Royal Waste of Time
Today Mahinda had to go somewhere so Colombo had to stop. His convoy closed the road from Temple Trees to wherever not in stages but entirely, so the traffic at 4pm was snarled. I was trying to travel from Thumulla to Ward Place and the traffic just stopped. People got out of their cars, walked out of buses to see what was going on. Apparently King Mahinda had to go somewhere (presumably to congratulate himself on seeing one year ahead) and decided to close every road between here and there. This effectively shut Colombo down so his convoy could travel. Not only that, he has spent millions of rupees on billboards to his glory which we have to see when the traffic is moving. And Galle Road is closed in front of his house. And the A9, so they’re lacking food in Jaffna. Oh yeah, and 3,000 people have died.
One of the biggest daily troubles of the war is the traffic. Streets are closed and there are checkpoints everywhere. Somedays they’ll just decide to check every single car. There are barriers turning main roads into slalom courses. That I can stand, for security’s sake. What I cannot stand, however, are the VIPs, honking, waving gloved hands, going the wrong way and stopping traffic altogether. The tinted windows may have to go fuck something up immediately, but they show no consideration or respect for the citizens they serve. Mahinda is the worst case. He lives in Temple Trees, and now the road in front of his house is closed. That would be fine if it was, say, the President’s House, but Temple Trees is on Galle Road – the main thoroughfare. This means that downtown Colombo traffic is choked from four lanes to two.
Also, when Mahinda wants to go anywhere, he now shuts down the entire route between here and there. That means that we don’t get isolated disturbances as he passes through. It means that the President, in an act of Incompetism, shuts down all of Colombo. His path cuts through the heart of Colombo. Everyone else must stop while Mangala sprinkles rose petals and lays out the red carpet. This is at like 4 o’clock. If you have a heart attack or actual business you’re pretty much fucked. The President needs to go to a party in his honor, and Colombo can eat cake. He is traveling in procession like a king while the rest of the city grinds to a halt.
What I find even more nauseating is that I can’t go 10 meters without seeing his face. What actually makes me throw up in my mouth is that I, as a reluctant tax payer, am paying for everything. I think a billboard costs Rs 100,000. He’s bought two at the Cemetary junction alone, plus a hoarding. On the way from Colombo to Battaramulla I see Mahinda at least 12 times, I shit you not. That means he’s spent at least 1.2 million on that route alone. Meanwhile there’s no food in Jaffna. Makes me furious.
I understand that things are hard and there’s war (which restarted when Mahinda came to power). Maybe traffic does need to be messed up. However, perhaps this is not the time for Mahinda to congratulate himself, get feted on the national tab, and campaign on my tax dollar. I’m tired of seeing your grinning face while I’m stuck in traffic, watching my money inflate out of my pocket and hearing the daily death and horror toll on the radio. Stop grinning, stop looking pretty, stop choking my city and do something.
I recently wrote about gay marriage, which is not even on the radar in Sri Lanka. But we have another type of marriage discrimination here as well. Foreign marriage. If you marry someone non Sri Lankan, they can never become a citizen. Their lives and their rights to even be in the same country as their children are permanently unstable, and it’s patently unfair.
When 
I started off not really liking General Sarath Fonseka, him being part of the aggressive war effort. I didn’t support the war (largely cause I thought it would fail), and I thought Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Fonseka were gleefully stomping everything. Fonseka even came out and said “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people,” in 2008 (
General Sarath Fonseka was arrested on a bunch of trumped up charges, but mainly for daring to threaten Mahinda in a Presidential election. Despite his poor health, Fonseka was arrested in February 2010 and sentence to three years. Word on the street now, however, is that he’ll be released soon. Like any day now. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told 
What if he was assasinated? Then you wouldn’t be complaining about the traffic but writing a big article on the assasination. IMHO Mahinda is 100x better than Ranil (whom you seem to love and worship). You were spending all your time going on and on about the glories of the UNP, running it’s website and putting down everyone else. during the election. Seems like you still carry a chip on your shoulder.
Sad.
Leave the assasinated part out of it. This guy lives in the President’s house Fort. Has his office at Temple Trees. Closes the road as and when he pleases to go up and down people are stranded traffic cant move, people cant even walk till he passes. He chose to restart this war. He does not have a proper solution. All he says is we must discuss.
With all that he doesn’t give two hoots about the people. Let them burn on the streets. Hang their fuel costs. I have to go out right now…
Actually I think the LTTE seem to like him… They can play the merry devil with him at the top. So a bullet or a suicide bomber on him will be a waste….
And oh, sorry to burst your bubble the war never ended despite Ranil and PRabhakaran’s “ceasefire” agreement.
No because Chandrika scrapped the ISGA, dissolved parliament and prevented the PTOMs from being implemented. Then Mahinda barged like a bull in a china store and broke the ceasefire by capturing Smapur and Muhamalai in gross violation of the ceasefire agreemnet.
I did prefer Ranil, I think my biases are pretty obvious.
All I’m complaining about here is the traffic and the spend of public money on self-promotion. They’re fairly objective things, you can attack me personally or talk about them.
