The Paucity Of Prabhakaran
Of mind, not belly. And props, very tacky props.
I am not especially afraid of terrorism. In my day-to-day life I’m more scared of cops, minister’s sons, and ex-girlfriends. The LTTE doesn’t inspire terror anymore, just sadness. Now they’re just sad-ists. Throwing grenades in the zoo? Bombing a crowded train station? Are you fucking kidding me? What year is this, and how old are you people? The LTTE’s juvenile attacks prove nothing but the organizations own brutality, accomplish no particular end, and appear especially bankrupt after 25 years of the same-old, same-old. Vellupillai Prabhakaran is like an aging rock star, going on one last tour to pay his kids’ college bills. It’s like Bryan Adams decided to kill everyone promising on the charts and periodically blew up his band with pyrotechnics. In such a horrible parallel universe I would be doomed to hear “Summer Of ’69″ every time I went out.. oh, wait. In the horrible parallel universe I do live in VP has killed every promising Sinhala and Tamil leader and continues sending bands of Tamil teenagers to die at shopping malls and bus stands across the country. It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. The summer of ’83 is over and everybody has moved on. But Uncle P wants one last tour, playing the same broken record.
I remember seeing a photo of VP with a leopard cub. It looked fucking ridiculous. He looked like Michael Jackson in Thriller. Apparently he had a leopard cub named Sita, whom he stroked lovingly. He had some romance about him, he was still thin, and he had some hits. The assassination of the Jaffna Mayor on his way to temple as a street thug. The bombings of the Temple of the Tooth and Central Bank as a terrorist. The repulsion of the Indians as a guerrilla. The peace talks as a human being with some vestigal reasoning capability. Now Prabhakaran is diabetic, obese, and wears his belt around his nipples. And he’s still trying playing the same oldies but badies. The same-old terrorism, over and over again. Bombing buses, shopping malls and train stations. Killing innocent people, mostly the poor. And throwing away Tamil teenagers as human bombs. It had some novelty in the 80s, some shock value in the 90s, and reached its peak with Al Qaeda’s suicide attack on the World Trade Towers. But now suicide bombers are a dime a dozen, and Prabahakaran is just a pathetic old man, banging a drum on the bus and wailing a sad song while everyone else is trying to get to work.
Posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 in death, Human Rights, LTTE, Personal, Politics, Security, Sri Lanka, tamils, terrorism, war.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
Spot on- great post.
:)
Super post. And the depressing thing is, I still hear “Summer Of ’69″ everytime I go out. It seems like we Sri Lankans never tire of the same old tune.
Maybe Hotel California is a better synonym.
You can check out anytime but you can never leave….
Hmmm! Finally you’ve come to your senses, taken off your coloured glasses and looked through the commoners eye. Good post, in fact great post.
I find Indi always speaking sense. Not just in this post.
Prabhakaran is a terrorist, everyone knows that, but even if we completely ignore the cost of doing that, killing Prabhakaran per se will not solve any issues.
Did killing Saddam solved the problems in Iraq? No, it is not a bigger mess.
This junta government boasted they ‘liberated’ East, but what they have done is chased off one terrorist and given it to another terrorist.
Killing Prabhakaran or Tamilselvan might give some temporary kick to the Sinhalese extremists, but that does not negate the fact that we are so far from any solution and I do not think Junta will ever be competent enough to provide any.
If dressed in a clean white shirt and don a marron coloured shawl (saatakaya) I am sure Velupillai uncle too would look like a decent politician of our times.
Great post Indi, I check your blog for updates daily!
basic contradictions in his posts about ltte that indi padashow avoids -
he ( imo rightly ) thinks ltte and its leader are evil etc etc.
but he supports giving ltte power for “peace” ( which imo no moral or pragmatic person could defend )
meanwhile he hates and try to slander ppl who try to defeat ltte without giving any substantial reason for that beyond repeating silly gossips or ltte propaganda ( real reason as i have said before probably has to do with frustrated hopes of his relatives re seeking political appointments with possibilities for corruption )
when questioned about these contradictions and asked to clarify, reconcile, and substantiate, his position he avoids doing so through various methods (ranging from climbing into his cocoon to attacking those pointing out the contradiction )
let see what he does here. :-)
“but he supports giving ltte power for “peace†( which imo no moral or pragmatic person could defend )”
I think I can reconcile the two sentiments.
If one cannot win then it is better to settle, even with an evil dictator.
History suggests that this war cannot be won by military means, therefore it is better to settle for something rather than be locked in a war of attrition.
Better to amputate a limb and save the patient than to try to save the limb and lose the patient.
The war can be won militarily. But the ethnic conflict cannot be solved by winning the war.
The war is a symptom of the ethnic conflict and as such it won’t permanently disappear until the ethnic conflict is resolved. The symptom if and when eliminated will only come back later. As far as I know the Sinhalese will never settle for an equitable federal or confederal solution.
This reminds me of when George W Bush announced the war in Iraq over a few years ago…
I doubt anything will permanently disappear, Nash. We thought the Nazis and fascism had disappeared in 1945, but today Europe is rife with Naziesque groups. Whether the war can be ended before the ethnic conflict is solved is debatable, but not unlikely. It all depends on what one considers to be victory. Regardless of Bush’s premature declaration. If victory is to be the destruction, capture, or conversion of every single militant-minded individual or group in the NE, and the destruction of Tamil nationalist aspirations, then no, that will not happen. I doubt that will happen even if the ethnic conflict was satisfactorily resolved. However, if victory is the killing or capture of VP, the destruction of the LTTE as a terrorist outfit, and the reassertion of the SL constitution in the entire NE, I think that is achievable.
The symptoms must be fought even as we cure the desease.
Even if VP and the LTTE were destroyed, as long as the ethnic conflict is not solved, as in the disease isn’t properly cured, another VP and LTTE will pop up sooner or later. So far no single government from the South has put forward a solution credible to even the Tamil ‘moderates’. As TNA MP Sampanthan noted until such a credible solution is proposed the LTTE will escape such a litmus test in the eyes of the Tamil community.
Furthermore a military victory over the LTTE on the battlefield is near impossible. If I remember correctly the LTTE took nearly a thousand casaulties in Jaya Sikiru before launching a counterattack, a counterattack that undid 18 months of hard fought gains in four days. Likewise right now the battles have been between the SLA and the conscripted auxiliary units of the LTTE. Their hardcore regiments have yet to be used.
