Military Theatre
The latest ride in the Wanni Disneyland
Woke up last night to hear that the LTTE had attacked the airport. Thinking it was the commercial airport I slept terribly. It was, however, an attack by a few light aircraft on the military airport, situated nearby. That nuance, however, is probably lost in the immediate media and the tourism sector is likely to take a hit. Cathay Pacific has already suspended flights. The attack, however, is almost meaningless in a military sense. Like most of the LTTE’s recent attacks, it’s simply to prove a point, not for any tangible gain. They staged a futile sea attack on Galle (in the South), were repulsed in a few boats at Colombo Port, and now they’ve attacked the airport. None of the attacks caused much damage or killed many people, but they seem to be simply communicative. Terrorism is fundamentally about communication, and the LTTE is – out of impotence or design – resorting to the most minimalist terrorism I’ve ever seen.
When I say terrorism as communication, I mean that terrorists don’t usually occupy land as much as media. Al Qaeda didn’t start any occupation of New York with 9/11, but they have occupied the media from Fox News to clerical mix-tapes ever since. Not that terrorist goals aren’t intrinsically related to land. Robert Pape of the University of Chicago did an interesting meta-analysis on global terrorism, described in the Times Op-Ed.
Over the past two years, I have compiled a database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 through 2003 – 315 in all. This includes every episode in which at least one terrorist killed himself or herself while trying to kill others, but excludes attacks authorized by a national government (like those by North Korean agents against South Korea). The data show that there is far less of a connection between suicide terrorism and religious fundamentalism than most people think.
The leading instigator of suicide attacks is the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a Marxist-Leninist group whose members are from Hindu families but who are adamantly opposed to religion. This group committed 76 of the 315 incidents, more than Hamas (54) or Islamic Jihad (27). Even among Muslims, secular groups like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al Aksa Martyr Brigades account for more than a third of suicide attacks.
What nearly all suicide terrorist attacks actually have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland. Religion is often used as a tool by terrorist organizations in recruiting and in seeking aid from abroad, but is rarely the root cause.
Now, assuming that the LTTE wants land – which they pretty much say they want – you have to wonder how they get it. There’s the political route, but that was judged a failure after 25 years. Judged basically by Prabhakaran in the end, but there is a lot of disappointment. Then, in a somewhat immature media environment there was the stark brutality that carried via worth of mouth and sheer insistent horror – the Central Bank bombing, the Temple of the Tooth bombing, the murder of monks and worshipers in Anuradhapura. Not to mention the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Premadasa, etc. Big targets, and also big destruction.
Lately the LTTE still has big targets, but they don’t really destroy anything. They killed Kadirgamar, but assassination attempts on the Pakistani envoy and Defence Minister failed. They reached Galle via sea, but didn’t really blow up anything. They failed to reach the port, and now they’ve hit the military airport – but not very hard. The Temple of the Tooth and Central Bank bombings were literally trucks full of explosives. The temple bombing caused extensive damage and shattered the stained glass in a nearby church. In the Central Bank blast there were bloodied office workers running away from the scene. By contrast, the recent air attack is just dropping a couple bombs and leaving. There were at least two airmen killed and 17 wounded. Reports are that two helicopters were damaged. This in stark contrast to the last airport attack, in which
Tamil Tiger rebels entered the airbase on July 24, 2001 and destroyed more than a dozen military aircraft and then attacked six civilian aircraft parked at the civilian airport before detonating explosives strapped to their bodies. About 20 people were killed in that attack but passengers at the international airport were not affected. (LBO)
It still gets media coverage, it still hurts tourism, and it’s still a black eye for GoSL. It is not, however, a very successful military mission. It gets the LTTE some press, some morale, but it doesn’t really slow down the Sri Lankan Air Force. It’s almost a proof of concept more than a real attack. It’s as if the Japanese flew to Pearl Harbor, destroyed the canteen and left. It proves that the LTTE can operate planes into Colombo, but it doesn’t have any military content besides. Perhaps they’re getting more mature at producing military theatre for the media, or perhaps they’re impotent. Regardless, it flies in the media. The question is whether this bird can actually land.
Can’t take it hey?
Well from my point of view this was the Tamileelam Air Force’s (TAF) maiden flight and it had to be sucessful i.e not crash or get shot down. Even if the plane(s) flew to Colombo dropped a fire cracker in Mahinda’s bum and returned to the Vanni it would still have been a victory for not being detected by Radar, not being shot down, flying to the correct target and identifying the target in the night, then sucessfully returning to base unscathed. This attack was supposed to be symbolical. Don’t you get it? The Tamils on the fence in Sri Lanka, abroad and in India have chosen, which side to be on now. Moral is high and it doesn’t matter if a TAF plane crashes or gets shot down in the future, because we in Tamil Eelam have the initiative now. This is one more giant step towards Tamil Eelam.
Indi from the gist of your article it seems like you are actually asking for it.
If the Tigers wanted massive body counts they would have done it. In July 1996 they overan Mullaitivu army base killing 1439 soldires in a 24hr battle just to prove that they were not beaten after they left Jaffna. In April 2000 they caused 17 000 soldiers to withdraw from Elephant pass killing hundreds. That was not what they inteneded here. The Sri Lanka army has been huffing and puffing in its nearly one year long campaign and yet not once did they make headlines around the world. The Tigers fly a novelty test flight into Colombo to say Hello and they make headlines.
Considering that the whole plane was put together in the Vanni and probably test flown, as well as the fact that the LTTE have managed to maintain a secret runway shows how effective the SLAF and MI have been in doing their job.
In 1993 the Sea Tigers were established with three shallow water jetcraft. Today they have ocean going capabilities and have sunk several SLN vessels in marine battles against upto 25 SLN vessels, Mi24 helicopter gunships, MIG and Kfir fighter jets while tanks and artillery fire at them from the coast. In Nov 2006 the BBC quoted a SL defence official as saying “they (Sea Tigers) have been hammering the navy”, so there is the evidence from the horses mouth.
Imagine what TAF would be like in a few years time. Hey maybe in a decades time TamilNet might be hosting pics of the Tigers landing a man on the moon (for real this time). LOL
Hi Jey,
You say it’s a successful mission.. ah? Did you read what tamilnet published on this?.. can’t be. They said, they wanted to attack SLAF air crafts – not to just fly in the Colombo sky [just flying in the Colombo sky is a childish thought - wonder what age you are].
You had some nice numbers to present.. Poh.. where in the earth you got those… still dreaming ah..? Time to wake up dear brother… thousands of your LTTE fellows dying in north-east. Do they deserve death? No they don’t – but… your beloved leader – the killer – the blood lover – Prabhakaran wants to see them dying. How many innocent school children being recruited to LTTE as child soldiers… you talk about a Tamil Elam… Poh… you never even let your children study freely – need not to mention Prabhakaran’s children study in foreign colleges.
Be honest dear friend… Prabhakaran is sick.. he is a mental patient. Don’t let him use people like you and thousands of innocent Tamils to spread his message.
You people believe LTTE is the only leader of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Tell me why Karuna separated? You have no democracy in your group – so how come you speak for innocent Tamils.
You dream about going to moon in a decade’s time… but I doubt whether LTTE could exist another year.
There is no point in even responding to your silly arguments. You people and your racist armed forces are useless. You couldn’t even scramble one plane or helicopter to chase our pilots. Sleeping on the job or just plain scared I guess. Do you really know how many planes were actually damaged? Your SL papers are saying that the govt is blacking up everthing.
