."

Frankly, it doesn't really matter if this insurgency has been instigated by the al Qaeda network or is due to historical factors (as argued by Joseph Chinyong Liow, at Singapore's NTU, in "Radicalism in Thailand? Toward an Alternative Interpretation." PDF). The results will be the same given the similar path of organizational/methodological development and a similar plausible promise: the weakening of Thailand's control over its southern region.

Comments

[John Robb]

After deleting over 800 spamments last night, I turned on the Typekey commenting filter. Sorry for the inconvience, but it is the only way to keep the boards functional.

[Syn Diesel]

"The nation's best military intelligence concedes we are waging a war on ghosts," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkla University. "We don't have a clue as to who their leaders are or what they want."

Ah, the Gnosis Pluriform; the Ghost in the Machine. These memes just seem to pop up everywhere.

[RevG]

The public has a greater diversity in news and opinion available today than it did during the Vietnam War and large segments of it are quicker to question the veracity of politicians. I would like to believe there is also a legitmate feeling regarding the righteousness of our national adventures and this must be compared and contrasted to the Salafists who fight for the same Abrahamic God as the Christians and Jews. Ultimately, I believe it will be our respective spiritual strengths that will provide the critical winning edge. I am not only refering to the fundamentalist religious right, but also to the genuine spirituality with which the rest of the USA identifies. If Thailand’s conflict is about religious freedom then no amount of military might will put it down. The USA military might is up against this issue and all regimes will ultimately face this issue as well.