The LTTE didn’t come this far solely on luck, its taken quite a lot of planning. There is a critical body of military scientists and strategists below VP that have planned the pre-CFA victories and are still busy planning the next stages of this war as they unfold. As far as I know the current offensive in itself will fail once the LTTE begins a well timed and executed counterattack. Taking the East was easy since the LTTE barely put up any resistance. As far as the LTTE is concerned they have no military depth in the East, and thus holding such territory isn’t a viable option. The North differs significantly in this regard. The LTTE have enough depth to hold back the current offensive. Look at the snail’s pace progress in Mannar that has and will take many months. All this progress will be swiftly undone when the timing is appropriate.
The LTTE can afford the casualties its taking now as it did during Jaya Sikiru because their manpower has had a dramatic boost over the past few years. The SL establishment’s guess of 5000 cadres or so is quite off and most likely cadre levels are well over 12000. Let us assume the SL military does manage to breach the Vanni, if the LTTE revert to total guerilla war and abandon the aim of defending territory they can still wreak havoc.
At the end of the day war is an unsustainable option for both sides on the long run. The LTTE can never militarily take over their Eelam and likewise the SLA can never defeat the LTTE. Only an amnesiac will believe a military solution can actually accomplish anything. The only way the conflict can truly be resolved is by sincere negotiations from both sides and a credible package for the Tamil people. (either a federal or confederal solution)
“Even if VP and the LTTE were destroyed, as long as the ethnic conflict is not solved, as in the disease isn’t properly cured, another VP and LTTE will pop up sooner or later”
Certainly. Similarly, as long as the war continues to polarise the populace, the ethnic conflict cannot be solved. Which is why I said “the symptoms must be fought even as we cure the desease”. It’s not an either/or situation here. The war must be won and the ethnic conflict solved in conjunction.
“So far no single government from the South has put forward a solution credible to even the Tamil ‘moderates’.”
Oh, I’m of the opinion that the last UNP government did that. And the LTTE did, in fact, fail the litmus test. Sampanthan and the TNA are just LTTE stooges and calling them “moderates” is as absurd as calling the JVP moderate. True enough, CBK stepped in and screwed things up, but the LTTE then lost the plot and continued to aggressively push the country back to war.
“Furthermore a military victory over the LTTE on the battlefield is near impossible. If I remember correctly the LTTE took nearly a thousand casaulties in Jaya Sikiru before launching a counterattack, a counterattack that undid 18 months of hard fought gains in four days”
This is a fair assumption if bodycounts were the only way keeping score. It isn’t. The reason for Jayasikuru’s failure wasn’t that we didn’t kill enough Tigers. Strategically, it failed because we couldn’t keep up consistent pressure on the LTTE across the spectrum of the conflict. Tactically, it failed because we concentrated on a narrow front and didn’t secure our logistics tail from flank attacks. Examples of this failed manouver (both in offense and defense) can be seen in Op Market-Garden in 1944 when the British XXX Corps failed to reach Arnhem, and the fall of Singapore in 1940 when the British were unable to hold off the Japanese advance through Malaya and Burma.
“Likewise right now the battles have been between the SLA and the conscripted auxiliary units of the LTTE. Their hardcore regiments have yet to be used.”
This is true. The real test will come when the LTTE reserve units are committed. However, the fact that the Army has been successful while the LTTE hasn’t committed its reserves doesn’t mean that the Army will be unsuccessful once the reserves are committed. Also, we cannot yet tell (since we don’t have the full picture) just how the LTTE will commit its reserves. If it is able to use them as cohesive units, perhaps a counterattack might be successful, but if the Tigers are forced to commit portions of the Charles Anthony and Imran Paandiyan as fire brigades to shore up holes in the line, they might be ground up piecemeal as were the Republican Guard in 2003 and certain Waffen-SS units in 1944 & ’45.
“The LTTE didn’t come this far solely on luck, its taken quite a lot of planning. There is a critical body of military scientists and strategists below VP that have planned the pre-CFA victories and are still busy planning the next stages of this war as they unfold”
While luck isn’t enough, it is important. As Ken Connor wrote in “Ghost Force”: “There are three classic tests of a good general — is he intelligent, is he ruthless, and is he lucky?” Perhaps the LTTE’s luck has run out. Secondly, and probably more importantly, the LTTE no longer has many of the planners and commanders it had in the pre-CFA battles. Thirdly, we do. The NE war took on its current form largely after the Second Eelam War which started in ’90, and while the LTTE had initial successes in that war, the SL military leadership was of a high quality, and these initial successes were reversed at Elephant Pass and Welioya. By the mid- to late-’90s we had lost that quality leadership in favour of incompetent top brass, and this resulted in the huge battlefield losses that ended with the CFA. SL military leadership has now swung back to the quality side.
“As far as I know the current offensive in itself will fail once the LTTE begins a well timed and executed counterattack. ”
Regardless of fanciful adjectives, this is just conjecture, and so I won’t get into a subjective discussion of this. Just because nothing has happened, it doesn’t mean that something will. The LTTE’s supporters foretold such a counterattack in the East, but it didn’t come.
“Taking the East was easy since the LTTE barely put up any resistance. As far as the LTTE is concerned they have no military depth in the East, and thus holding such territory isn’t a viable option. ”
Perhaps in hindsight it seems so, but another way to see it is that the LTTE recognized defeat and pragmatically retreated. It’s still a defeat. As for resistance, lack of it doesn’t constitute victory for the defender. In the invasion of Iraq, in 2003, the elite Republican Guards didn’t put up as much resistance as they did in Kuwait in ’91, but that doesn’t mean their retreat was organised or planned. Just as not every action has the same reaction, not every reaction has the same action.
“Look at the snail’s pace progress in Mannar that has and will take many months. ”
Don’t be fooled by deadlines of three and six months for the conclusion of the war. This offensive is slow and measured (setpiece, if you like), and that is as it should be. It is precisely to avoid the reversals you yourself pointed out about Jayasikuru that it must be fought this way. It is when you are outnumbered and outgunned (as the LTTE now is) that you need the dash and daring of cavalry. When the odds are on your side, you take only measured risks, rolling up the enemy. For the SL military to win, it must show consistency and steady progress (as it is doing), but for the LTTE to win, it must show daring and dash (and it isn’t doing that).
“The LTTE can afford the casualties its taking now as it did during Jaya Sikiru because their manpower has had a dramatic boost over the past few years. The SL establishment’s guess of 5000 cadres or so is quite off and most likely cadre levels are well over 12000.”
