November 22, 2005: The Maoists tactics have been their undoing.
Establishing a "dictatorship of the people" in many parts of the
countryside has not improved the lives of the locals, and has made life worse
for many. This has created armed resistance to the Maoists, and unarmed
resistance as well. The Maoists are much better at terrorizing that ruling, and
the word is getting around. But the army and police have no perfect plan for
driving the Maoists out of business. In fact, the Maoists are very efficient
bandits, able to sustain themselves through extortion and theft. Long term,
they are toast, but for the next few years, they can keep going.
November 21, 2005: The Maoists have offered to disarm, under UN supervision,
if a referendum is held to limit the power of the monarchy. This deal was put
together by the political parties that were put out of power when the king
decided to rule by decree last year. This is seen as a political ploy, as
Maoist doctrine encourages deceptions like this as a way to weaken or confuse
the enemy. Maoists are dedicated to establishing a communist dictatorship.
