Sri Lankans Are Dying In Mullativu
Photo from the New York Times. For the record, Somini Sengupta’s reporting kinda sucks and whitewashes the LTTE
What I hear from the Red Cross and UN people is that the situation is dire. About 250,000 civilians and LTTE are being herded into a ‘safety zone’ and sorted out with the bombs. The real asshole in this drama, however, is certainly the LTTE. They are preventing people going out and using human shields as policy. Don’t get me wrong, they are a terrible stain on this nation and the world and the greatest threat to the Tamil people. If only because the language now becomes about fighting terrorism, and that justifies any amount of collateral damage. The LTTE must be eliminated, but the sad effect is that this is being done by killing and oppressing the shit out of the Tamil people. Collateral damage.
What’s really sick is that the LTTE held up a convoy of critically wounded people for about 3 days. If you don’t know the LTTE, this is what they do. They do not give a fuck, and they suck. What also sucks is that the government isn’t that cooperative either, if only because it can’t sort out the LTTE cadres from the civilians. This government also does not give a fuck and is ruthlessly trying to win this war on all fronts, including violently controlling the media perception of it.
And perhaps, so be it. The LTTE got to a negotiating position but then proved that their only agenda was destruction. The great shame is that is average Tamil people being destroyed. By who matters little as it’s happening. The government is prosecuting this war and Tamil people are collateral damage. Given the existential threat of the LTTE, however, I think most Sri Lankans would say this is justified.
I think there is a better way, but I can’t articulate it and neither can the opposition. So be it. My thoughts and metta go out to everyone suffering in this conflict, from the innocent civilians to our soldiers and even to the LTTE cadres. May all beings be peaceful and happy. If not in this life.
There are no unicorns and rainbows in war zone. It is a place people die and kill each other. I don’t know those people we send out there to kill other people behalf of us, really care about civilians out there or not. May be they don’t. May be they do. And if they do, may be they are in more pain than we are in about those innocent people. And if they don’t, who we are to judge, maybe we would have behave the same way too, if we have a little bit of courage to go do the things they do up there.
Government may not perfect in this. They may have done lot of mishaps. Premadasa once said, if you are making errors, that mean you are actually doing something. Irony is he said that to Mahinda and the gang back then (If I remember correctly). Now it is time for him to say the same thing to Ranil and the gang.
I’m in no way condoning civilian deaths, but like Sam said it is a war. Yes those are Sri Lankan people we are bombing but what’s the alternative? The LTTE should not be using them as human shields but they are. These things happen, it’s easy for me to say because I’m not in those areas and have no loved ones there so it’s easy for me to say…but still what is the alternative? The US killed almost 250,000 people when bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to mention the German cities that were carpetbombed to oblivion by the Allies. Was everybody that died a Nazi or a supporter of the war? Probably not…but again what’s the alternative?
No country bombs their own citizens. Except us, good shit too. I always said there was a military solution. Bomb those fucks man. way to go.
@N
I don’t think it is fair to compare all things as one. For example we don’t know what is really happening there in Mullativu. As SAM has said maybe our guys don’t care about the civilians maybe they do. How can we know? The government don’t let the truth come out of the Mullativu jungle. I agree war means no rules. So we can’t expect the Collateral damages to be nill. But there are things that could always be avoided. For example the US could have avoided nuking japan for the second time. The British bombed german civilians deliberately and rather excessively. They could have avoided most of those civilian killings. So you can’t just say there no alternatives. There should be.
I’m not drawing a direct parallel but what I’m saying is that noone seems willing to provide an alternative apart from stopping the offensive (which would just let the LTTE regroup). In fact I don’t see you providing alternatives either? Look the LTTE has a huge propaganda machine, they were able to film the capture of army bases and send those images around the world. If the civilian collateral damage is to the scale that it is being claimed to be, why the paucity of evidence? Note I have seen the video of the shelling in the safe zone, but if that’s the safe zone why are there female LTTE carders visible in the video (they certainly look like female LTTE carders)? With the LTTE media machine I would have expected hundreds of videos and pictures that would have shocked the world if their claims were true.
On the famous line that we are the only country that bombs its only citizens…really? Are we the only country to ever have had a civil war? I suppose America fought their Civil War against China….600,000 people died in that conflict and black people still only got the right to vote in the 1960′s. There is no easy fix to our situation, but having the LTTE at full operational strenght wtih VP at its head means we will never get close to fixing our country.
You know Tamil life has been cheapened to an unbelievable extent in Sri Lanka when these sorts of rationales are put forth as perfectly reasonable. Even if/when the government beats the LTTE, I find it hard to believe that the same people who consider imminent death to thousands as justifiable will give much regard to the development of these peoples lives.
You know what’s even scarier? Its that Tamil life is viewed as so cheap by the LTTE who claim to be their saviours.
Again it’s not justifiable. While all measures should be taken to avoid collateral damage, sometimes it happens. If the LTTE was really concerned about the Tamils, they would let them go and fight the SLA without the benefit of human shields. Looks like VP has clay feet to say the least.