A typically Colombo-style article.
Yes…a typically Colombo styled article. I’m sure you’ll get a few more from Kandy and Galle when their towns shut down completely on Friday rush hour. When the President moves into the Galle Fort and takes over all the historic buildings there you’ll might just get a motherfucking article or two Galle styled.
This isn’t about Colombo being a value system. It’s about the commercial hub of a country coming to a literal grinding halt because of one man’s paranoia, insensitivity and lack of regard for a nation’s economy. I don’t have the time or resources to do a count of the man hours lost by yesterday’s traffic alone. But I can assure you it is colossal. What about people who miss their flights? When they bitch about it back in their countries does that make it a Colombo styled gripe?
There is something in the constitution about freedom of movement. Clearly that right is derogated by the Executive on a daily basis, and you people Decks and Fastidious are condoning it, and condemning someone for criticising it.
The war may not have ended when Ranil signed his ceasefire agreement, but people in Jaffna sure as hell were better off, not having to pay four figures for a kilo of rationed rice. People in Colombo sorted their shit out, people made meetings on time and investors and tourists were coming in. Surely the correlation between Mahinda’s election and the drop in the economic stability of this country doesn’t elude you?
Yes Indi is a Ranil supporter. He’s made no secret of his politics. But his criticism here is as valid as any independents. If you enjoy sitting in your car for three hours at absolutely no notice, then you’re people that can’t be argued with. The vast majority of us don’t. Mahinda may or may not be a bad chap. But he’s being an utter cunt with this traffic stunt.
when i need a lawyer I wll definitely call on you!
Brilliantly put! My sentiments EXACTLY!! The blatant disregard this grining man seems to have for all the people of this land (except for perhaps those in Hambantota) is preposterous. People are dying like flies in the NOrth and East, civilians are being abducted and some murdered, traffic jams caused by the incompetent lot at the helm, people starving in the North– and all he seems to do is grin like a bloody Cheshire cat.
US president Ulysses S Grant once given a speed ticket and a 20$ fine for riding too fast. Good old days. :-)
I’m not sure how they managed to do that, because the motor engine was invented after the said president had finished his term, and the motor car was invented after he was dead. However, I’m assuming you’re referring to his coach or something then. $20 must have been really steep in the 1870s
Yes – correct. He was riding his ‘Ferrari’ with live horses. With 4 – 6 real horse power I guess. :-)
Anyway do you know the speed our buggers drive now days? Do you know how many people they have killed so far? I know even before MR become president his entourage killed 2 pedestrians – and drive a way. That is their usual everyday life.
Once I witness this buggers (who ever in it) hit a cyclist (not the cyclist fault indeed) and then beat the cyclist front of a Cop at Rajagiriya Junction.
I don’t think this is MR’s fault.
This is part of a larger problem. It is our mobocratic political system and lost of Civics.
Well said, Sophist. Couldn’t have put it better!
Cheers!
Cheers mate. While you may not remember that the area in front of his house was also closed from 1996-2002, I agree with everything you said. Not looking forward to driving the streets of Colombo in Dec. Hey, maybe I’ll go shout about it to the people closing the roads, and get shot :) Wonder what the reaction of his will be then. Nah, but seriously, someone should drive it into his head that if he is to serve the masses then he must live like the masses.
Anyone considered the economics involved? say just 20000 motorists in COlombo delayed for 3 hours for this at an average rate of 300/- an hour (just an humble average mind you – if there are neuro surgeons or leading entrepreneurs in the queue the rate would obviously be more) a combined loss to the already pathetic economy of rs 18 M not to mention the smoke and pollution and stress which are unquantifiable .
Methinks a small scale terrorist attack could not cause that much economic damage, they probably rest on their laurels and let us wreck ourselves.
20 grand is a understatement.. faaar more than rs 18 million..
A idea to our dear president, he should buy himself a helicopter.. no seriosly… will make economic sense in the long run, besides he woudnt have to waste his precious time on the road, also A lot safer..
[...] indi.ca on traffic snarls in Colombo, partly due to the war and because Mahinda, the President thinks nothing of shutting down traffic on the streets when he has to get somewhere. “One of the biggest daily troubles of the war is the traffic. Streets are closed and there are checkpoints everywhere. Somedays they’ll just decide to check every single car.” Neha Viswanathan [...]
You will call it stupid if a leader gets blasted by lack of preventative measures & call him inconsiderate & a moron if he takes every conceivable precaution to stay alive.
Damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
So now, you pay your taxes in dollars? Wow!
Learn the civilised way mate, ie: respect your country’s leader regardless.
If your bulky money inflates out of your pocket, give a thought to the person with a paltry amount in his pocket.
Wave, simile called. It wants to give you a light tap on the head with a cluestick.
Tax dollar = Tax rupees, whatever
Money inflate out of my pocket = I think that’s a reference to inflation as in rising prices.
Then again, maybe indi does pay taxes in dollars. Who knows?
