THAILAND: AUTONOMY FOR MUSLIMS?

As Reliapundit posted here at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS on January 14, 2008, Thailand is another of the fronts in the global jihad.

According to this item in the February 13, 2008 edition of the Washington Post,

Thailand is considering granting partial autonomy to its Muslim-majority southern provinces, which for the past four years have been the scene of a radical Islamic insurgency, the new interior minister said Tuesday.

More than 2,900 people have been killed since early 2004 in nearly daily drive-by shootings and bombings in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand.

A recent escalation in violence presents a major challenge to Thailand's new government, which took office last week. Military and political measures imposed by previous governments had little success in curbing the violence.

While conceding that some degree of self-rule in the south "is a possibility," Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobambrung said independence for the region was out of the question.

Regional independence may be out of the question as far as the interior minister is concerned. But when Muslims are on the march, independence from the infidel government is what they have in mind and work toward as their goal. Granting jihadists "some degree of self-rule" will only serve to convince them that they are executing the will of Allah.