Anyway all your chat about LTTE and our national leader is drivel that your govt brainwashed you with.
When will you realise your govt is lying to you through their teeth?
Last year the govt said it had bombed LTTE airstrip so what did the LTTE use this time? Think.
In 1995 Chandrika and Ratwatte captured Jaffna and said that only a fifth of the LTTE remained and the war will be over in a month yet the LTTE killed 1439 troops at Mullaitivu base in 24 hrs of fighting in July 1996.
Between May 1997 and October 1999 ( 2 and a half year operation) the army captured large swathes of land from the LTTE in the Vanni. The LTTE recaptured those areas in one week of fighting in Nov 1999 during their operation Ceaseless waves 2.
Generals from France and US viewed the concrete bunkers and mine fields at Elephant pass complex and said it was impregnable and yet in april 2000 the LTTE captured that complex causing 17 000 SL soldiers to flee.
Our National leader never asked us the Tamil people to spread the message. We asked them to fight for our TamilEelam homeland and they are doing what the Tamil people asked. The Tamil people are clever enough to know that the LTTE are a force for good. We understood that a long time ago. Thats why they have come from a one pistol group in 1970′s to grabbing news headlines and Breaking news internationally in 2007.
You are just frustrated that even with your govt begging with the bowl, no international govt has condemned this attack like the SL govt wanted.
With a standing army, navy, police, courts, wellfare system, overwhelming majority Tamil support (2004 elections) and now our own Tamil Eelam Airforce capable of conventional attacks, only stupid or jealous people will say that the LTTE are terrorists.
This attack was a warning to the warmongers in the South to forget the military approach. You are playing with fire. This is not even the tip of the LTTE iceberg. The SL govt is going to ruin the whole island if you don’t stop Rajapakse.
Why do you like to own other peoples things? Tell the Sinhala people to let the Tamils and Tamil Eelam go. It was never yours to own.
Hi Jey;
Still not woke up… ah? Keep on repeating the same old numbers indicates you have nothing to present today… You people already lost the war in eastern province… and all your members are deadly mad… poor ‘Jey’ – how come only you get rid of being mad – that’s quite understandable.
Not me – but thousands of innocent Tamil children were brain washed by LTTE. I feel really sorry for them. I graduated from University of Moratuwa and had the opportunity to work with many Tamil students from Jaffna. They all are my good friends – even after leaving the university, now, for about 2.5 years, we still keep in touch. We shared the same room in the hostel, we shared the same cup of tea – need not to mention, sometimes the same shirt. But… dear friend… you people just want to kill our friendship. Neither I nor our army are racists. But we know… LTTE never represent the majority of Tamils. I was very well convinced this by my Tamil friends. They told us, how they suffered from Prabhakaran’s dictatorship. They said they were really lucky not to be taken away to LTTE as child soldiers when they were young. One person’s parents were killed by LTTE when his father strongly refused to give his elder son to the LTTE. BTW, after the death of his parents he had to join LTTE. This is just a one story… and there are plenty of them.
Prabhakaran can’t win this war. He is a terrorist. We have a very good leadership in our country – and that has already made you people suffer a lot in the eastern province. You… the terrorists ran for safety, even leaving their valuable weapons.
You mentioned our air crafts were destroyed by the coward LTTE attack… hey..!.. You know this…the Air Force carried out one of the most intense aerial raids after 2002 CFA, day before yesterday. Kfirs of the 10th Fighter squadron at KAB, MiG27 fighters from 5th Jet Squadron at KAB, Mi24/36 helicopter Gunships from Minneriya AB carried out simultaneous air attacks on various tiger strongholds. None of the air crafts were damaged as you people wish… Just count your attempt as a free fly to Colombo… it’s nothing more than that… hope you guys enjoyed Colombo air a lot… Poh..!
Finally… let me answer your question.†Why do you like to own other peoples things? “- Hey..! I should have asked this from you. BTW, why can’t you throw away weapons and come to politics… try to win the country by people’s vote – not by Prabhakaran’s bullets.
You are confused.
I am not saying that Tamils and Sinhalese should not be friends. That’s a completely different point. The LTTE have some high ranking male and female cadres who are married to Sinhalese. The fact is that Tamils as a nation want their historical and traditional homeland recognised and they want to govern themselves in their own land without external influence. You have limited understanding of the conflict like many people in Colombo. Just because you have muli ethnic friendship there in Colombo doesn’t mean that the Tamils as a whole (nation) can’t exercise their right to Self government, or be recognised as a distinct nation with historical, cultural and linguistic uniqueness as per the UN charter. The Tamils voted for Tamil Eelam in 1977. The 1977 and 1983 anti Tamil riots were your governments answer to the peaceful Tamils. Now you are facing the Tamils wrath in the form of the LTTE.
Your last comment is ludicrous. What did you think the LTTE did since 2001? Through the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) the LTTE asked the Tamil nation to vote for them and the concept of Tamil Eelam. The Tamils voted in 2001 and 2004 in support of them. The SL govt couldn’t take it and started assassinating the Tamil MP’s one by one – Joseph Pararajasingam, Kumar Ponnampalam, Raviraj, Vanniyasingam and the list goes on. Now you are asking us Tamils to do the same thing again? Why so you can shoot and intimidate the other Tamils who come forward for elections also? Forget it. The LTTE have sufficiently proved their point through democratic means within Sri Lanka’s constitution.
The Katanayake attack was a warning. It looks like it has fallen on deaf ears. The LTTE Tsunami is on the horizon.
(The sea normaly goes out before surging in. That’s what your army is experiencing in the East. )
Hi Jey,
One can wake up a person who sleeps – but not a one who pretends sleeping. It’s enough dreaming Jey… come back to the real world…
If you people really think Tamils in SL are badly treated – don’t you have any option other than selecting the terrorism to find a solution? SL government is always ready for negotiations – but you people always cheated. Going back to 1994 – Chandrika’s government was desperate to find a political solution to the burning ethnic issue. What was the final out come? She was bombed by Prabhakaran – luckily she only lost her eye – you went ahead and assassinated our former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar. You know… he’s a Tamil too….
Again, when Mahinda Rajapaksha’s government restarted the peace talks last year – you people just refused to sit together to dicuss the issues. That is immaturity my dear friend. You are blind with Prabhakaran’s vision. You see none other than him. Whenever your military power is weak you try to strengthen it by having a cease fire in place – then only you talk about negotiations. But now it’s too hard to play those old tricks. Mahinda Rajapaksha is a very practical leader. Be ready to face the music.
You came up with a list of Tamil MPs being killed. Do you want me to list down the Sinhalese politicians you killed over the years? Do you… gentleman? I hear your conscience – you know you have blood in your hand.
You boast about an LTTE Tsunami – Poh… wonder how long it will take. You never know – you people already being caught in the Tsunami of SL military power.
Finally I’d like quote one thing our Defense Secretary mentioned to media…
“If LTTE say the defeat in East is a tactical withdrawal – we only need another three of them…”
Yes… my friend… we only need another three of them… make your leadership aware.
You are not a very good analyst of the Sri lankan conflict.
Lets wait and see.
You never answer the questions… just beating around the bush. I feel really sorry about you guys…
How you define a “very good analyst” – is that a person who thinks in the same way as you do ? Neh… in that sense I never want to be your “very good analyst”. You people were spoon fed by the LTTE leadership and have a very little understanding about the real problem.