I agree about the damned if you do, damned if you don’t part though… but why travel on a rush hour Saturday? Especially if it involves closing main roads and bringing traffic to a standstill? I think that is a reasonable point to make.
I argue that El Prez may like to keep appointments at sane hours like the rest of us but he is most emphatically not an ordinary person. He cannot live “like the masses” because the security requirements of his position alone preclude such a possibility. I may not like him but I really have no wish to see someone blow themselves (and the president of SL) up because a throughfare wasn’t secured properly.
Sophist, freedom of movement does not imply that the government is obligated to provide you with a means of transport nor does freedom of movement guarantee when (ie: at what time) you will get there. If either of those qualifications exist in the constitution, I look forward to you quoting them chapter and verse. Not that I have major issues with what you said, but I think it’s worth pointing that out too. What is done in the name of security is inconvenient, probably inconsiderate and many other things but not unconstitutional :)
Tax dollars (cents, bundles of two thousand rupee notes) for promotion? He’s not the only one, nor is his the only party that does it. Doesn’t make it any better but since when were politicians in SL even remotely accountable for how they piss away tax money?
What are you wave ? jesus?
Sad times, folks. Looks like the country is being throttled by two mustachy honchos. ..makes you almost pine for the old Rogue Queen back again, don’ it?
Never in a thousand years, Scully.
Hey ghostwriter, what I implied by:
“If your bulky money inflates out of your pocket, give a thought to the person with a paltry amount in his pocket.‗——- Is……….. How hard hit the average Joe must be with his paltry amount evaporating faster than Indi’s few millions. I can see from his personal writings/photos in his blog, he is not short of the ‘dollar’
Anyway someone suggested the Prez take a chopper. Actually, that is not a bad idea. Feasible or not it’s worth a thought.
Wave, what does indi’s net worth have to do with his whinging about being stuck in traffic? Not sure what you’re objecting to. I’m sure he’s not rich enough to afford one of those hovercraft to skate over traffic. Then again, maybe he can. Who knows?
the LTTE has surface to air missiles. Not really an expert, but I’m reliably informed that shoulder mounted versions are in use and are reasonably accurate. Can we afford Black Hawks with IR suppression to ferry El Prez around? Heck, do we even have enough helicopters to support the troops? Or maybe we can secure every rooftop and vantage point within sight of the landing zone? I’m sure the people in Trans Asia would love being evacuated from the premises every time a chopper comes in to land in the AF base opposite.
Or would you rather they construct helipads on top of every building so that he spends no time on the road at all?
From my uninformed armchair expert standpoint, it seems like vehicles on the road may just be safer (a relative term) than a helicopter flight. We can hardly afford multiple helos with darkened windows to reduce the chances of a RPG/SAM hit. We can probably afford multiple cars/vans for that purpose, though.
Well, the VVIP Hueys the SLAF fly do have IR suppression (flares), but you’d need escorting Hinds to really make sure the prez is safe. Then, as suggested, every rooftop and building would have to be secured. Access roads to those said buildings closed. So instead of Galle Road, you’d have the entire area around the Beira shut down. Great plan.
DB: pedantically, flares are countermeasures, not suppression. The difference between an abortion and a condom, to be biological about it. Hawks supposedly have a lower IR profile which makes them much harder to target amongst urban sprawl.
A small digression where I demonstrated the size of my military hardware e-dick*. Carry on. Your point stands anyhoo.
*I think moderation swallowed up a naughty word last time. Maybe this comment will go through :)
It’s countermeasure when the flares are used in response to the firing of a missile or when an IR lock is detected. It’s suppression when the flares are fired routinely (as in a landing, when there’d be insufficient time between IR lock and missile detonation).
Black Hawks do have lower IR profiles than Hueys, yes.
Why don’t we let the LTTE test it out and see. There is nothing like a good parctical. You can use a dummy Mahinda if you want. Oops I meant a plastic look like.
Just because as you say “he is not short of the dollar” does not mean he is getting his money for free. Whether you’re earning a million rs per day or a hundred rupees per day it’s not unreasonable to expect your government to protect the money you earnt today from being worthless tomorrow, or the next week, next year, or even the next 10 years.
As for the chopper idea, what is the point thinking about it if it is not feasible? Maybe you have time to waste living off Daddy’s “dollar”, but some of us actually live on our own “dollar”. I bet you’re one of those people can reply to the “monavadha karanne machang” question with a trendy “nikang innawa bung”. So therefore, nikangma hitapang modaya!
FYI, I’m doing my taxes now and I’m not especially rich. I draw one steady salary and do freelance work for the rest. I am well below the US ‘dollar’ poverty line, but I can live pretty well here. I don’t have a car or buy petrol, which helps. Sadly, I don’t make anything near the millions alleged above.
On the broader point, I don’t think rich people need to be ashamed any more than poor people. We all have a right to comment, rich or poor. I think it’s deeply cynical to judge people based on income, in either direction.
More to the point, I think it’s OK for me to be offended that a public servant whose salary we pay is wasting our time and spending our tax ‘rupees’ advertising himself.