To the contrary, the LTTE is suffering an acute personnel shortage in the military age group, though there has been a spike in its conscription numbers. You’re also wrong about the GoSL’s estimates — the current estimate is 7,000-10,000 regulars and around 12,000 auxiliaries. I think you’re quoting the propaganda numbers.
“Let us assume the SL military does manage to breach the Vanni, if the LTTE revert to total guerilla war and abandon the aim of defending territory they can still wreak havoc.”
Again, you’re being overly optimistic. The environment for a large-scale guerrilla resistance has passed. For this, the LTTE will need safe haven and a guaranteed logistical supply. If it loses the Wanni and the coastline, it will have neither. A guerrilla campaign cannot sustain itself for long without these factors. When the East fell, there were predictions of renewed guerrilla warfare, but that hasn’t materialised.
“At the end of the day war is an unsustainable option for both sides on the long run.”
No one’s talking about the long run here.
“The LTTE can never militarily take over their Eelam and likewise the SLA can never defeat the LTTE.”
While I agree with the first part, I’m open-minded about the second. As I said before, we don’t need to defeat the LTTE, only to destroy it. The JVP was never defeated, just destroyed. When that is done, their goals are defeated — which is the important thing. The JVP is now in parliament, and there’s no reason a reformed LTTE can’t do the same one day.
“Only an amnesiac will believe a military solution can actually accomplish anything.”
I never said there was a military solution. What I said was: “The war can be won militarily. But the ethnic conflict cannot be solved by winning the war.” I stand by that.
“The only way the conflict can truly be resolved is by sincere negotiations from both sides and a credible package for the Tamil people”
Certainly. But sincere negotiations cannot progress as long as the war polarises opinion. We saw that under the last UNP GoSL. RW attempted to negotiate and offer a package, and instead of cooperating, the LTTE destabilised his government by assassinating soldiers and politicians and provocating Army troops. Ultimately they toppled him in favour of MR. Therefore, the only real solution to the ethnic conflict is to destroy the LTTE, kill VP, and offer the NE Tamils a satisfactory package.
And not necessarily in that order.
“Oh, I’m of the opinion that the last UNP government did that. And the LTTE did, in fact, fail the litmus test. Sampanthan and the TNA are just LTTE stooges and calling them “moderates†is as absurd as calling the JVP moderate. True enough, CBK stepped in and screwed things up, but the LTTE then lost the plot and continued to aggressively push the country back to war.â€
By “moderates†I was mockingly referring to Anandasangaree & Co. UNP didn’t respond to the ISGA proposal in any manner. Even if they disliked it, they might as well have proposed their own plans which never occurred.
“Strategically, it failed because we couldn’t keep up consistent pressure on the LTTE across the spectrum of the conflict. Tactically, it failed because we concentrated on a narrow front and didn’t secure our logistics tail from flank attacks.â€
It won’t take long before we see how much longer the SLA could holdup this pressure without suffering a successful counterattack. Even today the Palaly airbase and other supply lines could be interdicted in suprise attacks.
“This is true. The real test will come when the LTTE reserve units are committed.â€
Agreed.
“Secondly, and probably more importantly, the LTTE no longer has many of the planners and commanders it had in the pre-CFA battles. Thirdly, we do… SL military leadership has now swung back to the quality side.â€
I think the LTTE has just as good commanders as it did pre-CFA. I think the LTTE will successfully target the SL military leadership soon. Conjecture nonetheless.
“ The LTTE’s supporters foretold such a counterattack in the East, but it didn’t come.â€
LTTE supporters think many things, the LTTE is in no inclination to behave as its supporters desire but rather as the ground situation desires.
“Perhaps in hindsight it seems so, but another way to see it is that the LTTE recognized defeat and pragmatically retreated. It’s still a defeat.â€
An inevitable defeat. Its quite smart to cut your losses where victory is impossible.
“ For the SL military to win, it must show consistency and steady progress (as it is doing), but for the LTTE to win, it must show daring and dash (and it isn’t doing that).â€
Daring and dash will happen on the get go when least expected.
“ You’re also wrong about the GoSL’s estimates — the current estimate is 7,000-10,000 regulars and around 12,000 auxiliaries. I think you’re quoting the propaganda numbers.â€
Quite frankly there are no accurate numbers. Personally I think the numbers are sufficient that they can delay a counterattack or else they are truly done for.
“While I agree with the first part, I’m open-minded about the second. As I said before, we don’t need to defeat the LTTE, only to destroy it. The JVP was never defeated, just destroyed. When that is done, their goals are defeated — which is the important thing. The JVP is now in parliament, and there’s no reason a reformed LTTE can’t do the same one day.â€
So wait destroy is to eliminate their ability to wage war? Yet this doesn’t entail defeat?
“ Therefore, the only real solution to the ethnic conflict is to destroy the LTTE, kill VP, and offer the NE Tamils a satisfactory package.â€
Easier said than done.
Btw the unfolding war has a lot of known unknowns and unknown unknowns that could wreak havoc on the most clear of crystal balls. There are no experts, only lots of conjecture. If I have observed anything in the past decade it is that anyone that claims to know the future of the conflict is on some strong stuff. =)
“UNP didn’t respond to the ISGA proposal in any manner. Even if they disliked it, they might as well have proposed their own plans which never occurred.”
You said no GoSL had made a credible offer, I pointed out that the UNP did. Their response to the ISGA is another matter.
“It won’t take long before we see how much longer the SLA could holdup this pressure without suffering a successful counterattack.”
I’m afraid you’re speculating again. There have been no successful conventional attacks by the LTTe for over a year.
“Even today the Palaly airbase and other supply lines could be interdicted in suprise attacks.”
No they cannot be. A pinprick attack might close the airbase for an hour or two, but that’s it. No aircraft are based at Palaly so no Apura style raid can do any damage. To interdict the air resupply, Palaly would have to be destroyed. For that the LTTE has to launch a proper offensive. They cannot while the Muhamalai-Nagarkovil axis is insecure and the Jaffna Lagoon is in Navy dominated.
“I think the LTTE has just as good commanders as it did pre-CFA”
It’s not being reflected on the battlefield. A group of that size hasn’t the depth to replace a Karuna that easily.
“I think the LTTE will successfully target the SL military leadership soon.”
They’ve already tried and failed. So you’re being optimistic.
“LTTE supporters think many things, the LTTE is in no inclination to behave as its supporters desire but rather as the ground situation desires.”
