Just War Or Just. War.
Vivek Oberoi, Army and former LTTE cadres at mass wedding, Vavuniya
As the UN Report is blowing up my comments with unusually civilized discourse (for this crowd), I uh, I’m going to start a new sentence now. So, I was reading something else. Via Sullivan I read this guy Budiansky musing on what makes a war just. He says that all war basically sucks, but that “Two of these questions stand out above all: Is it likely to succeed? And is it likely to do more good than harm?” Though most local partisans don’t frame it that way, this is a valid way to look at the Sri Lankan war.
Sri Lanka did win its war against the LTTE. Whether it has done more good than harm is debatable, but I’d say yes. Was the war better than a democratic Tamil nation, controlling its own destiny and respecting the will of its own people? No. Was it better than a terrorist regime, attacking it’s neighbors to the south and north, oppressing its people, enlisting children and becoming a pariah state? Um, yeah. Answering this question means detaching the cause of Tamil nationalism from the cancer of the LTTE. Whether Tamils get a state is one thing, but insomuch as the war got rid of the LTTE, yes it has done more good than harm (mainly cause the LTTE did so much harm, to Tamil nationalism as well).
Budiansky continues:
People who know anything about war know that it is always, in some sense, a disaster. War at best means killing innocent people, tearing down the stability and economy of a society, brutalizing and desensitizing a generation of decent men, women, and children, flooding a country with unsecured weapons, and unleashing unpredictable political tidal waves…
A just war is not merely a war fought in a good cause against a terrible tyrant; there are an infinity of good causes and no shortage of terrible tyrants. A just war is one that can justify the destruction it sows, and the enduring responsibility it entails. Read More.
Was Prabhakaran a terrible tyrant? Definitely. Inventing modern suicide bombing, killing an Indian PM, Sri Lankan President, President’s eyeball, General’s balls, innocent civilians, opposing Tamil leaders, people within his organizations, check check and check. Also tyrannizing his own people, terrorizing other people, conscripting children, you name it. Prabhakaran is a terrible tyrant by any count. The only thing that gives him the slightest luster are legitimate Tamil grievances, but he doesn’t really deserve that halo.
Anyways, the question here is not whether the Sri Lankan war killed and maimed people. I personally find a distinction between innocent and guilty in these cases somewhat pointless, people are people and the Buddha says to have compassion for one’s enemies, but whatevs. Innocent people were definitely killed in the Sri Lankan war. The Army definitely did bad stuff. The LTTE’s jobs description was ‘bad stuff’ so I won’t even get into that.
I think we have to acknowledge that death, destruction and suffering because, as Budiansky says, “War at best means killing innocent people, tearing down the stability and economy of a society, brutalizing and desensitizing a generation of decent men, women, and children, flooding a country with unsecured weapons, and unleashing unpredictable political tidal waves”.
Even at best, the war was bad and anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that is lying to themselves to promote a further cause, which isn’t necessarily. We can accept that war is bad and still talk about whether a war is just or not.
Now, by Budiansky’s reasoning, a war is just not simply because the other side is bad. It’s just if it can justify the horrible cost of waging it. Namely, if you can win, and if you offer something better after. And the Sri Lankan Army did win, and the Sri Lankan government does offer a better future than the LTTE. I mean, a trained monkey would offer a better future than the LTTE, but I digress. By this reasoning it seems like a just war.
The LTTE did not kill the General’s balls now did they??? If they did, he must have grown a pair pretty fast because not only did he bust theirs in turn, but almost kicked his Commander in Cheif’s back into the deep dark depths of his bowels… Kudos! good post! :-D
The picture should read, “Vivek Oberoi, and over fed armchair generals gate crash former LTTE cadres mass wedding, Vavuniya.
Attempt to blame Fonseka for journalist Lasantha’s murder
The Defence Ministry has prepared a plan to blame former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka for journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder.
Eight soldiers currently serving in Vaharai, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee are to be used to give evidence against Fonseka.
The Defence Secretary has ordered that these soldiers be given preferential treatment within their respective camps and to provide financial assistance to their families.
An officer who had recently got transfer to Colombo from the North has been assigned the responsibility of making the necessary arrangements and protecting the secrecy of the plan.
According to the Defence Secretary’s plan, about two or three of the soldiers are to be arrested. The Army officer has made arrangements to give wide media publicity to the arrest of the soldiers and to arrest the rest of the soldiers a few days afterwards.
The officer who is currently in Colombo from the North has also been assigned the task of providing protection to the soldiers once they are taken into custody.
The Defence Secretary is planning on arresting two or three soldiers first and to arrest the remaining soldiers after a lengthy interrogation session of the ones arrested. The next step after gathering information through interrogations is to go before court to prove that Fonseka had given the order to assassinate Wickrematunge.
It is learnt that the respective soldiers are currently being trained on how to give evidence in court against Fonseka.
The Defence Secretary during a media interview earlier states that he was aware as to who killed Wickrematunge and that details will be revealed in due course.
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ps. you may not want to believe this story but when it happens you will know that you read it first on lankanewsweb.com
Puhul hora karen dene
Sinhalese stage anti-UN demonstration in Jaffna
In a comic show of events, Sinhalese thugs bought from the south staged a demonstration in Jaffna Sunday, against the UN panel report calling for war crimes investigation. In several places in the Jaffna city they were seen forcing passing by people to sign petitions and those who refused were chased and manhandled by the military intelligence accompanying the ‘demonstrators.’ Even a reputed Catholic priest was not an exception, news sources from Jaffna said. While Tamils have to build up their own democratic polity for ‘reconciliation’ within a ‘united’ island is the reiteration of the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake, the Indian National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon’s position is that why should there be any qualms in Tamil Nadu when Eezham Tamils and Sinhalese make ‘home-made solutions’ in the island.
50-100 Sinhala thugs who have landed in vehicles near Kurunakar in Jaffna city on Sunday staged a ‘demonstration’ against the war crimes recommendation of the UN panel report and were engaged in manhandling passers-by when they refused to sign petitions.
The ‘demonstration’ was held with the support of the intelligence personnel of the occupying SL military in Jaffna.
The ‘demonstrating’ group stopped at junctions to get signatures from people passing by, and those who tried to escape were chased, manhandled and were brought to put their signature.
One of the victims was a Catholic priest in Jaffna, Rev. Fr. Xavier, who is the head of the reputed aesthetic institution of the Catholic Church in Jaffna, known as Thiruma’raik Kalaa Man’ram.
When the priest seen in his cassocks tried to escape by getting into the building of the Thiruma’raik Kalaa Man’ram, he was chased behind, dragged, and was brought to put his signature.
The group later marched through the Veampadi Road into the heart of the city of Jaffna. Residents and shopkeepers closed their doors. But the ‘demonstrators’ got hold of the passengers waiting for buses in the central bus stand, to get signatures.
Many in the public meekly put their signatures since the ‘demonstrators’ were accompanied by the military intelligence.
Those who tried to run away were attacked.
Already there were news reports last week that Sinhala thugs brought for disruptive purposes are kept in hideouts in Jaffna.
The show that 50-100 thugs brought from the south are enough to prove the subservience of Tamils in their own land and even in their own city, was demonstrated between 4 and 6 pm Sunday.
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eee gollo haree paw neda meya.. :D
[...] is a crime. If you’re murdering people and burning stuff it’s very hard to set rules. In my opinion, the only major crime in war is not ending it [...]