Most of the comments here are based as if we are on a stable economy, with tax ‘dollars’ invested towards, development, infrastructure etc. Therefore, we think we are justified in complaining & demanding. Although we can still do that alas, that is not the case. Bulk goes to the war chest, so the rest of the country’s needs have to take a back seat.
I did not mean anyone with an enviable income should feel guilty. No one should feel guilty of hard-earned money. Still shame & guilt are two different things imo. That was not the point I was making.
The point I was making was even if you are not making a few millions, still you are better off than the average Joe, and hence we should always have a thought for the much less fortunate & limit our whinging for our ‘little’ inconveniences. For the people who has no choice but to catch the public buses life is one hell of an inconvenience. Buses are not on time, even if it was, it would most likely be packed like a tin of sardines. Still they have to endure that daily. Train is no better.
I have travelled by public transport outside of the cmb metropolitan areas many a times just to see how the other half lives & it is a hard slosh to put it mildly.
To take on ‘curious yellow’ by the horn—- In fact, my daddy made me do that to have an understanding & appreciation of the spirit of the less fortunate.
You will see old (sometimes young) women have their few rupees tied in a knot in her handkerchief & carefully open it & count, before she pays.
Not so well-off people are inconvenienced every day of their life.
Curious Yellow, how charming!
I take the bus. I was in a trishaw when the traffic stopped. I’m not whining about Odel being out of stock or the stock market, I’m talking about traffic. That affects everyone.
I agree with you, about the stupid billboards.
[...] Just finished my taxes. Wonder where they went. One place is the Mahinda picture show all over Sri Lanka. Always glad to fund public masturbation. Another is the direct salary of parliamentarians. They recently got a pay hike may actually be a good thing. I honestly don’t think it’s high enough. How a MP can survive on Rs 22,000 is beyond me, so it’s no surprise they become corrupt. You cannot educate children and live a middle class life in Colombo for that amount, let alone campaign. Furthermore, MPs are also expected to attend numerous weddings and funerals and events and pony up money, so that salary wouldn’t last a week. According to a new act, their salaries are going up to 55,000, which still isn’t enough. They won’t be happy with 30,000 more in their paycheck when they can get 100,000 in cash, but what to do. [...]
This guy is wank, all said and done, and the worst thing is that no one will try to assassinate him because they know he is an idiot and they want a guy like this in power.
Ha, I love this article. Yes, if the red-scarved one took as much care and attention in getting food up the A9 it would be effort better spent. But I guess he’s never late for a dinner occasion, the bastard. My least favourite billboard is the one outside Rupavahini with him bending over some wide eyed child like some kind of hulking paedophile. Mahinda kissing babies to show what a great guy he is. It makes me want to bring up my breakfast every morning when I have to ride by it. I don’t know why we should respect our country’s leader if he’s a thieving cockhead of monumental proportions, or have you forgotten he had his fingers in the tsunami millions Wave? I don’t know why we have to have colombo come to a standstill just because he’s on the way to parliament or whatever. He’ll only get there and make more disastrous policy decisions that pull us further into the shit pit we’ve fallen into the last year. I
Wave if the LTTE wants to get you they will. Doesn’t matter how well you’re protected. But like some others seem to think it might just be a waste of time.
Aside from the actual ethnic conflict issues, not fucking up the city’s traffic just so you can ride somewhere is not a question of security it’s a question of governance. Last time I checked this country bore the tag of being a democracy, not a private play ground for one individual. Whether it is a functioning democracy or not is a debate for another time and another post, but the fact remains that is solely our unflinching acquiescence of this shoddy treatment by our so-called ‘leaders’ that has put them in this position of utter impunity.
If Mahinda were gunned down tomorrow, there’ll be a bit of a fracas and some retaliatory Kfir strikes, but the country will continue on its merry way. I’m not denying that the man may be a target and therefore needs protection. I’m only saying that the protection could be slightly self imposed and less in our faces.
More people than you realise that comment here still use the bus. I know Indi does and when I can I do too. And not just to figure out how the other half lives either. Imagine the ‘other half’ stewing next to their sweaty comrades in a bus with its windows closed cos of the rain standing there with no ventilation, friends or hope for upto three hours. They may suffer the inconvenience of having to take the bus home everyday, but they shouldn’t suffer the indignity of having a 45 min ride to Maharagama turn into a four hour one.
And he’s the poor man’s President.
Sophist, I’m going to have to go ahead and call some of your reply :) For the record, let it be known that I do travel by bus except when some of my friends take pity on me and give me lifts (if its germane to the conversation in any way that matters).
I have no idea about LTTE’s ability to “get” anyone if they wanted to; but call it 50-50 either way. If they were quite as omnipotent then they would have kicked our collective asses to the curb a long time ago. One thing that I can be sure of is that these security measures, inconvenient though they may be, reduce the chances of LTTE being successful at their murder and mayhem. Regardless of what the propaganda may have you believe, there are fewer people who would volunteer to have a pop at someone if they knew they couldn’t walk/run away from it alive.