True, so we have no reason to think that they’ll behave as you predict.
“An inevitable defeat. Its quite smart to cut your losses where victory is impossible.”
Whatever the adjective you use, defeat is defeat. You can’t win a war if you suffer defeat.
“Daring and dash will happen on the get go when least expected.”
Again, conjecture, and rather pointless to discuss.
“Quite frankly there are no accurate numbers.”
Then why discuss numbers?
“Personally I think the numbers are sufficient that they can delay a counterattack or else they are truly done for.”
Yes, it’s one or the other, isn’t it.
“So wait destroy is to eliminate their ability to wage war? Yet this doesn’t entail defeat?”
Not quite. Would you call the JVP defeated? However, they were destroyed by ’89. Gaining its goals will be victory for the GoSL.
“Easier said than done.”
No one said it would be easy.
“Btw the unfolding war has a lot of known unknowns and unknown unknowns that could wreak havoc on the most clear of crystal balls. There are no experts, only lots of conjecture. If I have observed anything in the past decade it is that anyone that claims to know the future of the conflict is on some strong stuff”
Of course, such is the nature of war. But it is a science, not an art, and as such I’ll put my money on informed projections rather than optimistic conjecture.
“You said no GoSL had made a credible offer, I pointed out that the UNP did.â€
What was UNP’s offer?
“ There have been no successful conventional attacks by the LTTe for over a year.â€
So because there have been no successful conventional attacks for a year it must mean such a capability doesn’t exist anymore?
“It’s not being reflected on the battlefield. A group of that size hasn’t the depth to replace a Karuna that easily.â€
Karuna has been overdone in the media. Quite literally all the commanders simply undertake directives from the LTTE’s military science division. They do not ever see the bigger picture. The minds that created the offensives are still there and working.
“They’ve already tried and failed. So you’re being optimistic.â€
Nope they will continually try… they’re quite the persistent bunch. I have no need to be optimistic. I have no stake in this war or civil conflict.
“True, so we have no reason to think that they’ll behave as you predict.â€
Of course not… no one can predict how they will behave.
“Whatever the adjective you use, defeat is defeat. You can’t win a war if you suffer defeat.â€
Then how did the Vietnamese win the war? The Tigers have consistently suffered defeats through the conflict along with their victories. Quite an ongoing process, neither side seems to have the upper hand for long. At the end of the day leaderships on both sides make quite a lot of $$$ through the war. VP’s children will study in Europe along with CBK and MR’s children.
“Of course, such is the nature of war. But it is a science, not an art, and as such I’ll put my money on informed projections rather than optimistic conjecture.â€
Informed projections have never been accurate in this war… if projections were correct the LTTE should have been wiped out numerous times before.
“What was UNP’s offer?”
A federal solution.
“So because there have been no successful conventional attacks for a year it must mean such a capability doesn’t exist anymore?”
If there had been no attacks (successful or unsuccessful) you might therefore conclude that the capability exists but remains unused. Since they have attacked and failed several times, it seems unlikely that they have the capability for any further sustained counterattacks. They probably have the capability for one last-ditch counterattack. But even one successful counterattack will not stop the Army.
“Karuna has been overdone in the media. Quite literally all the commanders simply undertake directives from the LTTE’s military science division.”
Karuna was just one example. Have a look at the recent deaths within the LTTE and you’ll get the full picture. And saying the LTTE has a military science division is like saying that they have an automated air defence system.
“Nope they will continually try…”
Good for them, but since they can’t even get Douglas Devananda, forgive me if I scoff.
“I have no need to be optimistic. ”
I have no idea what your needs are, but your conjecture on the future of the war is overly optimistic in regard to the LTTE’s hoped for success.
“Of course not… no one can predict how they will behave.”
So why predict?
“Then how did the Vietnamese win the war?”
By controlling territory, while the US concentrated on bodycounts — lowering theirs and raising the enemies. In the East the LTTE did the same, conserved their manpower and lost territory. In the end, the LTTE must control territory. There will be no point surviving if they lose control of the NE.
“The Tigers have consistently suffered defeats through the conflict along with their victories.”
Yes, but they’ve never been consistently defeated for such a sustained period.
“At the end of the day leaderships on both sides make quite a lot of $$$ through the war. VP’s children will study in Europe along with CBK and MR’s children.”
Sure, tell me something I don’t know. However, this has nothing to do with the war.
“Informed projections have never been accurate in this war…”
Then they couldn’t have been informed.
“A federal solution.”
I don’t think the LTTE will settle for a federal solution. Its too little too late.
“If there had been no attacks (successful or unsuccessful) you might therefore conclude that the capability exists but remains unused. Since they have attacked and failed several times, it seems unlikely that they have the capability for any further sustained counterattacks. They probably have the capability for one last-ditch counterattack. But even one successful counterattack will not stop the Army.”
If that is true why has MR and Fonseka delayed deadlines a bit further into the future.
“And saying the LTTE has a military science division is like saying that they have an automated air defence system.”
The LTTE has had a serious milsci division sometime in the early-mid 90s, that got institutionalized in the late 90s. This is the group of strategists that draw up the long term plans people like Karuna never got to see.
“I have no idea what your needs are, but your conjecture on the future of the war is overly optimistic in regard to the LTTE’s hoped for success.”
Its more I’m pessimistic about the government’s chance of success.
“Then how did the Vietnamese win the war?â€
” In the end, the LTTE must control territory. There will be no point surviving if they lose control of the NE.”
Agreed. The SLA has yet to take territory in the Vanni.
“Yes, but they’ve never been consistently defeated for such a sustained period.”
I disagree, the military is overplaying their victories. The current string of defeats is similar to what happened with the loss of Jaffna.
“Then they couldn’t have been informed.”
Precisely my point. =P
No Southern Government has ever proposed a federal solution formally as the solution to the ethnic conflict. They have said at various times that they intend to, but have never got down to making the proposal. I don’t think any Southern party will be able to stand the electoral test if they actually propose a proper, well-defined federal solution with irrevocable autonomy to the provinces as long as the military holds the upper hand. The structure of the state is, in that sense, fundamentally unalterable.
“I don’t think the LTTE will settle for a federal solution.”
Precisely. Which was why your suggestion that no GoSL administration has offered a solution was inane. It’s beside the point.
“If that is true why has MR and Fonseka delayed deadlines a bit further into the future.”
Because deadlines are just propaganda. Buyer beware.
