Posted on 12/03/2004 9:21:41 PM PST by FreedomCalls
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thai school children and air force recruits have loaded an estimated 100 million origami birds onto military transport planes in preparation for a "peace bombing" of the violent Muslim south of the country.
The little pieces of folded paper, to be dropped from the air on Sunday to mark the birthday of Thailand's revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, are meant to sow peace, harmony and goodwill in the three southernmost provinces, where an 11-month insurgency has claimed nearly 500 lives.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose government has struggled to get to the root of the violence, has defended his paper-bird scheme against opponents who say the government is just dumping 48 plane-loads of rubbish.
"Don't criticise against the wishes of the majority of Thais," Thaksin told Reuters on Friday at a sending off ceremony for the paper birds at Bangkok's military airport.
The birds, folded out of everything from bank notes to plastic sheets, covered the floor of an aircraft hangar to a depth of more than two metres (7 feet).
Ceremony organiser Group Captain Chakrapong Homkrailas put the number of birds at 100 million.
"I think this is some sort of world record," Chakrapong said, as ant-like columns of recruits and children carried thousands of plastic sacks across the airport tarmac and into the bellies of five Hercules C-130 military transport planes.
Some people in the mainly Muslim deep south, which has a century-long history of ethnic and religious hostility towards the largely Buddhist administration in Bangkok, question the symbolism behind the gesture.
In 1948, the Thai air force was called in to bomb parts of the south along the border with Malaysia to quell a rumbling Muslim separatist insurgency.
"The paper birds are not a traditional symbol for us," said leader of Abdullaham Abdulsamad of the Narathiwat Islamic Council. "It's a different culture. Our people do not understand what the birds stand for.
Thaksin's initial intention was to drop 62 million paper cranes, one for every person in the country. A media blitz, which included a cabinet meeting to teach ministers how to fold the birds, sparked origami fever the length and breadth of the land.
The birds will be flown to the provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani in Thailand's south, where they will be loaded onto 48 smaller planes for dispersal.
Whatever the differences between Thai Buddhists and southern Thai Muslims, who are ethnic Malay and speak a Malay dialect, someone will have to clean up tonnes of paper afterwards.
Royal Thai air force privates have a look at one of the millions of paper birds the airforce is transporting from a hanger to planes in Bangkok. Bags full of the origami cranes, made all-over Thailand, are scheduled to be air-dropped in the Muslim majority southern Thailand on December 5, as part of a government campaign to promote peace in the restive south where nearly 500 have died this year.
"This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our US Armed Forces?" Miller exclaimed. "Armed with what? Spitballs?"
Is this a Yoko Ono idea?
Drop real bombs on the Mohammedan barbarians.
GOD. When will the civilized world wake up?
I'm quite sure that this is not the best way to deal with Muslim militants in your country. Bush's approach is better.
Right idea. Wrong bombs.
Maybe they're laced with Anthrax. Either that or their prime minister is certifiably insane.
Right Bomb = Neutron Bomb
Kum Bai Yah, my Budah, Kum Bai Yah.
"We will impress them with the might of our cardboard tanks next!"
They're gonna need more firepower than this. But at least they realize there's a problem.
This is good. The next bomb that goes off in a train station will be utter proof, for now and ever, that Chamberlainesque appeasement of evil will only lead to the death of innocents.
Wait, never mind, history is lost on the witless left.
Atomic bombs, neutron bombs, hydrogen bombs, napalm bombs, pig grease bombs, or even plasma bombs if we could devolop them would be the right stuff but "paper crane bombs"!!!!????!!!!????
Its a good idea
It says to the insane murderous gouls "We can drop anything on you we want to"
Don't let this fool you. The Thai approach to dealing with Muslim insurgents in the past has been much more harsh then the Bush approach.
Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train
Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you
Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true
Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
what's a CME please?
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