If a criminal was determined enough, s/he could crack any safe. I haven’t noticed banks putting all their money out in plain view yet, however.
How does being a democracy prevent a country from becoming the playground of an individual? I could go on about the executive presidency blah blah but whatever. The majority in this country voted the man in. I don’t like it, perhaps you don’t either but even if Ranil were in this position I doubt people in charge of his security would have let him drive around without shutting down the roads. Make of that what you will. As I see it, there are plenty of people who complain about the traffic nightmare but compared to the issues that dominate elections; this is so minor as to not even be worth mentioning. Take a political party that you support. While they were in power, if they were responsible for the most godawful traffic snarls ever, would you switch your allegiance on that basis alone? No, I rather thought not.
I suppose the provocation for my response is found in this statement: “If Mahinda were gunned down tomorrow, there’ll be a bit of a fracas … but the country will continue on its merry way”. I may care even less than you do
about the fate of MR but did you just seriously say, sans hyperbole, that the president of your country could get gunned down and we’d go on our merry way? I have little or no respect for politicians of any colour myself but wow, just wow. I see the hints of sociopathy if being stuck in traffic for 4 hours is sufficient to make you that uncaring of another person’s fate. Put another way, how is your statement better than the nutters who howl “kill all the tamils because they’re really terrorists. we would just go on our merry way regardless”?
If the bloody LTTE decided to stop blowing people up because “they really wanted to”, we’d have no more traffic jams either. I remember the time when prominent people (regrettably some of those were politicians) were getting blown up and gunned down in droves. Do you seriously advocate a return to those days? I can’t see the “no, the LTTE doesn’t really want to kill me, I’m a good guy” line of security precautions catching hold any time soon.
Yeah, El Prez is probably being inconsiderate and treating the streets of Colombo like his personal playpen. Vote him out on that basis. Vote him out if you think he’s not doing a good job (he probably isn’t). Vote him out if you think the other guy is better (I’m no longer so sure myself but maybe you can see things that I can’t) but am I that mistaken in asking for some perspective?
I just remembered the last time this happened. I was on my way to a meeting on the 177 when the traffic got completely choked. Mahinda was using state-owned buses to bring in people to a rally. I had no idea, I just new that I had a meeting and when I got to Rajagiriya the traffic completely stopped. The bus went this way and that and finally, about an hour later, I just got off on Baudhaloka (where we’d detoured) and walked. I normally don’t mind the bus, but when it’s not moving there’s no airflow and it’s just too damn hot. Nobody could make that meeting so business just stopped that day.
Which is to say, Mahinda has a pattern of abusing both public money and time. That post was called Territorial Pissings
Ghostwriter….Oh dear. I don’t expect this from you, I really don’t. But then again, as you say – what do I know?
Yes. The criminals might be deterred from a potential crime given the fact that they can no longer (we hope) walk away from it alive. However, the LTTE suicide cadres haven’t been walking away from many of their assignments alive now have they? I think it’s the very essence of the success of their mission that they don’t. If a suicide cadre wanted to rob a bank he could. There just wouldn’t be any point because he’s dead. Crimes which are – for lack of a better word – normal, can be contained via intelligent security measures. But if somone is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, I doubt the cop waving pedestrians off the pavement will make a difference. Your comparison of normal crime to this particular brand of attack is void ab initio and I’m surprised you even made it.
Another thing is this assumption that several people tend to make that Colombo will be a burning pyre of civilians if not for the checkpoints. What made all of us masters of LTTE strategy? What gives us the right to assume that they’d be attacking will nilly if not for the prevailing security? The LTTE are far from stupid. Their attacks if any will be coordinated and serve a purpose. The lack thereof should not be assumed to be inability to launch the same.
“How does being a democracy prevent a country from becoming the playground of an individual?”
Look up the word democracy. It might help you to deconstruct and appreciate the stupidity of that question.
You’re right in one thing though. I won’t shift my allegiances based on a traffic snarl. I will however, shift my allegiances based on abuse of public funds, unmitigated degradation of the economy, cock eyed airport plans in my party leader’s home town, a return to war in complete disregard for previous peace moves, the party leader’s brother running defence, employment of goons and thugs in places of authority and importance, rising taxes making an honest living almost seem futile, breakdown of the rule of law AND a motherfucking traffic snarl. On those – I would shift my allegiances. You may argue saying it’s six of one and half a dozen of another – but I make the call on who I support. I honestly don’t think things have been this bad…ever.
My statement that irked you war an attempt to show the disproportionality of the measures taken to protect Mahinda. If he dies there will still be an economy, foreign investment and a tourist trade – all of which are absolute necessities for the existence of millions of bread winners and their families. I doubt one man’s, ANY man’s life is worth such a sacrifice by so many. Especially when alternatives exist. Must he go for all the dinner parties and funerals and randombirdshaggings? Must he address some random students in an insignificant school in India? WTF? Prioritise you fuck – there’s a war on.
I still don’t see how my attempt to show the disporportionality of extent of security can equate to a clarion call for the killing of all Tamils – a strategy I have vehemently opposed at all times in the recent past. It really is quite fantastic how you made that link.