“The LTTE has had a serious milsci division sometime in the early-mid 90s, that got institutionalized in the late 90s.”
Yeah, I know many LTTErs who should be institutionalized as well. Are you talking about the same institution?
“This is the group of strategists that draw up the long term plans people like Karuna never got to see.”
Yes, personal fantasy is generally best kept to oneself.
“Its more I’m pessimistic about the government’s chance of success.”
Based on your optimistic projection of LTTE success. Call it optimism of the LTTE or pessimism of the GoSL, but it’s just semantics. Either way, it’s ignorant.
“Agreed. The SLA has yet to take territory in the Vanni.”
Agreed, and the LTTE has lost territory in the East. And your point is?
“I disagree, the military is overplaying their victories.”
That would be true if one were to rely on the Army for information.
“The current string of defeats is similar to what happened with the loss of Jaffna.”
It isn’t. Jaffna was taken with heavy casualties to the victors, and with no pressure exerted in other areas.
““Then they couldn’t have been informed.â€
Precisely my point.”
I’m glad you’ve realised you’re uninformed.
Nash, for someone who apparently has no stake this conflict, you seem to be devoting an awful lot of time and energy to discussing it.
About Vietnam: the U.S. ultimately lost because much of the American public lost the will to fight for a nebulous cause in a country thousands of miles away. This is, for obvious reasons, unlikely to happen in SL.
The LTTE has survived, and perhaps will do so for many years to come. Which is not, in and of itself, a particularly stellar achievement. Many outfits that have taken on far more formidable states have managed the same.
Surely their objective is not survival, or even to wage war or create terror for its own sake. It is Tamil Eelam. And in that greater ambition, they have failed miserably. We can sit here and speculate about some massive counterattack expertly planned by their ‘military science’ division. And it may well happen. But honestly, what is the likelihood of the LTTE dislodging the SL army from the entire north and east? What is the likelihood of the IC recognizing a state led by the gang that murdered a former Indian Prime Minister by female suicide bomber?
On the other hand, the objective of the Sri Lankan state IS survival. And in this at least, it has been, all things considered, remarkably successful.
Nash, I think it’s time for you to realize that if ever there was a moment when the LTTE was useful to the Tamil cause, it has now long passed. Today, all they are good for is sowing pointless destruction and bloodshed, strengthening extremism on both sides, and prolonging the sufffering of all people in Sri Lanka, the Tamils in particular.
One more thing:
You dismiss Anandasangaree as a stooge. How dare you? At the very least, whether you agree with him or not, he is a man of unbelievable courage who deserves respect for it. Certainly more so than the diabetic diety of the Vanni that you seem to have so much faith in.
Well said!! Great post!!
Even though I disagree with the his sentiment, I am well impressed by Sittingnut’s ability to bitch about this rather excellent post by Indi.
Even though VP is the consummate evil bastard, we are never going to have a functioning, dignified peace process in place without the participation of the LTTE. Peace cannot be forced on people who have spent the best part of the last 4 decades being oppressed by both the ‘democratically’ elected SL governments and the LTTE who purports to represent them.
If the failures of the Treaty of Versailles have thought us anything, it’s the a lasting peace is only possible when the relevant parties think they both came away with a win. Martyring the LTTE leadership and forcing peace in the North and East will only lead to cult status for VP and his cronies, which will in turn be seized upon by the next Tiger leader (if we are lucky), or Tiger leaders (if we aren’t).
As much as I hate quoting the US propaganda machine, ‘hearts and minds’ are the way to win this war. Not just the hearts and minds of the Tamil minority in SL but those of the Sinhalese majority, the IC, the Tamil Diaspora and all other parties watching. If a credible peace deal is tabled and in turn, most likely rejected by Velu, his last semblance of legitimacy will evaporate. Everyone will see him for the murdering bastard that he is.
But the key issue in that plan is a ‘credible’ peace proposal and that is something that no government had still managed to do.
So far in this decades long conflict not once has the Sinhalese South proposed or looked at a credible package to all parties let alone accept it. Hence the LTTE has escaped the litmus test of facing a credible proposal. Until such said proposal emerges the war will be continued. Quite a hopeless situation.
Wears his belt around his nipples ………thats fucking hilarious…..if VP read your post,he’ll die in shame……..
Have been watching current news on the rekindling of hostilities in Gaza. I do seriously wonder if Peace and giving the Tamils a seperate state will bring a new bigger set of problems in Sri Lanka.
Can you imagine a piece of shit like ‘Thambi’ having his own legitimate piece of land to govern.
While I agree with most of your post, I take great offence at the way you dissed Bryan Adams. FYI, the dude still rocks!… It’s not his fault that SL DJ’s are fixated on one song that he did 25 years ago. sigh!
jack point:
i appreciate your attempt at reconciling indi.padashow’s contradiction
however it fails.
in the first place when you say “this war cannot be won by military” you are making a subjective statement (whether padashow will make the same statement is another question he has to answer ) .
i don’t know what qualification you have to make that statement . but i know that many ( not all but many ) military ppl ( and historians etc as well), who have qualifications, have expressed the opposite opinion . nor does “history say” any such thing. many guerrilla and terrorist movements have been “defeated”. in other words there is not objective medical opinion that we have to “amputate the limb”.
of course all this depend on what is meant by “defeating ltte”. may be you (and indi) should explain how you define that. may you define it as extermination of ltte? i will not define it that way . imo ltte is defeated when it cannot directly or indirectly control sri lankans in any significant way . they may still exist as a small terrorist group in hiding setting off a bomb occasionally but still be defeated .
quite apart from terrorist aspect of this war, there is no reason whatsoever believe that ltte cannot be defeated in conventional war over territory that they are fighting in wanni now.
after that sri lankan military has shown it can secure territories and population liberated quite well ( much better than some superpowers ) how many terrorist attacks do you hear of in jaffna under government control ? or in east after ltte was chased away? very rare.
so as i said ltte can be reduced to a small group in hiding setting off occasional bomb
is that good ? yes. imo what do you think ?
don’t you think that is better than either present situation or giving more power to control fellow sri lankans to ltte which (as indi so rightly says in above post ) is evil, in return for “peace”?
and on what basis are you saying we will get peace after giving ltte power ?
