(2 of 2)
It was Surayud who ensnared the boys, engaging a group of Karen elders to persuade God's Army to talk to the government, slowly building contacts between the two sides. The strategy seemed to be working, until New Year's Eve when the rebels got into a dispute with a group of drunken Thai villagers and opened fire. The slaying of the six Thais was the death knell for God's Army. The Thai public demanded retribution. A combined force of soldiers, police and border-patrol units cut off the rebels' supply routes to Thailand, hoping to starve them out. Though the guerrillas managed to slip through the net, hunting deer and monkeys for food, the mood among them had changed. A Burmese army unit was less than three miles away, suggesting that the government in Rangoon might be planning to hit the Karen hard. The noose was tightening. The rebels did not want to be killed by the Burmese but did not know whether to trust the Thais. With coaxing from the elders, the boys decided to try. The slow walk to Thailand, however, was a long leap of faith.
Johnny and Luther will most probably be allowed to live with their mother, who has been residing in a Thai refugee camp, Thai authorities said. Meanwhile, not all of God's Army have been cast down from the mountain. About 30 rebels still roam the jungle. Refugees still walk over the border and hide in Burma's forests, fleeing Rangoon's soldiers. Some Karen refuse to believe the twins are finished. They say the boys will grow strong again and return to vanquish their foes. The Karen are a people still in need of a savior. And so in the mist-covered mountains of the Thai-Burma border, many will be praying for the second coming of Johnny and Luther Htoo.