N, you’re losing sight of the civilians for the LTTE. I hope that when the LTTE is gone you don’t find another bogeyman to justify marginalizing Tamils.
SLA = government, representing all citizens, held to a higher account. It makes sense that you’re willing to forget that when you aren’t on the receiving end of the consequences. Putting tens of thousands of lives at risk so you can finish off the war asap isn’t justifiable.
Well neither is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk so that your gang of murdering terrorists can survive to continue murdering and terrorizing.
Come off it. The LTTE needs to LET THOSE PEOPLE GO. They are civilians being used as human shields so that those cowards don’t have to face the music.
Yes, those are SL citizens and the GoSL is responsible for them, and should do its best to ensure their safety. But the GoSL is also responsible for all the other citizens of this country, and it can’t shirk that responsibility and walk away from the situ just ‘cos the Tigers have hostages.
The LTTE wants a ceasefire and it’s using the civilians as hostages to get it.
The LTTE doesn’t care. It’s prepared to let those people die as a symbol. The civilians probably can’t get out on their own. So the military has to do something. But giving in isn’t the answer.
Of course they need to let those people go, but they won’t, they’re ruthless and they’re hellbent on either winning or totally annihilating everyone, no in-betweens. The SLA has a responsibility not to take the same approach, they can’t risk the lives of that many people like this.
Yes but the solution is not for the SLA to give up now that the LTTE is cornered. They should do all they (reasonably) can to minimize civilian casualties. At the same time however given the logistics on the ground it would be reasonable to assume that zero civilian casualties are an impossibility…especially given the ‘fog of war.’ Those are the ground realities, maybe these are different in the fairytale land that you inhabit.
“I hope that when the LTTE is gone you don’t find another bogeyman to justify marginalizing Tamils.” – come again? Where did I imply that I want to marginalize Tamils? If it was Sinhala citizens in the same situation with the JVP then my opinion would not change. I think all Sri Lankans should be able to live in a secular, federalized state with equal self-determination. That has always been my stand and no communities, gender, sexual orientation, whatever, should be marginalized.
yes, you can’t just say there no alternatives, but someone please pen in the ones applicable for this particular situation.
and how exactly can this ‘truth’ come out? by indulging a Neutral sri lankan media who’s collective love and trackrecord of achieving real progress/change in this country have been mixed at best and disgustingly perverted (and lacking any form of moral foundation) at worst, or a group of money-pumped NGO’s who over the years have done absolutely nothing to change the landscape of absolute ruin in the north, or a UN/ICRC who (allegedly) have a presence there to try and safely extract prabhakaran out.
and who should we trust for this ‘truth’?
almost 95% of the ‘truth’s (out of any outlet) we hear are controlled
(no i’m not on some ‘truth is what you make it’ sermon here either, but) you can fight for a ‘free media’/all that assorted bullshit thinking you can arrive closer to rest of that real 5%, but personally i’d rather let my imagination run wild and appropriate things myself than leave it to the hands a of bunch of people who are controlled by others with vested interest (and paradoxically, who, in reporting them, will hurt the chances of that change occurring in the first place). vested interest, much like the government’s itself, a government which has not done near enough to show that they are (even) dabbling with real solutions, but one which is winning the war against our first major problem
and so this is where it leaves us. but man, i sometimes cannot help but feel (in reading these blogs of the intellectual elite of colombo) that you have been batting on wrong end if you think the salvation for this country can come through a free media, NGOs, unicef, democracy, or Alternatives that are blowing in the wind. and have been so, for a long, long time.
Wow.
I am surprised and disappointed at how easily Sri Lankans will accept murder and blood. We are a supposed to be a country of Buddhists, trying to reach our higher selves. Is this the way to reach it?
Yes, the government may be winning the war but at what cost. Do you think Buddha would encourage this massacre? I am sure supporters will justify these actions in their own heads by claiming that it is 1. in self-defense, 2. that there is no other choice, or worst of all 3. its collateral damage.
If you believe and follow a doctrine you cannot pick and choose when and where you apply that doctrine’s messages. If murder is wrong, then it is wrong. If you do otherwise, then you don’t understand the meaning of the teachings.
Karma will return the results of our actions back to us unfortunately. I doubt the end of the war in this way will bring us any true peace.
Well Pathali Ranawaka said that this (the fall of Mullaitivu) proves that the Dhamma will prevail, and to oppose it is futile.
“I am surprised and disappointed at how easily Sri Lankans will accept murder and blood.”
Seriously? Have you been somewhere else for the past 30 years?
Manish,
Buddhism has nothing to do with this and Sri Lanka is not a Buddhist country and there is no such a think call Buddhist country. And humans are capable of taking decision outside dogma and often they do. People who try to justify a war using religion or oppose a war using religion often know nether of them.
I find it most surprising to see the hypocrisy of some people who act like there never ever benefited from murder and blood. May be you live in Canada or USA or even UK. No matter where you live, every country use murder and blood to provide the safety you are enjoying right now. It is hypocritical to act like you are above all bad things in the world, or you don’t benefit from it.