if there is any history lesson it is that fascists and terrorists wont make peace in any real sense as long as they are armed and believe in their ideology. they always want more that is the only way they can stay relevant . ltte so far has shown that it is exactly like that
(note – i have asked these questions in one form or another from you before. hope you will answer them here )
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anyway contradiction in indi’s posts i pointed out remains – indi says ltte is evil, but supports giving them more power, and un unjustifiably attack and slander ppl who are doing well against ltte
more defeats ltte suffer more stark this contradiction becomes . hence his recent hysterics
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btw any legitimate political solution ( as opposed to pr ) to address tamil grievance ( which should not be allowed to justify ltte crimes ) will emerge only after there is a democratic tamil leadership to represent tamils in negotiations in north and east provinces with other interest groups ( ethnic or otherwise ) of sri lankan democracy ( until then nobody has a right say “tamils prefer this or that solution ” , certainly not ltte or their parrots the peaceniks )
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java junkie:
you are making sweeping and complete unfounded judgments (you words “forcing peace” implying that tamils are fighting, your assumptions that defeat of ltte is defeat of tamils, ltte is supported by tamils, etc etc ) about tamils. and their present and future relationship to ltte terrorists. only racists do that. if you want to be one be one.
when your mindset get trapped in those racist categories your ability to think also becomes limited your comment is a good example of that limitation in action
Its a point of view.
If the war cannot be won then better to yield to the terrorist/dictator/murderer/pyschopath rather than be locked in a battle of attrition.
Can the war be won by military means – I don’t think so. Some people do. That is a different question.
Dude….the LTTE ARE a small group in hiding setting off the occassional bomb. See how far that gets us? You are an irritating git but in the spirit of what many of us are advocating we listen to you and try to see your point of view. The least you can do is listen to others with an open mind.
Nice one, Indi. What blows my mind is how some folk are so tunnel-visioned that they can’t see the forest for the trees and are willing to accept all manner of injustices perpetrated by the government just because it prosecutes the war – no matter the damage it does to us all and the country. The personal insults only reflect the personalities of the sickos who indulge.
Loved the humor!
Good one Indi!
Although you sometimes sound like a memeber of a peacenik NGO (or the UNP, God help you!) you do talk sense most of the time.
sittingnut:
Good point!
I too am amazed and saddened by this completely ridiculous, illogical, out of touch with reality, not-supported-by-fact, parroting-the-same-old-same-old line, unfounded belief held by the Colombo middle class, I-am-too-good-than-the-natives types such as indi and the majority of the Sri Lankan bloggers.
Before somebody goes off in a tangent; what I was referring to was the real possibility of defeating the LTTE terrorists within this year.
As far as defeating the LTTE militarily is concerned, MR is hell-bent on going after them, so lets wait and see.
Nothing I or any blogger says here is going to sway them from that path, and no one else is going to either. The proof of that particular pudding will be seen in the eating.
jack point:
“If the war cannot be won then better to yield to the terrorist/dictator/murderer/pyschopath rather than be locked in a battle of attrition.”
in other words you are willing to give upon all moral considerations and your duties to fellow sri lankans who will suffer because of this (and principles of human rights, freedom , justice , democracy as well) than engage in a “war of attrition”? that is your point of view.!
wonder if indi.padashow will subscribe to that?
anyway well sri lankns so far has preferred otherwise( thank god! imo) and most ppl ( some definitely more qualified than you to judge this ) do believe that war can be won .
i agree that” The proof of that particular pudding will be seen in the eating” but to give up before even trying to eat as you recommend is not the way
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there is not other option but to try to defeat ltte to anyone with moral standard or is pragmatic
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sophist:
“LTTE ARE a small group in hiding setting off the occassional bomb”
really? you call opening oppressing thousands of ppl in wanni ( and before that in east ) and controlling conventional military infrastructure ( like military bases, air fields, boat yards etc) not to mention running an extortion racket disguised as “police and courts”), hiding?
when i say reducing ltte to a small group in hiding, i mean reducing it to something like present status of eta in spain, algerian terrorists, or shining path in peru etc. which is quite different from present state of ltte
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i know it irritates some ppl in cocoons to hear sri lankan reality described and to see their hypocritical positions and contradictions ( esp with regard to ltte) exposed . well they have to deal with it or live in denial. if i don’t say it here someone else will in another media. you cannot run from reality and facts
i am alway open to hearing your replies but you have not said anything beyond above.
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btw do you have an explanation for indi.padashow contradictions; 1/ is convinced ltte is evil – 2/wants to give them power for “peace” – 3/unjustifiably slander those who do well against ltte.
if you do i would be happy to hear it :-)
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java jones:
are you related to java junkie above ?
anyway nice comment
now can you explain for tunnel visioned ones benefit you impression of the “forest” they do not see for the “trees”?
and do you believe that leaving ltte in present state ( with such evil ways as indi describes ) or giving it more power for “peace” is better than fighting ltte? do you believe that not trying to defeat ltte is justice and not injustice ? and not against all principles of human rights, freedom, and democracy ? or are you like jack point willing to disregard all moral considerations for ‘peace’? if so do you as a pragmatic person believe that such a “peace” will last given ltte’s history ?
i am asking because you comment passes judgment on those who perforce has answered them. and then carrying out the course of action implied by those answers- trying to defeat ltte
if you disagree with them you have to spell out your alternative answers . instead of talking is abstracts .
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why not write with evidence of injustices of government instead of vague references. though hopefully you have more than ltte propaganda to back you up . -
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btw hope indi who maintained the personal attack blog of sl blogesphere under the name padashow will listen to your comment about personal insults :-)
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nash:
“This reminds me of when George W Bush announced the war in Iraq over a few years ago”
these terrorist appeasers always rely on this false analogy .
as i said before iraq is not the only place where guerrilla or terrorist conflicts took or are taking place
many terrorist and guerrilla groups ( both racist and communist) have been defeated in many countries; peru, turkey, greece, indonesia, algeria, several central american countries, to name a few. esp in cases where the government is not a foreign puppet.
you like java junkie parrot and adapt the completely unjustified terrorist propaganda claim that ltte is fighting for tamils against sinhalese . as i said when you start wearing those racist glasses you cannot escape if you dont have the brain to make the effort
Sittingnut – No, I’m not related to Java Junkie. Don’t even know who he/she is.
Tunnel vision – the expression was directed at those who consider the ‘war’ to be the only course of action, ignoring all the other aspects of administering a country for the benefit of its citizens.
