Why was a military coup necessary? Why is it imperative to suspend civil liberties and suppress dissenting opinion? And more pertinently, why is purging and excommunicating Thaksin and his minions the panacea for all society's illnesses? The success or failure of this military coup, once history is written, will hinge on the last question.
The junta's honeymoon period has begun in earnest. But as Winston Churchill put it, this is only "the end of the beginning". The road ahead will be as tedious as negotiating your way through a vast minefield completely blindfolded, armed only with a shoddy metal detector supplied by the lowest bidder.