Like you – some perspective is all I am asking for. Is it fair for tens of thousands of people to miss appointments, meetings, deadlines etc, based purely on one man’s indiscriminate travellings. People should go see HIM – he’s the most important fucker there is. If a heart patient on his way to hospital died in that traffic jam – tell his family to have some perspective mate.
Heh :) Ok, Sophist. Point by point. Security measures by themselves are never going to be completely effective at preventing a crime. As other countries are discovering for themselves, suicide bombers are the hardest to stop. You argue that suicide bombers are completely unstoppable. By this you detract from the established norms of security practice (establish a perimeter, secure vantage points, patrol routes to break up any offensive buildup and most importantly, introduce an element of randomness to exposure by the intended target) in thwarting suicide bombers. I called it 50-50 either way and I stand by that till I have proof to the contrary. My point is simple. Maybe the LTTE are biding their time. Maybe they’ve been incapable of striking at a meaningful target. Maybe both of those are true for different targets of their choice. It doesn’t matter. Security measures cannot stop because there are suicide bombers about and cops waving at pedestrians aren’t an effective deterrent. That ineffectual deterrent may well be the difference between someone being held up as monumentally incompetent in suicide bomber school vs “he died blowing his target to pieces”.
My comparison with normal crime was precisely in the deterrent aspect. Safes, as are cops waving at pedestrians, are ineffective by themselves in the prevention of crime. However, no security outfit relies on a single layer to prevent breaches. Regardless of the method by which your target is going to be hit, putting more layers (bodies, walls, vehicles, whatever) between yourself and a bomber increases your chances of keeping your target safe. That was my point. Banks don’t just use safes for security and the presidential security chaps don’t just use a cop every 10m on the pavement for security.
Who said anything about checkpoints? Again, the deterrent aspect and the strategy of layered security applies, in my humble opinion. I made no assumptions about Colombo being (or not being) a burning pyre of civilians. It’s much harder (near impossible) to prevent random attacks against civilians. I have no dispute with your claims that the LTTE is in the master class at hitting civvy targets, though. My concern (from a hypothetical point of view) was the prevention of yet another propaganda victory by allowing the LTTE to blow El Prez up.
About whom you support? That’s completely your call. I make the same call, but perhaps for slightly different (as in less recent) reasons. I may detest El Prez and his ham handed activities, but I will never (ever) call for more than him being voted out of office, preferably in a landslide. My point there was to say that yes, we may whinge about the traffic. Indi talks about the misuse of public funds. I would contend that misuse of public funds is a more heinous crime than stopping traffic because, as I pointed out, it’s unlikely that any other party in power will allow their leaders to take the “the LTTE loves me, I’m a good guy. No bristling armed presence for me” attitude to security.
Disproportionality of security wasn’t my equation to killing all Tamils. Your comment about “Mahinda could be gunned down tomorrow and we would go on our merry way” was. Quite apart from quoting Stalin about death and statistics, what’s the difference between saying that no one would care if El Prez bought the farm vs saying some people were killed off on the basis of their ethnicity? In either case, Sophist, the economy would still function would it not? Reductio ad absurdum?
It’s not fair for thousands to miss appointments, to be stuck in traffic and put to inconvenience. I completely agree. But does he warrant “If Mahinda were gunned down tomorrow, there’ll be a bit of a fracas and some retaliatory Kfir strikes, but the country will continue on its merry way”? No. Sorry, in my opinion he does not. To jump from overzealous and inconsiderate security practices to “no one would give a shit if he died” is a leap too far for me, hence my call for some perspective. MR’s performance is best (and only) left judged in a polling booth.
i think we should all write a letter to the president and urge him to use a helicopter for his own safety, ‘cos it sounds like if the tigers don’t get him, one of you will : )
indi, if you think traffic is bad now, you should have been here under ms.k’s rule. that is what i would call seriously fucked up.
can i just ask though, why everyone gets so personal in these discussions? i’m not talking about just this post, i’m talking in general. i’ve always been led to understand that objective discussions happen here, and i’ve been reading through quite a few of them when i get the chance, and you guys seem to spend an awful lot of time slagging each other off, and getting all defensive etc. which means there’s a lot of crap to sift through when reading your comments. which is a bit of a turn off.
like why is it necessary to harrass indi for not being poor, and why then is it necessary for indi to deny being a millionaire and announce that he travels by bus or whatever? i thought the point of these forums was to engage in rational, constructive debate instead of the insane ranting, raving and mud-slinging that happens in our parliament. isn’t the whole point to establish an alternative to that mire of uncivilised buffoonery?
indi and i had a conversation once, where he assured me that everyone online is far more intellectual, rational and articulate than those who are not. i disagreed. and after checking out all the political discussions more and more …i still dasn’t agree : )
should i take cover now?
Will El Prez listen? It could all be a cunning plan to get him off the streets :)
Whoever told you that there was more intellectual discussion online was probably smoking something nasty and hallucinogenic. Not to say intellectual conversations don’t happen online but flashpoint topics like politics bring out the worst – anonymous commentors like yours truly.