Not seeing the forest for the trees – I thought it would have been apparent from my statement: “…. are willing to accept all manner of injustices perpetrated by the government just because it prosecutes the war – no matter the damage it does to us all and the country.â€
Do I believe “that leaving ltte in present state ( with such evil ways as indi describes ) or giving it more power for “peace†is better than fighting ltte? do you believe that not trying to defeat ltte is justice and not injustice?†No – I would like to see the LTTE rejected by all (that is also ‘defeat’), but I would prefer that the LTTE be ‘defeated’ through the type of action that Ranil W was engineering – by getting them in a corner through applying the kind of international pressure that he was succeeding in doing when the alleged bribes made VP force the people there to not cast their votes. It looks like VP preferred Mahinda, as his course of action was exactly what VP wanted – to prolong the war and escape from that ‘safety net’ that RW was putting in place.
Injustices? Try ‘Helping Hambantota’ – stopping the investigation. Is the Mihin fiasco ‘justice’ in your view? What about Mervyn and ignoring the law in his case? There’s a whole lot more, and remember it doesn’t have to relate to war or the LTTE. Injustice is injustice – in whatever shape or form. Another example of ‘not seeing the forest for the trees’.
Personal insults – that comment was to express my contempt of those who have to stoop to insults and unfounded accusations to bolster their arguments. Did the cap fit?
java jones:
“I’m not related to Java Junkie”
good to know !
thanks for your clarifications
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good to know that you support defeat of ltte
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“I would prefer that the LTTE be ‘defeated’ through the type of action that Ranil W was engineering ”
i agree in theory that negotiations may be used as tactical device to weaken ltte but whether any failure in this tactic is attributable to anyone other than ltte or had any chance of success in reality is doubtful .
history of what happened which i will recount briefly below indicate that ltte wanted war and though the gosl was patient as long as possible it was impossible to not to resort to violence in the face of 8 months long unprovoked direct ltte attacks . you use the word “prefer”, government’s patience indicate it too “preferred ” to avoid violence but had no choice in the end.
you are of course free to disagree but please be kind enough to support your statements as i will do below
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first with regard to cfa, when we examine the actual facts it is difficult to see how ltte was weakening during cfa .
based on evidence, on balance ltte got stronger during cfa , they were able to rearm ( including getting airplanes and transmitting equipment among other military supplies), construct new bases (in sampoor, among others for instance), construct a new networks in jaffna town and colombo ( which they then used to murderous effect ) , destroy( as in killing ) military intelligence ( and other military including members of units that were used in deep penetration missions against them before ) , conscript ( including children by force, some of whom when they refused were killed ) etc etc.. i don’t think you can deny any of these indicatiosn of their strengthening.
compared to that only evidence of weakening is defection of karuna ( which may have happened anyway given his power and ambition as with some other tigers before ) . who anyway was not able to carry most of eastern bases with him , which remained loyal to ltte until captured by military
nor was the so called “safety net” effective in preventing any of the violation of cfa or even to get ltte back to talks after they walked away in april 2004.effect of “international pressure” on ltte about any of this was about zero. so what makes you think it would have been effective later ?
in any case it is naive to believe that anyone can defeat ltte by negotiations alone. ltte is not stupid. if they thought they are getting weaker by cfa they would have resorted to war ( they will do the same in opposite case too to win war ). so realistically, at most talks can be used as pr or tactical breaks, in the efforts to defeat ltte, nothing more.
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as for “alleged bribes (which ) made VP force the people there to not cast their votes”
it is a nice conspiracy theory (beating the white van one even ),but i for one has not seen any proof of this. ( frankly i don’t think vp will be influenced by bribes)
anyway as you say ltte was looking for a war and did probably think mahinda could be more easily blamed for starting a war ( as i wrote the minute i heard of the so called “vote boycott” few days before the election) , bribes or no bribes.
we see proof of that desire ( implications of which i and others commented on as they happened step by step) in what happened then from december 2005 to mavilaru incident
ltte started attacking military overtly (as opposed covert attacks which continued from day one of cfa ) in december 2005, which continued almost daily till april 2006. gosl did not retaliate to avoid war. gosl started retaliatory air strikes (only that ) after the attempt on army commander’s life ( in april 2006) . ltte’s direct attacks on military and civilians continued gaining in intensity . ( including an unsuccessful attack on a ship carrying 700+ troops in may 2006- which clearly indicated what ltte was aiming at, as i repeated at the time to the disagreement of some ppl commenting here ) gosl only started military operations only in august 2006 after mavil aru.
as i said all this indicate gosl had no choice but to defeat ltte using violence ( whatever it preferred ) and that it waited a long time before resorting to violence . as i said in my previous comment the present course of action against ltte is the only thing possible in the real world after all that. (btw all this was similar in pattern to other peace talks with ltte in the past)
so what we, sri lankans, preferred was not the question here ( most never prefer war ) , but what alternatives we had. we don’t have the option of living in theories that did not work as you seem to believe.
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as i said in previous comment you are passing judgment on ppl who took the only available moral and pragmatic course with regard to ltte .
to do that credibly you have to articulate another such course. unfortunately you prefer a course whose practicality does not tally with facts. .
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i did assume given the theme of this thread that when you referred to injustices you were referring to alleged injustices due to conduct of war . if you are referring to corruption etc. that is another matter .
by all means do write, if you think it will help, about corruption etc (with proof if you have them, with upto date information – for instance i think courts cleared the helping hambanthota) .
personally i think corruption is a side effect of government control of economy .more control and regulations – >more corruption . while prosecuting corrupt is good it will not stop corruption. mervyn should go to prison but if he and his son is replaced by jayalath jayawardenas ( and his son ) or mano ganshans things wont change .same with buffalo brothers with ranil and his cronies like ravi etc., and one set of allegedly corrupt politically appointed officials with another set (including indi. padashow’s relative ) .
but as you wish .and if you have proofs will look forward to read your posts
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in any case the argument that war against ltte is used to cover corruption etc ( true or not ) or that war hurts economy ( uncertain at best ), does not indicate that use of military against ltte is not the only moral and pragmatic course of action at present .
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“that comment was to express my contempt of those who have to stoop to insults and unfounded accusations to bolster their arguments. Did the cap fit?”
:-) since i dont support my arguments with insults. no it doesn’t ! (my arguments will stand on their own without the insults )
i do of course reply to insults with insults as my powers in that department allows( which imo, for good or ill, do not match the powers of personal insults used by indi.padashow in his other blog or even here ) but i am learning :-)
Sittingnut,
“in other words you are willing to give upon all moral considerations and your duties to fellow sri lankans who will suffer because of this (and principles of human rights, freedom , justice , democracy as well) than engage in a “war of attritionâ€? that is your point of view.!”
