SEH DAENG

The one thing I mostly despise is violence, especially State organized violence. And the Army is the obvious incarnation of it (should I add the oddity of ranks, orders to be followed without personal discrimination, and so on?). And war, to cite Bertrand Russel again, "does not show who is right, only who is left".
But on a personal point of view, I admire people that stand their ideas, whatever these ideas are, even if they are opposite to mine.
General Seh Daeng was shot last night, almost certainly by an Army sniper that received orders to decapitate the Red Shirts military wing. This man, who spent his life believing in force, violence, military strategies (he even proposed to bombard opponents with poisonous snakes!) made the mistake to choose the rebels side and was finally "terminated" by his own side: the Army. That same Army that has shown an incredible level of incapacity on the ground and has even refused to follow (fortunately!) the Government orders to crackdown the protesters.
I last sow him a couple of days ago, training a group of would be militia armed with bamboo sticks to go inspecting the barricade he had designed. He went with them in the open ground and when he faced the police, that was supposed to arrest him, was yes surrounded but by policemen that were asking for his autograph and taking pictures with him.
General Seh Daeng was not a nice man, but he was the only military man on the scene.
The situation is on the brink of tragedy. The Red Shirts leaders are divided and have no real control. Large posters announce a non-violent movement, but from the stage they promise to "fight" not to "resist" until the end. And they have arms. And they are now completely surrounded by the Army. Gandhi would disagree on the whole strategy: but this is not British India.