I love this comic to explain why it’s more prevalent online than in real life. What I find strange (call it interesting) is that if there is any attempt at moderating or otherwise exercising editorial control over comments – the entire discussion gets transformed into a demonstration of groupthink.
Oh, and your plays suck!!!!!! (they don’t but that was the obligatory personal insult)
heh. is ok to slag off my plays. i don’t believe you anyway : )
er…please explain ‘demonstration of groupthink’?
Groupthink happens when a group of people are trying to make a choice about something and instead of choosing what they actually want, they try to choose what they think everyone else wants. It can lead to some truly shit decisions.
Like say there are 5 people, and you’re deciding on where to go for a night out. The choices are say, the blue, cascades and colombo 2000. Say 3 people would rather go to cascades and 2 would rather go to blue, but none want to go to col 2k. The first person doesn’t want to push their agenda, but they think, “hey, maybe everyone else would want to go to col 2k, so I’ll say that!”, so they say it and everyone else agrees for the same reason. They then go to col 2k and spend the rest of the night thinking “this place is so shit, why on earth does everyone else want to go here?”.
Many a night in SL is ruined by groupthink.
lol, i geddit.
[...] In this case Mahinda is pretty directly responsible for inflation, increasing the size of government and borrowing 100 billion rupees (1 billion dollars, wtf) from the Central Bank. So, the government prints money to wipe its ass and we get the bill. Meanwhile, I get to see 100 billboards that I paid for while Mahinda’s convoy flicks me off in traffic. Fantastic. [...]
“(presumably to congratulate himself on seeing one year ahead) “LoL
Yesterday (8th Dec) Mrs Rajapakse decided to watch the 7pm play at the Lionel Wendt and the surrounding roads near the wendt were closed.I spent more than an hour trying to get to Bamba.I heard the people at the play were not allowed to use their mobile phones inside the wendt. Everyone entering were given an over-zealous body search…The colombo traffick jams are crazy.Maybe the President and his wife should either stay home all the time and let us get on with our lives or just move out of Colombo.
There’s no point telling them to stay at home, as the prez needs to move around to do his job. Where the blame needs to be placed is on his security aparatus. When the outer ‘soft’ perimeter of intelligence, signal interception, surveillance, and other operations are not satisfactory, the ‘hard’ inner perimeter has to be iron-clad. The attack on the defsec clearly shows that if a terrorist is allowed to use a forged ID to purchase a trishaw and get that close, then the last line has to give its life. Telling the prez to stay at home is unrealistic. Calling for smarter security measures isn’t.
Oh, and btw, as far as I know, you can’t use your mobile phone during a play anywhere in the world. The first lady being there has nothing to do with it.
People were rudely told to switch the phone off as they were entering the Wendt,even if it was half an hour before the show started.Can’t you text during the show?Do they do that in other countries too?I haven’t been to plays overseas.
Well rudeness aside, you are certainly asked to switch off your phones both here and overseas. I suppose you could very well sms as long as your phone is on silent. And I guess you could’ve done that at the Wendt too.
DB: the ID card may not have been forged. Might be a figment of imagination though, since they have no further links to back up the claim – impossible to verify.
Even with better sigint and intelligence in general, I can’t see El Prez’s wife getting anything less than iron clad inner perimeter security in any case. The laxity or otherwise of security precautions is (presumably) based on the threat model, not on the amount of information and/or training of the detail.
Lithium: Aren’t there signs posted on the doors and near the entrances in the Wendt asking you to switch off your mobile phones? If you went to see a SLM production and you were unfortunate enough to be in the balcony seats, you may have even encountered the famed balcony police, the guardians of proper drama viewing etiquette installed by the production company :) Yes, they’re rude but the idiots making a public performance of their favorite ringtone aren’t exactly polite either.
“The laxity or otherwise of security precautions is (presumably) based on the threat model, not on the amount of information and/or training of the detail.”
Don’t follow. Can you explain?
As I understand it, the amount of precautionary measures taken are not based on the strength (or lack thereof) of the surveilling, intelligence and sigint techniques available. Instead, the detail is organized around the threat model.
The threat model consists of the possible attack vectors (car bomb, sniper, hit squad) and the relative value of the target (minor MP vs Def Sec/El Prez). It is almost always constrained by the amount of manpower available. In enclosed public spaces such as the Wendt, the chances of an attacker getting close to the target would always be high, therefore the inner perimeter will always be on high alert. In theory at least *shrug*.
Have you (as a soldier) staked your life on the meagre sigint you received being complete? I’d suspect the answer is no. Even if the SL surveilling techniques and intelligence became drastically better, the inner perimeter would still be secured as tightly as it is today.
Have to disagree here. Close in security is managed according to the threat model, yes. But that threat model is developed through intelligence. It is when your intelligence services are untrustworthy that you need to put all your defences in the inner perimeter. For example, when Bush gives a public speech, you don’t see bodyguaards staanding around him the way you do with our prez and PM. The reason is that int (the outer perimeter) has already assessed and neutralized certain threats.