If you mean that if we give the LTTE its piece of land and the people under it suffer – then yes.
As I said, better to save what can be saved, let the rest go. Its gone to the point where if fighting continues for much longer the South will be in ruins. No point ruling over a unitary failed state.
Sittingnut,
“i agree that†The proof of that particular pudding will be seen in the eating†but to give up before even trying to eat as you recommend is not the way”
AS i said, this government will not be stayed from its course of action. I’m going to watch for another year or two, if not Adiós.
jack point :
“If you mean that if we give the LTTE its piece of land and the people under it suffer – then yes.”
ok i get the point that you are willing to forget all moral considerations and your duties to fellow sri lankans (and principles of human rights, freedom , justice , democracy as well)for what you think is pragmatic considerations.
at least you have the courage and honesty to admit to the moral bankruptcy at the bottom of the main peacenik argument for peace. ppl like indi .padashow and the rest do not have that courage, and are intellectually dishonest
hence the contradiction i pointed out earlier and their hypocritical avoidance of the issue.
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as i said your assessment of practicality of defeating ltte, or whether south will be in ruins, is subjective and i ( and it seems most sri lankans ) prefer ppl better qualified to judge that . (quite apart from the fact that they still have moral standards)
esp given the fact that letting “rest go “( as you rather callously put it ) will not guarantee that we will have peace (any more than giving land to hitler in munich in 1938 did not bring peace) , given ltte’s history
in other words to accept your argument on your own terms even a person without moral standards will require objective proof that war cannot be won and that ltte will abide by “peace” . so far you have not provided that
“I’m going to watch for another year or two, if not Adiós. ”
so even you are not sure about your assessment otherwise you will say Adiós now :-)
““If you mean that if we give the LTTE its piece of land and the people under it suffer – then yes.â€
ok i get the point that you are willing to forget all moral considerations and your duties to fellow sri lankans (and principles of human rights, freedom , justice , democracy as well)for what you think is pragmatic considerations.”
Ok, again yes.
Better in my view than risk ruin. Who know we could end up like Pakistan, Bangladesh, maybe even Kenya. Why take the chance? Safer to cut loss and exit.
“so even you are not sure about your assessment otherwise you will say Adiós now”
I’m pretty certain about my assessment, its the discomfort of moving that is holding me back.
“Better in my view than risk ruin”
decency and doing the right thing is worth the risk.
esp when ppl who are qualified to judge say that the risk is much less than you suppose.
“I am not especially afraid of terrorism” :-)
Well. You should not be.
Why? It’s only normal Sri Lankans that are affected by terrorism, and lost their beloved ones. You haven’t lost anyone, and you don’t use public transportation. And, I don’t see any logical reason for LTTE to target you, or your car in a terrorist attack. So, you have a right, to be not afraid of terrorism.
This whole post, prompts me to yet again re-post my favorite “explanation” of what LTTE is.
“There is one important lesson that we learn, unlearn, relearn and sometimes forget or are forced (not to remember): The LTTE does not want peace, does not understand peace, does not know the basic principles of democracy and civilized conduct,” Quoted from Daily News (Can’t remember the publication dates. It was related to the suicide attempt of Army Chief I guess)
From the day 1 I started blogging, and commenting on blogs, I stood behind that single principle. If we are to talks about PEACE, first we have to get rid of LTTE completely. Until then, it’s always better to shut our mouths about PEACE. The present government is doing exactly the same, and people like Indi, are pulling their legs.
I don’t think this is an honest post by Indi. If he really hate LTTE so much, as he write here, he should be open minded, and objective enough to support the ongoing military activities in North. But so far, I haven’t seen such a brave expression of ideas from Indi. He is still that old Indi samarajeeva, who’s depressed by Ranil’s loss in 2005 presidential election.
http://landlikenoother.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-talking-peace-just-not-going-to.html
Aiyo you stupid mutt. Can you get rid of all these pathetic arse-crawlers who are just trying to get a job with your father and think straight for a moment?
These haphazard bombs are not the work of big tabby PV. They are the work of the JVP, certain Indian Tamils … who are actually getting the shits and of course Muslim Tamils, who have got the shits and a bitof Jihad.
This war cannot be won whilesoever you continue not to understand who your real enemies are, most especially the enemy within.
Kadirgama was murdered so that Mahinda could replace Chandrika. The Tamils did not vote for Ranil to ensure that Mahinda got in and render Ranil impotent and I’m not referring to his sexuality. Now this, is the plan of PV because he knows that for every north-east Tamil that is dying, many more Sinhalese will die too, not just because of the Eelam cause as he sees it.
Stop playing with yourself (go on, try, just for a minute) and re-read your article…
You are more scared of the local Sinhalese police in Colombo any man with even half a brain (and I know you ain’t got a brain) would be dearie and it’s only going to get worse.
The rate this is happening, there won’t be any Tamils left in Sri Lanka to say boo but does that mean that there will not be anymore killing? NOOOOOO – you’ll just get on with the sport of killing yourselves unless another Tsunami beats you to it.
All your young soldiers and police that come back from the war being pack-raped by senior officers (yeah David Blacker – you know what I’m talking about) who then become rapists and killers themselves. There’s 20 million of you – when was the last time you looked to see if your population was going up or down.
The things are going – guess what, more Sinhalese are dying – and frankly for no good reason and in terrible ways – than tamils. When Tamils are dying, they have a sense, rightly or wrongly of feeling that its to defend their rights. When a young Sinhalese up-country, half literate boy dies – he is dying for the vanity of a lost and stupid race.
Yep – all this patting on the back because you wrote a GOSL sanctioned blog article – shame on you indi, shame on you, you sell out.
Good article. However, I disagree with you when you indicate that this sort of terrorism should not be feared. Unlike the 80′s and the 90′s, the attacks carried out by the LTTE today are essentially attacks of desperation. Very little is achieved by such attacks in terms of strengthening their bargaining power or strategic advantage. These are the very attacks that we ought to fear and take cognizance of. It is the cornered tiger (no pun intended) that wishes to inflict maximum damage on the hunters before ultimately being captured or killed. The LTTE are aware of the fact that their days are numbered. Thus they will increase the number of indiscriminate attacks around the country. What they do now, they do for posterity. So it is without specific agendas or calculations. It is terrorism at its purest, most fanatical form. And we should therefore fear it.
TYFR
Bloody basted No More so there is nothing to talk about him.