“Your last comment is ludicrous. What did you think the LTTE did since 2001? Through the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) the LTTE asked the Tamil nation to vote for them and the concept of Tamil Eelam. The Tamils voted in 2001 and 2004 in support of them…The LTTE have sufficiently proved their point through democratic means within Sri Lanka’s constitution.”
I guess since you live behind the palmyrah curtain (or so you claim), yoou don’t really know what democracy is, Jey, so you somehow think that the electing of the TNA MPs was democracy. In democracy, my friend, you have two or more candidates with divergent viewpoints of varying degree who put themselves up for election AND ARE ALLOWED EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO CAMPAIGN TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS. I’ve put the last bit in capitals so that you’ll find it easier to pay attention. That last part wasn’t given to opponents of the TNA (Devananda, Anandasangaree, etc). So the NE Tamils didn’t hear first hand what their policies would be; they just heard what the LTTE and their TNA puppets told them was the policy of the non-TNA candidates. Therefore, they voted for the people they could see and hear firsthand. So it was not demmocracy, nor was the TNA voted in fairly. Basically it was a one-dog race. If the LTTE was confident they could win fairly via their stooges, they should’ve alllowed non-TNA candidates to campaign. Then you might have had aa paw to stand your argument on.
“You are just frustrated that even with your govt begging with the bowl, no international govt has condemned this attack like the SL govt wanted.” – JEY
You have very little understanding on things happen out side – read the following – directly extracted from http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/5118
Dr.Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party and visiting Professor at Harvard University, in a press statement has said that India has a special responsibility to launch a massive pre-emptive strike on all LTTE installations in Sri Lanka because of its (1) goals which are harmful to India’s strategic interests and (2) bonding and cooperation with Indian terrorist groups. This statement was issued after the LTTE launched its air attack on the Katuanayake military base. He added: “The LTTE recent demonstration of its nascent air power must alert all democraticc nations to the need for an immediate response to nip this capability in the bud.”
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha what utter tosh! You joker, how can you even quote from a BIASED, trashy site like Asian Tribune?
Dr Subs is hardly representative of the Indian government now is he? You, just like the editors at Asian Tribune are pulling your hair out at India’s recent stance, as well as that of the International community regarding the TAF.
Prabath, the rest of the world would pay more weight to India’s Foreign Minister Shiv Shanker Menon’s comments or Prime Minister M Singhs statements and not a a guy like Dr Subs who has personal grudges against the LTTE and who gets his publicity through trashy sites like the Asian Tribune. Such Donkeys are lost in their own little world of anti – LTTE feelings that they don’t know the ground realities sufficiently to make educated analysis. Their hate of the LTTE blinds their judgment and comments. Honestly Dr Subs comments show his poor understanding of the LTTE and the conflict. The only thing the Indian authorities must nip is his ear.
hey blacker,
the results were validated by the GoSL and the international community… why wasn’t an issue raised then or the results declared invalid…
no matter how you cut it you quislings lost BAD…
EVERYONE knows what douglas and anandasangaree stand for…
you don’t give the people of the northeast enough credit…
you’re so pompous…
the people LIVE in the NorthEast with the LTTE and they KNOW who and what the LTTE are AND THEY VOTED FOR THEM LTTE/TNA…
now you’re telling me that it was because they hadn’t heard the “policies” of the TNA opponents…
are you serious?
EVERYONE knows the policies of all the parties
your whole group tries to marginalize the voice of the people…
but every time they vote they support the LTTE and independance…
1976
2004
etc…
we’re ready to go to the polls AT ANY TIME…
YOU GOT THE BALLS TO LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK…
you think the people of the East will support GoSL or Karuna right now… hahaha
you’re dumber than you look…
Blah blah, overlooked. Regurgitating what the Tigers say won’t make bullshit smell any better. If your idea of democracy is one-party politics, you have a lot to learn about the world (and the land you claim to live in). But just to set the record straight here — do you believe that a fair and free election means allowing ONLY ONE PARTY TO CAMPAIGN?
“EVERYONE knows the policies of all the parties”
HOW do you know? You’ve not heard their policies first-hand, have you? You’ve only heard what your puppeteers tell you. Would you think it fair if the GoSL allowed ONLY Douglas & Anandasangaree to campaign in GoSL areas?
“but every time they vote they support the LTTE and independance…”
Don’t you mean every time they are ALLOWED to vote? In the last elections the NE Tamils weren’t allowed to vote ‘cos Prabha knew how badly the UNP was damaging the Tigers. A few more years of UNP rule and you’d have had a dozen Karunas all vying for their piece of the cake. It’s so much easier to rule a people at war isn’t it? You got to have maturity to govern a nation, and it’s obvious the Tigers don’t have that.
“we’re ready to go to the polls AT ANY TIME…
YOU GOT THE BALLS TO LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK…”
Shouldn’t you say when the “LTTE has the balls to let the people speak”? We asked you to speak in the last elections, but the Tigers didn’t let you.
Oh, and in 1976, the Tamils didn’t vote for the LTTE.
Ha Ha…funny one man..but they really speak the reality.
Hey Jay! I actually meant you in my previous comment…well said buddy.
David Blaker and Prabath…unless I have sufficient intelligence on your background I cannot comment on your intentions with your comments…if you are really a general public, then you are wrong at many levels (if I were to take that you are right then you are nutt or bolts of different propagenda machines)…I do not like to further commnet on this…but a last word on David’s comment on expecting a ‘terrorist’ group (so called by you) to demosntrate their ‘democratical figure’ is highly logically broken…
you lebel them terrorist yet expect them to demontrate democracy….thats realy funny man….How many nations and powers in history has called who and who as terrorists in the past??…do you happened to know that…not so long ago British called the Americans rebellians (not the natives); terrorists…just tell me which western country is run by democracy these days…have you ever heard of a term pseudo democracy !!? run by beurocratic elemements…never mind..i dont have time and patience to teach you on that.
by the way, are you aware of the powers of ‘precidency’ in Sri Lanka…it is clearly not democracy as far as I know..yet you accept it as so…it concludes there cannot be no intersection of our views of democracy and that of mine..
Well David..should you decide to take forward an arm struggle..my peice of advise is never do so with political parties….you form political parties once you have achieved your political objectives..not before that…yet LTTE has shown significance in making sure they do not deviate from their political objectives time to time..one of them was TNA ellections outcomes…it was a mulit part election within Sri Lankan parlimentary model..yet comepeting with two other major tamil parties and all other Sinhalese parties…well you read about this somewhere should you need to really update you with some good intelligenvce on the subject……
what could be your fair demand is that you let them(Tamils) live independently and then demand to show that so called democracy..well it seems some of you are way long comming in terms to accept it due to your geo political and econimical benifits… let me save my breath at this point.
Further…Prabaharan cannot be fooling around Tamils…he cannot be a leader of Tamils if they dont accept him so, if they do so then he should be the right one. Because Tamils are generaly not stupids….
for few examples to quote they taught the Americans how to reduce the aero dynamic vibratations in bodies travelling at supersonic speads(Prof Mahalingam), they taught the world how to build robust architectures in modern engineering (Thurai theorom by Prof Thurairaja )….
therefore if you are not stupid enough, then you should understand there cannot be a stupid or toungue cracker leading the Tamils in Ceylon. as Jay said, Prabaharan is leading Tamils because they accept him as their leader…not because Prabaharan wants them behind him at gun point.
“unless I have sufficient intelligence on your background I cannot comment on your intentions with your comments”
Since this an anoymous forum and not a dating site, I think you should discuss the comments and not the people.