I guess it is simply the common sense people support the war this time. It does not mean people in Sri Lanka wake up every morning all jolly because there is a war. They don’t and there is not.
The passage below brings into perspective the justification of bombing civilians since they are being “used as human shields by the LTTE”.
” NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called “the Red Army†held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.
Some time before that, a similar crime was committed in England. The Churchill gang hid among the population of London, misusing the millions of citizens as a human shield. The Germans were compelled to send their Luftwaffe and reluctantly reduce the city to ruins. They called it the Blitz.
This is the description that would now appear in the history books – if the Germans had won the war.”
From “How Many divisions” by Uri Avnery: Israeli Peace activist, War Veteran and Journalist
Currently in Israel, 42% believe the war in Gaza was a success and the other 43% believe it was a failure not because of the massive civilian casualties but….because…they have not eliminated the Hamas. Sound familiar?
Link to Uri Avenery’s article:
http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html
Also a CORRECTION and source of statistic given above:
41% of Israelis said war in gaza a success. 41% said it wasn’t. Of those who said it wasn’t a success 37% said it was a failure because Israel didn’t finish Hamas off.
Also Manish’s, comment reminded me of this last passage from the same article:
‘What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet.
In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the State of Israel.”
Difference between Israel and Sri Lanka is that the Journalist has not been shot dead.
No, I think the biggest loss to Israel is it’s loss of status. The image of Israeli military brilliance established in the ’60s and ’70s is rapidly disappearing, being replaced by a blundering behemoth that can no longer fight effectively. The country that could send a commando force across Africa to rescue a planeload of civilians, that could destroy the enemy in six days, cannot rescue two soldiers from a neighbouring country or get rid of a few bloody rocket launchers on its doorstep. The other loss is it’s role as the heroic underdog, alone against the Arab despots and terrorists — now Israel is the oppressor.
Sri Lanka was never seen as either militarily brilliant or morally correct until the last few years. We can only hope we don’t lose what we have gained at the last hour.
The concept of Israel being seen as morally correct in the past, depends on which version of events one has been exposed to. Mahatma Gandhi, right from the outset, circa the 1930s condemned the illegal methods used in the establishment of a Jewish state. Very few in the world were aware of the stealing of land and displacement of Palestinians from then till now. That is the point of the article. Whose version do we believe? How do we see through the propaganda and doublespeak? What is the Sri Lankan government trying to hide from the world by forbidding journalists from entering the war zone or banishing independent observers from the region? What unspeakable acts are being committed behind this shroud?
The past is the past and cannot be undone. But as successive governments in Israel or Sri Lanka perpetuate the injustices and the crimes of the past into the future, one can only conclude one thing: the government and those who condone this strategy are not on the side of a just and lasting peace.
I don’t think military brilliance is something to be proud of in this day and age. I do know that war has caused a lot of pain, grief, violence and destruction no matter the place or time. But it should not be that which puts us in the news. Today’s warring will be borne by tomorrow’s children. How can we be party to that? At least war is making us talk. That’s a start. We really should be talking peace.
“I don’t think military brilliance is something to be proud of in this day and age.”
Perhaps not to you, but to many it is, so it’s rather pointless to expect your value system to be accepted by the world. I’m sure there are many things you are proud of that others would consider laughable. An efficient (if not brilliant) military is something necessary for a state, and if Palestinians and the Arab nations had had it they might not have suffered what they have. Military ineptness kills just as many people as efficiency; the only difference being that with the former, you kill as many of your own as of the enemy’s. Brilliance actually saves lives — eg Op Thunderbolt, or the Entebbe raid as it’s better known, saved hundreds of innocent lives with the loss of one civilian and one soldier.
“Today’s warring will be borne by tomorrow’s children”
Another convenient cliche. War itself doesn’t create war. It’s how you fight the war and how you treat the defeated that’s important. The mistakes made by the Allies at the end of WW1 created WW2. Those mistakes were not made at the end of WW2, and the defeated powers have grown to be peaceful and prosperous.
“At least war is making us talk. That’s a start. We really should be talking peace.”
Yes, but we should also be talking sense.
‘…so it’s rather pointless to expect your value system to be accepted by the world.’
The world in large consists of men AND women AND children. But it is run according to the whims of a few limited minds. Any ‘value system’ is debatable. Value systems are on the large part socially constructed. I never claimed to have my own ‘value system’. That was just my own personal point of view.
‘War itself doesn’t create war.’
Again, debatable. It depends on what ‘war’ represents to you. Sometimes the aftermath of a war extends itself to more ‘warring’, more wounding. It’s the false ideologies, social fallacies we must address.
‘…the defeated powers have grown to be peaceful and prosperous.’
‘Prosperous’ is often times, a misleading term.
My point exactly, Mata — most of what your statement contained is arguable and debatable. However, if you feel that it’s misleading to call Germany and Japan prosperous, so be it. I think Sri Lanka would be very fortunate to be misled into such prosperity!
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