Militants remain committed to terrorising the South while the govt only succeeds in spurring them on. Two years ago today, scores of armed men stormed an Army battalion in Narathiwat, making off with some 300 pieces of weaponry after killing four soldiers, two of them by slitting their throats. Despite attacks and ambushes being reported as far back as December 2001, it was not until this raid on January 4, 2004, that our national leaders finally acknowledged the country had an insurgency on its hands.

STOPPAGE TIME: PM pledging to be calmer? Oh no, not again

I have learned my lesson and am not going to get over-excited this time. The previous time Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed his willingness to tolerate criticism, all hell broke loose in the days that followed. The pattern has become so obvious – whenever he promises to “cool down”, the extreme opposite tends to happen.

Nuclear weapons and zealotry a dangerous mix

With negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme looming once again, understanding Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is critically important. Perhaps the best place to start is the moment the world first gained a glimpse of Ahmadinejad’s character and hard-line programme.