“you lebel them terrorist yet expect them to demontrate democracy….thats realy funny man”
I’m so glad you’re amused. I hope the people of the NE share your sense of humour. The point isn’t what WE label the LTTE, but what they calll themselves — freedom fighters and legitimate representatives of the SL Tamils. If so they should be giving ‘their’ people their legitimate freedoms — democracy and the right to vote is part of those legit freedoms. Opressing and suppressing them only shows the LTTE to be living upto what they’ve been labelled as.
“just tell me which western country is run by democracy these days”
All of the Western World is, but if you want a specific example, I’ll take the EU countries. Please elaborate how these are not democratically run.
“never mind..i dont have time and patience to teach you on that.”
Yes, I’m sure rhetoric is much more convenient. Why bother with nasty facts, no?
“by the way, are you aware of the powers of ‘precidency’ in Sri Lanka…it is clearly not democracy as far as I know..yet you accept it as so…it concludes there cannot be no intersection of our views of democracy and that of mine..”
Yes, I am aware of the presidential powers under the emergency regulations, becuase I live here in SL. Whether it is undemocratic is not clear and very debatable. Please explain your views on democracy, and then we can see whether our views our as divergent as you maintain.
“Well David..should you decide to take forward an arm struggle..my peice of advise is never do so with political parties….you form political parties once you have achieved your political objectives..not before that…”
Well, Seeko, the Tamil separatists don’t agree with you. They (including the LTTE) have always had their political party fronts. The LTTE continues to maintain the TNA. And if you think you can win a separate country by military power alone, you are a fool; you cannot. The only way to demonstarate too the IC that you can govern the land you want is by having political arms. The LTTE understands this; you obviously don’t.
“it was a mulit part election within Sri Lankan parlimentary model..”
Actually it wasn’t. In the SL parliamentry model ((which you might have heard about if you live here) ALL parties are allowed to campaign freely. The LTTE refused to allow anyone but the TNA to campaign in Tiger areas and made thinly veiled threats against all other candidates. Please explain to me how a one-party campaign fits in with the SL parliamentry model.
“well you read about this somewhere should you need to really update you with some good intelligenvce on the subject……”
Please provide some links so that I can educate myself on the subject to your lofty standards of intelligence (other than Tamilnet, etc of course lol).
“what could be your fair demand is that you let them(Tamils) live independently and then demand to show that so called democracy.”
Am I right in rephrasing your above line as “the fair thing would be to allow the Tamils to live independently and then demand that they demonstrate democracy”?
Fair enough, and in a perfect world you’d be right. You see, I agree with the original Tamil cause (though I have myself fought against it). And I believe it was once justified by the Sinhalese oppression. However, the LTTE has ably demonstrated that they are far more oppressive than any Sinhalese-led government was — they oppress, starve, terrorise and extrort from ‘their’ people, they have killed every single Tamil leader they could get their hands on who didn’t toe the Tiger line. So along the way, VP corrupted the Tamil cause and changed it from ‘Free My People’ to ‘Give Me Power’. So while the original cause was true, when the Tamils took up the gun, they unleashed the dogs of war. Now you must face those dogs. It’s too late to say let us live peacefully and we’ll be good boys. Start being good boys, and we”ll let you live peacefullly.
“Further…Prabaharan cannot be fooling around Tamils…he cannot be a leader of Tamils if they dont accept him so, if they do so then he should be the right one.”
Don’t be silly. The possession of power doesn’t legitimise that power.
“Because Tamils are generaly not stupids….”
No, they are not (I should know); but they have absolved themselves of the decision-making process. The SL Tamils say “what to do” and the foreign Tamils are happy paying off the Tigers to deal with a problem they don’t want to sacrifice their own kids to. The Tigers are funded by the foreign Tamils and control by terror the local Tamils. So the problem with the Tamils is not stupidity but apathy.
“Prabaharan is leading Tamils because they accept him as their leader…not because Prabaharan wants them behind him at gun point.”
This is just conjecture and not based in fact.
P.S guys I have found that if you use firefox mozilla (free downloable browser) you can see all the blocked posts including mine as normal.
Cheers
“The Tamils on the fence in Sri Lanka, abroad and in India have chosen, which side to be on now. ”
I guess I missed the memo? I find myself edging further and further away from the Tigers. This doesn’t mean that i’m any closer to supporting the side that controls the sinhalese army (probably never will) but what have the Tigers done to shore up morale in the past year?
More people are dying, more people are displaced, the situation hasn’t improved for the tamil people. I was never a die-hard tiger supporter but one factor I held on to was that they were the one barrier protecting tamil rights from being overrun by populist sinhalese politicians… sober reflection tells me that era ended over a decade ago. They’re as bad as the sinhalese army. This condition can’t continue, someone has to go. The Tiger’s are the less permanent of the two, why not them first?
Aren’t these Tamils?
It’s confusing why they come to government held areas (Sinhalese) seeking refuge… Aren’t the mighty LTTE (their sole representative) giving them proper protection. If they can bomb the bum of Mahinda, why not safe guard their own people first?
are you a simpleton…
the tamil IDPs are coming to the GOSL controlled areas for the following reasons;
1) GOSL won’t let the iNGOs, UN, and ICRC into the LTTE controlled areas of the East
2) GOSL has placed a total embargo on the LTTE controlled areas of the East – this includes: FOOD, MEDICINE etc… this is a violation of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law which forbids the usaged of food and medicne as a “weapon of war”
3) as stated by an IDP in the media, “We decided to leave the areas being shelled and move to the area where the shelling is coming from. We know the LTTE will not shell Tamils and so we will be safe from shelling if we are here. But now we have problems from the paramilitaries” (video interview of IDP in GOSL controlled area). If the GOSL stops shelling the LTTE controlled areas the people will go back. They feel safer there.
If they really flew a light aircraft here from Wanni at night,hand-dropped homemade bombs killing people at night in a base armed with MiG-27‘s and Kfir‘s of a seasoned Air Force, and returned to base, well, as a flyer I’d say “Wow, cool”.
Actually Indi, you won’t find me saying this very often, but one has to agree with the sentiment expressed by Jey and Me (as opposed to myself). They came, they bombed and buggered off, without so much as anyone even throwing pebble at their airship. Moral victory….I think so. Next time they’ll carry bigger bombs.
indi,
coupla questions:
1) what’s your source on the damages? the GOSL? hahahha nuff said… why won’t they let the SLMM or reporters in? methinks the Tamilnet version of damages is closer to reality… otherwise GOSL would brought reporters in… are you taking the GOSL at it’s word… hahhaah…
2) it seems that you’re actually a complaining and/or a bit rattled that the LTTE is evolving… maturing… are you?
let me explain the current situation to you:
1) the LTTE have not retaliated as most would have expected, and many were counting on. the GOSL is/was trying with the campaign in the East to rile the LTTE so that the LTTE would turn to “terrorism” and “civilian bombings”… the LTTE hasn’t done this…
2) unlike the GOSL, which is bombing and shelling and executing civilians throughout the NorthEast, the LTTE have confined themselves to political/military targets: suicide bombings of military leaders, galle navy harbour, military airport, the NAVY transport bus, etc
3) the kelligala (spelling?) bus bombing and the bombs in the south were not the LTTE but the Karuna Group doing the bidding of the GOSL to give the LTTE a bad name…
4) this is all really bad news for the GOSL… the tide is turning in the international community and the GOSL’s disregard for the civilians it is claiming to “liberate” and for the human rights abuses, extrajudicail killlings, abductions, detaining without trial… excetera, excetera, excetera…
time’s running out on you all…
just watch your economy in the next few months…
hahahahahahahahahahaha
As much pleasure as you take in it, trashing the Sri Lankan economy doesn’t help any Tamil cause. If Sri Lanka hurts then the North and East hurt even more, not to mention all the Tamils that live in Colombo, hill country, etc.