If you feel your int is meagre, then you have to hide behind your shield. The idea is to ensure the int is adequate. Which was my original point.
And the target doesn’t need to entrust his life to the int. He needs to entrust it to his head of security. In fact, the target should know nothing about his security arrangements. It’s upto his head of security to manage the details. Whether the latter relies on int or relies on a close protection detail is upto him. The smart way (as in any defense) has to be layered.
I don’t necessarily disagree, but Reagan in 1981 wasn’t predicted by int. Nor was JFK. The target (or as you rightly point out, the head of security) makes certain tradeoffs between the credibility of potential threats versus the security/convenience equation. For SL, even if int were at a much higher level I cannot imagine how close-in security would ever be relaxed. It’s just too easy to infiltrate and get a shot off in Colombo. Intelligence is and always will be fallible and incomplete.
It’s also arguably easier for the Americans to secure their perimeter than for the Sri Lankans to secure theirs… Besides, haven’t you seen the Secret Service guys in sunglasses and earpieces run beside the limo?
Our last successful presidential assassination was in 1993. We’ve had at least one attempt since. The streets of DC have got to be safer than the streets of Colombo :)
You know as well as I that clustering people around a target only helps if there isn’t shrapnel or an automatic weapon in the equation. I’d call that a “oh, look. I’m under threat of assassination” signboard for everyone as much as a protective detail.
Well, the Secret Service guys alongside the limo is just for show too. Anyone going for that limo would be using aan anti-armour weapon.
My point is in countries where there is faith in the outer perimeter (US, UK, Israel), there is a lesser visible presence. Int is never infallible, obviously, but in the above mentioned countries, the VIP security services have their own int ops, which I’m not sure we do. When you have your own int aparatus under your control, faith in it is proportionately higher. If the US Secret Service had to rely on the FBI, NSA, or CIA for its int, they’d have a harder perimeter too.
As for the DC streets being safer, well, we thought so, didn’t we, before 9/11?
Whether the PSD will ever rely on int as an outer perimeter is another matter, but my point was that with good int the rigidity of the close protection measures can be lessened.
Well, the Secret Service guys alongside the limo is just for show too. Anyone going for that limo would be using aan anti-armour weapon.
My point is in countries where there is faith in the outer perimeter (US, UK, Israel), there is a lesser visible presence. Int is never infallible, obviously, but in the above mentioned countries, the VIP security services have their own int ops, which I’m not sure we do. When you have your own int aparatus under your control, faith in it is proportionately higher. If the US Secret Service had to rely on the FBI, NSA, or CIA for its int, they’d have a harder perimeter too.
As for the DC streets being safer, well, we thought so, didn’t we, before 9/11?
Dear indi, I just saw yur comment on the article: I read this in teh Tamil week.
“I understand that things are hard and there’s war (which restarted when Mahinda came to power). ” Without any disrespect I just would like to say you need to read more about the history of the conflict. Mahinda did not restart this war. It was there when he came to power. Tigers rightly or wrongly (without judging them) started killing way before Mahinda stepped in. From Muthalif, Kadir to mine attcks on soldiers. When Mahinda came to power it (war) just intensified. I know e from the elite class in Colombo Mahinda only get criticism. Traffic problems to be expected if there are suicide bombers. Don’t you think so?
Ajith
Ranil : Hey Indi, can you get Mahinda to reduce his security?, then VP will blow him up and I could be the Prez!
Indi : I’ll try my best boss
Ranil : That’s my boy
:)
It’s all about balance. For the war to be prosecuted properly, there must be some way to pay the bills: the economy must function. People like Mahinda and Chandrika never met payroll and have no understanding of the importance of the economy. Everytime some CYA [cover your ass] cop says close a road; they say yes.
The roads get clogged; the economy suffers; some idiot sitting in Australia who doesn’t have to deal with any of it and who doesn’t even understand the rules of succession in the Constitution gets another opportunity to exhibit his pig-headed ignorance. Just Mal, join the crazy lady Hanson’s party or something and let Sri Lanka be.
Defense against terrorism is tough. They have to succeed once, while the defenders have to succeed all the time. Simply closing all roads won’t do it on a long-term basis. They did that on February 4th, 1998, the 50th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence. It was a celebration of the graveyard. That’s what we ‘re heading toward with this bunch of incompetents running the country.
A heavy bout of procrastination has led me back here after all these months and boy, don’t I love the way some people go off on a tangent! (I mean Sophist, who’s blown it off his chest at me, and poor me didn’t see it all these months…tsk, tsk, tsk). Anyway, there’s little doubt that the traffic congestion paralyses the financial heartland – and I’ve blogged plenty on the inept security policies of the MR regime – but despite the truth behind the wider meaning/implications of what the post highlights, one cannot deny the language used – “One of the biggest daily troubles of the war is the traffic.” Really? Laughably Colombo speak! I get your drift though, Indy.
Ahhhh, one must have a laugh every now and then, hey?