June 11, 2006: The government has offered to establish an independent National Reconciliation Commission, to insure that the Moslems in the south had their grievances heard. In addition, a large force of unarmed peacekeepers would be established, and a major expansion of the judicial system, in order to prosecute more of those behind the violence. Many of these methods have worked in the past, but lack of economic growth, and the nearby border, has made smuggling gangs powerful. The gangs tolerate, and often even encourage, the Islamic terrorism, so the gangs have to be brought down in order to deal with the Islamic terrorism. The gangs are resourceful and resilient, and not easy to take out. The gangs are backing the Islamic terrorists because the terror campaign against non-Moslems (who are more likely to support the government) and government officials (who resist the gangsters). So you don't just have a problem with Islamic radicals, but with powerful criminal gangs that are simply using the Islamic terrorists to reduce the level of law and order, making it easier for the gangs to make money.
June 8, 2006: In the south, five policemen were killed, and three wounded, by a bomb. The police were preparing to go protect teachers from terrorist attack.
June 7, 2006: Two soldiers, providing security for schoolteachers, were killed by Islamic terrorists. Schoolteachers are a prime target for Islamic terrorists, because they teach kids about freedom and other anti-Islamic ideas. The teachers also tend to be Buddhist.
June 5, 2006: In the south, a Moslem village chief was killed by Islamic terrorists, in order to force local leaders to work with the terrorists, not the government.