Economic warfare may make sense in the short term, but after 25 years you have to wonder how much deeper the LTTE wants to sink the average people of this country, and how much more destitute the once proud North and East can get. We’re on the same island and our economies are pretty linked, just that the North and East feels the bite of a downturn much more sharply. Hell, the LTTE has to use Sri Lankan airports to travel and Sri Lankan hospitals for serious care. The violence doesn’t lead anywhere but down.
the northeast can’t get any worse you fool…
the worse the economy gets the more fuel, bullets etc will cost…
why do you think the GOSL buckled under in 2002… because they WANTED to give the tamils their rights…? hahaha
NO…
they did because the economy was dead…
The Robert Pape says the LTTE are Marxist-leninist group? I must admit thats the first time I’ve heard of it. Is that true?
If it isn’t I have to say from an academic who claims to be an expert on these matters it is pretty sloppy.
I hope you find a better article than this to support your arguments or beliefs (if these facts are wrong that is).
the LTTE don’t spout any political ideology… the “marxist-leninist” tag was an attempt by the GOSL and other anti-LTTE forces to marginilize them…
As overlooked mentioned, the LTTE is pretty much a military outfit and very thin on the politics. The LTTE started as Marxist-Leninist, via Balasingham (Rohan Gunaratne) but is now pretty much straight Tamil Nationalism/Thuggery.
It is weird that he called then Marxist-Leninist when they have almost no political content anymore. Most content they had came from Balasingham, who did approach politics via Marxism/Leninism. I agree that it’s not a very relevant label anymore. Don’t think that invalidates the numerical argument of the article.
Re: the numbers, yes he is right. I read a paper a few years ago by someone from the Institute of Peace and Conflict studies(IPCS) in Jawaharlal nehru university (http://www.ipcs.org/Terrorism.jsp) and they had similar statistics. Looking at the site, these figures have been quoted in a number of papers refering to the LTTE.
I wonder if these statistics hold true since the proliferation of post 9-11 globalised suicide terror attacks . The LTTE is distinctively different from these groups (http://www.ipcs.org/Terrorism_articles2.jsp?action=showView&kValue=1094&status=article&mod=a).
Maybe “socialist” would be more accurate then “Marxist-Leninist” (though Balasingham himself was writing a thesis on the “psychology of Marxism”. I found another paper (October, 2001) by IPCS which states:
“The LTTE does not have an ideology that could impress and motivate its cadres. There were a number of other Tamil militant groups which had a Marxist ideology and even the LTTE, initially, did have a socialist framework; this can be seen from the work of Anton Balasingam, Socialist Tamil Eelam. But, at a later stage, Prabhakaran gave up this ideological orientation. The Black Tigers to a great extent motivate the cadres by their action and sacrifice.”
http://www.ipcs.org/Terrorism_articles2.jsp?action=showView&kValue=198&status=article&mod=a
Just wondering if you have read the biography of Prabakaran. I have the book but at the moment it is functioning more as a paper weight than anything. I was told that it was a bestseller in Sri Lanka.
indi you should read this article by an anti-LTTE indian military stategist:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=21686
sorry, could figure out how to make it a shorter link…
me not too smart…
Looks like Raman jumped the gun. The airstrikes by the SLAF over the last two days have been the most intense of the CFA, so instead of the decrease in operations he predicts, there’s been an increase.
He also assumes many things: His commment that just because the LTTE has threatened more airraids, that means they have the capability to do so. If they were going to launch more, I doubt they’d warn the GoS by telegraphing their moves. More likely it’s an attempt to slow any further ground ops in the north by hoping the GoSL will pause until they have sufficient AD capability.
His suggestion that there’s a possibility that the LTTE can match the SLAF air capability smacks of the ridiculous. I doubt you can go up against MiGs, Kfirs, and Hinds with a few prop aircraft.
He also seems unaware of history. He claims that only the Khalistanis and the Rote Armee Faction failed in their objectives. As an Indian, he should remember the failed Tibetan freedom fighters. One of the best examples of military success against a guerrilla army is the British victory in the Malayan uprising, but Raman seems to have missed it. The latter is significant for the fact that the Brits physically removed the Malayan population from contact with the guerrillas before carrying out ops against them.
David,
Raman is a funny character isn’t he? In his writings, you can almost see the battle within him…between his admiration for the LTTE and his fear that they might one day threaten his beloved India.
Read the last bit of point 7 in the following article…
http://www.saag.org/papers22/paper2185.html
BD
“The attack, however, is almost meaningless in a military sense. “
you seem to be the only one who thinks this…
Until it’s actually established that the airraid grounded a significant portion of the SLAF strike aircraft, the mission can be taken as a military failure. PR victory, though.
And going from the current SLAF airstrikes, the LTTE attack was a complete military failure:
“Targets attacked today: LTTE intelligence base – Kanagarayankulam, Sea tiger base at Sudolaipidai – Mannar north, B-Route Camp – Thoppigala.
Targets attacked yesterday: Sea tiger base – Wellankulam,Mannar North, Sea tiger base – Thibilikulam, Mullaithiv.” (http://defencenet.blogspot.com/)
Blacker : “And going from the current SLAF airstrikes, the LTTE attack was a complete military failure:….”
Oops Blacker you left out the other one hundred targets also….Shees I can’t stop myself from cracking up at your source. Hardly objective hey?
While they (SL govt) prevent journalists and Nordic SLMM personel from viewing the actual losses they are clearing up the mess and issuing fairytale stories. This is like Keheliya Rambukwella’s now infamous quote, “We never even saw an LTTE kite” when hiding the fact that an LTTE plane bombed Palaly in August 2006 from the Sinhala public.
Jey, no one’s denying there was an air attack on Katu. But don’t you think you’re celebrating too early? There’s no sign of SLAF ops having been dented, and in fact, quite the contrary seems to be true. While you’re patting yourself on the baack for aa laargely symbolic attack, the LTTE just lost Kokkadicholai to 7SLLI.
Hi Jey;
Heh…it’s not a kite… but a flying scooter… you have…. anyway handy..ah?
Hey Jey…
You seem to be creating stories here….
“Well from my point of view this was the Tamileelam Air Force’s (TAF) maiden flight and it had to be sucessful i.e not crash or get shot down.” – JEY
“when hiding the fact that an LTTE plane bombed Palaly in August 2006 from the Sinhala public” – JEY
How come the Katunayaka air attack becomes the maiden flight, if they bombed Palaly in August 2006 ?
This not something new to you people… TamilNet being doing this for years… just spreading false information…
Oh Prabath, the Katunayake attack was the maiden flight. A LTTE plane might have bombed Palaly as well, but Jay doesn’t mention about a “flying” plan does he?
That’s the adavantage of having a flying scooter…
Flying scooters or magic carpets, the fact remains they (TAF) caught the SLAF with their pants down.
The first SLAF response was 12 hrs late. So much for rapid response.
Also the SLAF have not flown one night mission so that shows their capability compared to TAF.
Oh yes, we ARE impressed with the Tiger Air Farce — one failed mission vs hundreds of successful ones.
TAF can’t fly during the day because that would make it that much easier to spot them. They need all the help they can get in terms of flying ‘under the radar’…stop grasping at straws Jey. Yes this was a good PR move by the LTTE, yes the SL Defense Establishment was caught with its pants down but militarily, with the information we have now, not much was achieved.
It was just a say “Hi” to the Colombo air – nothing was achieved. Next time when you fly don’t worry too much about landing… we are looking forward to it…
All it would take to bring it down is couple of school children with few stones… no need to waste bullets on that scooter
Prabath and Mahasen-
….the “scooter” that came to say “Hi” in the only language you understand and then dilly dallied all the way to the comfort of Vanni, over a newly strengthened Tamil Eelam air space, to laugh it all off, while the SLA and SLAF were probably contemplating as to whether they should use stones or Vatal Appams to bring the “scooter” down.
Ha ha ha ha ha. They increased the man power at Katanayake Air base from 2000 men to 6000 men after the 2001 attack. Those tourists getting their bags checked at BIA must be laughing their heads off.
N- “with the information we have now, not much was achieved.”
Not much was achieved? Its been two weeks since and the SLAF still haven’t let the Nordic SLMM visit the attack site to make a ruling. That scooter must have had one massive payload and no damage to the civilian infrastructure also, despite the SLAF cowards using it (BIA) as a human shield. Talk about precision bombing – that shut the mouths of all LTTE critics. Come to think of it the 2001 attack never had any colateral damage either.
David Blacker – “Oh yes, we ARE impressed with the Tiger Air Farce — one failed mission vs hundreds of successful ones.”
You mean the Farce that made headlines and breaking news globally.
The Frace that made history for being the first liberation organisation with its own home built air force.
The farce that brought our struggle for independence to the fore so that we could let the international community know that we are hurtling towards freedom and independence?
The farce that told Tamil Eelam’s few enemies that the Tamils and LTTE are indomitable.
The farce that showed that the LTTE had the conscience to strike at only the military target despite the temptations thus questioning the motivation behind the terrorist label.
And finaly do you mean “sucessful” as in “Sencholai Orphanage August 2006 genocidally successful” as an example?
The David and Goliath Farce.
There’s only one David aroud here, mate :)
“You mean the Farce that made headlines and breaking news globally.”
Yeah, the farce that made headlines that result in the world craacking down further on the LTTE, as in France.
“The Frace that made history for being the first liberation organisation with its own home built air force.”
Er… two planes do not an air force make, particularly when they can’t even find a haangaar on aa well-lit base.
“we are hurtling towards freedom and independence?”
More like hurtling towards self destruction.
“The farce that showed that the LTTE had the conscience to strike at only the military target despite the temptations”
You mean the temptation to bomb innocent European civilians? That must have been a tempting target for the LTTE, eh?
““Sencholai Orphanage August 2006 genocidally successful—
Is the English on the site you pull this off as bad as yours? I meant the Sencholai training camp. The LTTE propoganda fizzed so badly on that we’re still laughing. Well at least those poor “orphans” are sorted out now. Maybe you should call KFC over to start an outlet, you could call it Eelam Fried Orphans (EFO). Catchy, no?
Well at least those poor “orphans†are sorted out now. Maybe you should call KFC over to start an outlet, you could call it Eelam Fried Orphans (EFO). Catchy, no?
you’re a really classy guy david, a real humanitarian…
how many tamil babies did you kill while you were in the SLA…?
why were you kicked out of the SLA…?
Why did you come back from germany?
Thanks for the interest in my life, Ale-breath. I never knew you felt that way. Drop by some day aand I’ll explain it all.
So let me ask you a few:
How come you change your name every few days to make it look like you’re several personalities?
Why are you hiding your flag — is it because if everyone knows you live outside SL (as you do) they won’t take you seriously?
And finally, were you born retarded, or were you just dropped on your head by your mother?
Lemme tell you a little story about BBQ Tiger. I was once in my battalion’s reaction group, and the Tigers had taken a section of FDL. Arty shelled ‘em and then we retook the line. Some of the Tigers had tried to get out of the line after the shelling and had been caught by a WP marker round and been crisped. It was dawn, so we chowed down, and we were eating cold rations. Most of the Tigers had been burnt throughly, but one had been done just right (sort of medium rare), and the wind kept blowing the smell in. Smelled just like BBQ pork rather than Tiger. Cold tinned salmon on cream crackers never tasted so good:)
“Most of the Tigers had been burnt throughly, but one had been done just right (sort of medium rare), and the wind kept blowing the smell in. Smelled just like BBQ pork rather than Tiger. Cold tinned salmon on cream crackers never tasted so good:)”
David that’s so fucking gross and in really bad taste….
…How the hell did you stomach eating cold tinned salmon?
“David that’s so fucking gross and in really bad taste….”
Bad taste in tell you about it, or eaating breakfast next to corpses?
“…How the hell did you stomach eating cold tinned salmon?”
You get used to a lot of things if you haven’t a choice. Like being hot, dirty, and uncomfortable. Like killing and seeing your friends being killed. And eating cold salmon straight from the tin. I’ve eaten worse and been grateful to have had it.
“David that’s so fucking gross and in really bad taste….”
Bad taste in telling you about it, or bad taste to eat breakfast next to corpses?
“…How the hell did you stomach eating cold tinned salmon?”
You get used to a lot of things if you haven’t a choice. Like being hot, dirty, and uncomfortable. Like killing and seeing your friends being killed. And eating cold salmon straight from the tin. I’ve eaten worse and been grateful to have had it.
not sure what you’re on about about the name changing… but you do talk a lot of cock so… whatever…
why not answer the questions?
and stop bullshitting us about your “adventures” in the army… we all know it’s bullshit…
i have it under good authority that you were only a cook’s assistant… peeling onions etc… you’d just get hard and jerk off to the SLA tough guys who came in to eat… and listen to their stories…
wwhy were you kicked out?
sucked too much cock?
you’ll get what’s coming to you… karma’s a bitch…
hope we meet some day…
not sure why my flag doesn’t show up…
but where i am the connection is a bit complex so that might be it…
Don’t you mean YOU’VE got a bit of a complex? Particularly about sucking cock & jerking off. Isn’t that the only thing Prabha lets you guys do, while he & his top dogs marry, screw the female Tigers, and send the resulting bastards off to study in Europe?
“hope we meet some day…”
Come over anytime. Been awhile since I got a bj from a Tamil.
so you ARE gay…
that’s why the wifey left…
hahhaha
Gay? I thought you were a woman! You mean you actually have balls?
I have a headache. You are both moderated until you cool down. Happy Avurudu.
Check out Indi’s post on Durian.
They say the crabs dance till the water boils…
who’s the crab…? david and prabath celebrating the “conqests” in the East…?
time will tell, time will tell..
“Celebrating”? You & Jey seeem to be the only ones celebrating. I guess you guys need something to feel good about after the sorry-arsed performance the Tigers have put up in the East. You don’t see us gloating everytime some Tigers are blown to pieces, do you? If we did that, life wouldbe one endless party. Wanna be’s like you need to start looking at where your “representatives” are taking your people, since you’re too chicken shit to actually pick up a rifle. The most significant result of the Katu raid was the increased airstrikes in the NE.
Oh look! a talking crab!!
Well said David.. well said.
‘Terrorism is fundamentally about communication’
I totally agree!!
BTW indi, what kind of camera do you use? I really like some of your pictures.
Yes San it is. But so is all human action and interaction. Gestures of violence, of peace, charity are all about interaction and communication. Thats why sometimes a purely abstract political or millitary analysis can appear inadequate to some.
Millitary strategists and enthusiasts refuse to admit that warfare in the modern age is untenable. Increasing globalisation, weapons capability, mobility and accessability, being the fundamental difference between modern warfare and a Lord of the Rings PS2 game.
In the 1st world war, I was told in some parts, a white flag was raised from the trenches at 5pm indicating that firing should stop so soldiers on both sides could retire for their supper/tea. Even the soldiers agreed to give each other a break. Contrast this to today’s world in which you may recall the US destroyed the city of Faluja during Ramadan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3996111.stm).
To use the words of a Sri Lankan journalist, people in the North and East or any other warzone, are being crushed between the various warring parties like Areca nuts. At least most people in the south have to think mainly of one significantly hostile force, the LTTE.
A significant lesson from the US with all its sophisticated weaponary and its all out “war against terror”-more Americans (apart from all the Iraqis and Afghans and even the Londeners etc.) have died in the war against terror than all the Americans who died in September 11. Fortunately at least the Americans don’t consider their soldiers as pieces of lead to move along a chess board, but as citizens whose lives are of value-so the tide is beginning to turn in just 5 years.
comment (posted question earlier) said:
“Fortunately at least the Americans don’t consider their soldiers as pieces of lead to move along a chess board, but as citizens whose lives are of value-so the tide is beginning to turn in just 5 years.”
A bit OT from this posting, but I think this is doubtful, at least among the American leadership. Bush and his advisors/controllers have so far been far more rhetorical than real in their “support” for our troops, to the point that community groups have had to fund-raise for equipment like bullet-proof vehicle panels.
Somewhat hopeful sign: the slogan “Support our troops: BRING THEM HOME” is becoming much more popular (widely visible), which hopefully represents more citizens advocating that Congress end the Iraq war. The recent House and Senate bills giving a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq is also hopeful, though Bush has promised to veto it since he is of course Teh Decider, goddammit.
Hi Liz,
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. When speaking about “Americans” I meant ordinary citizens who sustain the elected leaders.
The following links report recent changes in public opinion towards the war:
http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/21/iraq.poll/
This one compares the current attitude to the Iraq war and the attitute towards the Vietnam war
(USA Today)
To quote a section of the article:
” Mueller says his study of wartime public opinion raises doubts about whether rhetoric can rebuild lost support for the war. “If history is any indication, there is little the Bush administration can do to reverse this decline,” he wrote in an article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.”
LTTE’s nocturnal flyover Katunayake proved on thing quite clearly. How incompetent/impotent SL’s air defense is. A slow-moving turbo-prop is a sitting duck for an air force even with a rudimentary radar and air defense system. Why the hell was no Kfir scrambled? How come no SAMs were fired? LTTE’s flying vehicle probably didnt have any self-protection and even a helicopter with mounted canons would be able to bring it down. Has any heads rolled?
I suggest that SLAF invest in a few batteries of Pechoras, they aren’t too expensive. Spare a battery for Mahinda’s residence. Or at least get your Paki friends to spare a few Stinger’s from Taleban’s surplus. They should do the job adequately.
This is also a good opportunity for Indian analysts to see how their eye in the sky works to track down the launching pad and give the coordinates to SL so it can be taken care of.
Dear John Smith, Tom, Dick or Harry, kindly ensure the SLA buy the best battery systems on the market. Don’t think cheap. You should advise them to instal them close to the front line. It doesn’t really matter if they are in a very high security zone as long as its not too far from Vanni. We can’t have our boys trekking through Kandy looking for them now can we?
The LTTE purchasing dept would have a load taken off their shoulders if our LTTE boys and girls were given the golden opportunity to pop over the fence and help themselves to those batteries (like they have done on countless past occasions). On that account remember to thank those countries who supplied the SLA with 120mm, 130mm and 152mm artillery and shells at Elephant Pass and Mulliativu to name but a few. Much obliged for the radar from the SLN DVORA fast attack crafts that the Sea Tigers are putting to good use. The SLA/SLN can be so generous at times.
With regard to your last comment was the “Eye in the Sky” on an unscheduled evening siesta during the take off and landing on 26 March 2007?
I am sure no one would like an angry hand (paw) in the sky flying at high velocity towards their eye in the sky.
Even if the launch pad was identified, which I think is unlikely, the incapable SLAF would “take care of it” by strafing a Tamil civilian school or hospital as usual and claim they hit the LTTE even in the face of incriminating evidence, so helping them would be counter productive. Its never a good idea to help the oppressor. Its usually a good idea to mind your own business.
When tiger balls are squeezed they start acting like pussies–bombing civilians in buses. As the folks in the north live life of the destitute, life goes on as normal in Colombo, albeit more barriers and checkpoints to deal with. Don’t kid yourself, quality of life is a million times better in the rest of the country compared to the east and the north. I guess the folks up north keep their stomachs full with the chimera of an eelam? :) power to them for their steadfast devotion to a mirage. It is very touching..
It looks like you are the one living in a mirage, believing that the Tigers were responsible for those bus bombings when the Tigers categorically denied and even went as far as condemning those incidents. It was the Karuna group and SL Military Intelligence who did that for anti- LTTE propaganda. Period.
The LTTE made a precision attack on Katanayake, which no one could condemn as terrorist. Except of course the stupid SL media and govt because they couldn’t accept it. They even went as far as calling it a “cowardly attack”. The mindless baboons.
Then in an embarassing move they tried to fool the rest of South Asia that the entire region was at a risk from TAF, which unsuprisingly the South Asian countries took with a pinch of salt as usual.
John, I am sure what lies on the north side of the border at Vavuniya is not a mirage. Large parts of the north of Tamil Eelam are functioning as a state and have been for several years. The rest of Tamil Eelam is about to become a reality too.
As for the life in Colombo is concerned…I am sure many people have suddenly been looking skywards more frequently since 26 March 2007 and suffering from neck lashes.
Coupled of course with the joint boycott of Sri Lankan food and textile products by the Tamil disapora in Europe, Canada and Australia….
Lets wait and see what other dance moves Vanni makes you guys perform in the South. Entertaining, it certainly will be.
Boycott by Tamil diaspora is moot when they probably cant afford to shop at stores that carry Sri Lankan wear, especially after being relieved of 20% of their income for the “Eelam.” Indeed u are right that people in Colombo have been looking up at the sky since the end of March, the monsoon have started. Turboprops scare no one. I had a laugh imagining the mustachioed gentlemen above manually tossing their package out of the side of the aircraft! From a tactical point of view, it was a sheer waste of the element of surprise. It could have been used far more devastatingly as a kamakazie misson, but next time around the element of surprise will probably be missing. I so wish Tiger turboprops visit the country up north. It will give enough excuse to clean up the likes of Wacko and his followers.
The hurt/envy/bitterness is apparent in your words.
The modus operandi shut the mouths of critics. That was an even bigger blow to SL govt when they went begging all the international community to condemn it and even scaremongering that TAF was a threat to the entire SA region. No adverse comments were made which scared SL govt that they have been abandoned. Thus the sudden halt in ops in the N and E.
Further this conventional method acceptable to the IC makes it less likely that Vanni were behind the lastest bus atrocities in th east blamed on them. This was most likely done by Karuna and their Mil Int minders.
LTTE were heavily attacked and destroyed during last few days…. Great… JEY… You still alive… Ah?
Prabath: “LTTE were heavily attacked and destroyed during last few days…. Great… JEY… You still alive… Ah?”
Good morning Prabath! You certainly had sweet dreams.
I bet you dreamt five hundred thousand LTTE were wiped out and eighty thousand sea tiger ships were sunk when Rajapakse and Gothabaya rode farting into battle on a white horse.
Are you the dreamer the SLA employ for updating their website with fake news and fantasies?
Me thinks you are in for a real life nightmare. No matter how much you pinch yourself you won’t wake up from that one my friend.
How randomly I came across this Reuters report after reading Prabath’s comment :op
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL196520.htm
Read under the heading ‘We Can win’ toward the end:
Sunanda Deshapriya, convenor of the Free Media Movement, said: “The public is thinking that the government is winning. They think: ‘We can win this war’.”
Understandably, there is alot of focus on the discontent in the north and east. It is one of the most critical issues in Sri Lanka.
It is difficult for me to know living overseas. I saw something a week ago, on a Sri Lankan blog, about the JVP in the south, which was a bit disconcerting. Unfortunately, I didn’t bookmark it and can’t remember where I found it.
Would someone be able to give some idea….what are the policies, and the viewpoints given by the JVP? How do they operate and organise themselves these days? We already know about the hold they have on the current government, and the posturing and extreme positions taken regarding the war.
Could someone please post any good sites or links to articles in English which would provide an insight into other aspects of the JVP?
I can’t imagine, with the history of discontent among working classes in the Sinhalese areas, that they would now just sit back and let things go.
In someways, my impression at the moment is, there appears to be more plurality in the viewpoints presented by the Tamils than by the Sinhalese, in the English press and the internet. It might just be that the Sinhalese are more united in their opinions and what they wish for themselves and the country…I don’t know.
Got some interesting snippets:
“The masses throughout the world, from the Andes in South America to Himalayas in Asia, are craving for a new journey. They have chosen the new path to liberate their lands from the re-colonization that had suppressed them for decades. The earnest message for the New Year would be that we should make it an opportunity to incorporate such a novel concept into our lives.â€
Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe, Leader of the JVP, April 2007
http://www.lankatruth.com/
Cyprus and Sudan Two Examples of their peace
http://www.jvpsrilanka.com/e_books_page.htm
(Unfortunately this is in Sinhalese…but would be interesting to know what it contains-also has some other
policy documents and ebooks in English)
Sri Lanka: JVP grovels to the Bush administration
By Nanda Wickremasinghe
9 May 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/jvp-m09.shtml
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I posted this a couple of days ago in this section but it didnt appear. Am reposting.
Basically, Im wondering if the millitary theatre is distracting people from other issues in the country, and people are in for a suprise. Speaking to older Sri Lankans living here in Australia, who have experianced decades of conflict (not just related to Tamil vs Sinhalese) in the past, and have a historic perspective, they seem to think so. They have many fascinating stories to tell…and for me fortunately, living outside, they are just interesting stories.
Looking at the website and the blog I mentioned, the JVP seems to be extremely organised, with a very clear agenda. Rajapakse’s website to me on a superficial level seems to be a photogallery of him and his wife wearing colour co-ordinated outfits, and meeting famous people. With the visit to the pope, I think that is another picture for his photogallery. By aligning to the JVP, he is fulfilling his desire for power, by pandering to the poor and needy (and anyone else who fulfils his desires), while not really doing anything of much substance to address the needs of the poor. Not sure how long they will be willing to indulge him and if the JVP have a use-by date for him. I was told by someone living in Australia, that a significant proportion of the armed forces support the JVP…which isn’t surprising, considering that a significant proportion comes from the poorer segment of the population.
Hitler rose to power with this sort of pseudo socialist agenda during a severe economic depression, break down in law and order with arms freely available (world war I had just finished), various paramillitary groups in operation and political disarray. The JVP seem to have a more organised agenda than Hitler did at the start…so this analogy may be superficial.
In Sri Lanka, there appear to be two ways of dealing with these issues…either to ignore them completely and hope it goes away, or lash out and caricaturise relevant parties…eg. the LTTE or the JVP and not constructively address the root causes of the problem. Successive leaders have exploited this in their quest for power and greed.
Anyway, thats what I was thinking.
Understandably war in the North and the East is the main focus in the country. This is probably the most critical issue in Sri Lanka.
I saw something about the JVP in a blog recently and unfortuantely I didn’t bookmark it. I must admit I found it slightly disconcerting. It made me wonder, with history of discontent among the working class, are they going to sit back now and let things go?
My impression at the moment is that there appears to be more plurality of viewpoints presented by the Tamils in the English press. Unless of course it is an actual fact that the Sinhalese are more united in their ideas about the direction in which the country should develop.
Living overseas it is difficult to gauge, what are the viewpoints and policies offered by the JVP, apart from the obvious hold they have on the government and the opposition a peaceful settlement in the North and East.
Would anyone be able to provide links to articles in English that would provide some useful insight into the way they organise themselves these days?
Sorry…if I double posted…the previous comment didn’t get posted.
Some comments that appear in the “Recent Comments” column don’t show up amongst the other comments when clicked on.
End of Sinhalese Nationlism or the Sinhalese Race?
The book of Mahavamsa is a work of an idiot. The Sinhalese failure to look beyond that book will bring the total destruction of the whole race. Even the book says that the so called Sinhalese Kings continuously married bride from the Pandiyan Empire in order keep alliance. This makes the so called Sinhalese King more part of the Dravidian blood line. Tamils had the first naval empire of the Indian subcontinent and its laughable that the Sinhalese claim to be on the island before the Tamils. LTTE is just asking for the rights of the Tamil and if they wanted to just to be a terrorist group they would have killed the Sinhalese in Millions by now. LTTE would have never existed if they did not have a reason and would have never been able to fight an outnumbered Army that is well financed for almost 3 decades (also taking on the Indian Army in the middle). When Indians took up arms against the British they were called trouble makers (now it is defined as terrorists). When Blacks demanded their rights from the White South African Government they were also called terrorists. Tamil Nationalism is a very minimum goal of LTTE and the rights of the Tamils of Elam is their main goal. If LTTE fails, the Sinhalese Government will definitely wipe out the Tamils of Elam and that would make Tamil Nationalism to reemerge. Tamil Nadu will for sure wipe the Island of Lanka clean of the Sinhalese if that ever happens. Tamil Nadu buried the Tamil Nationalism for the union of India, if the Central Government of India fails to bring a solution that would be acceptable by Elam Tamils then for sure the break up of Tamil Nadu from the Indian Union is a fact (by force or by referendum). LTTE made a huge mistake by not claiming the whole Island and not labeling Sinhalese as foreigners. The Tamils existence is so rooted into the Island that it cannot be even traced back, while the Sinhalese existence beings with an idiot and his followers being banished from the Bengal. The burning of the Jaffna library which housed scripts and 10,000 years of Tamil history is for sure one of the greatest lost to the Tamils. For sure the two light Air Planes are nothing compared to the Sri Lankan Air Force, but for sure it was enough to make the Sri Lankan Government tremble. The same was said when the Tigers Naval unit emerged and now they proved to be a successful fighting force. If the LTTE gains their goal it is win, win and win situation (for the Tamils, Sinhalese and Indians). If LTTE fails it will be a disaster for the Indian Union and the entire Sinhalese race. Two and a half million Tamils against the sixteen million Sinhalese has only caused the total destruction of the Sinhalese State (bad image on the world stage, ruined economy that is running on donations from the western powers). Seventy million Tamils against the sixteen million Sinhalese will only lead to the extinction of the Sinhalese Race. Tamil Nationalism is far more extreme then the Sinhalese Nationalism.