Double gah. I actually watched the damn thing and posted a review. It sucks as a doc, but in my commentary I’ve tried to address the substantive issues it molests.
Gah. I haven’t watched this yet, but here it is. This is Killing Fields Part Deux. As you can tell from the title (Crimes Unpunished), it has an agenda, what I consider an unhelpful one, but I do think a lot of this stuff did happen. This suffering was ‘strategically’ set up to happen as part of the LTTE and Prabhakaran’s agenda (to engender exactly this international response) but it is what it is. People suffered and died.
The Sri Lankan government and Army did a lot wrong, but ultimately I agree with the LLRC report that the killing was proportional to the military (and social) objective of ending the 30 year war, and eliminating the most virulent terrorist group the world has ever seen.
That said, it is hard to look at children and anyone dying and see the word proportional anywhere there. I’ve seen kids that were quadruple amputees and parents covered in their children’s blood and these explanations and politics figure nowhere in there.
At the same time, however, it is dangerous to turn this into war porn to further a political agenda, which is what the last Channel 4 video did – mixing sourced and unsourced content around a conclusion they’d already drawn – that the war should have never happened. Which is wrongheaded. The war was going on for 30 years, for 25 years before this. What they were really saying was that the war should have never ended.
Anyways, I haven’t watched yet, so this is not insanely helpful. I guess I’ll have to, but not now. If you have the time, here it is.
Your blog finally went racist, would you accept if your sister or mother was attacked, raped and killed in this manner?. Very appropriate used by you “War Porn” is this what you say? This is a brutal abusing by the people who had weapons and power to totally distroy the entire community. You are a Sinhalese and would you have accepted this if there were alot of Sinhalese trapped in those area? Wouldn’t you all have stopped it? And finally do you think that the international community are idiots like you to write a blatant lie (feared, supporter or paid).
Think as a human and live as a human
From an anonymous human, unsubscribed you for life
When there is a war, civilians get killed. Its ugly but its the truth. Dragging a war for 30 years has a massive cost of lives. Ending a war costs lives too. But the point is longer the war goes on the acceptable cost of finishing it also goes up. Ending this was was a good thing. For both shnhalese and tamils.
There were things that could have done differently. Ex:- LTTE must have created a safe passage for civilians to exit war zone. Which did not happen. Because if they did it, war would have ended lot sooner at a much smaller cost. And they would also loose the leverage.
GOLS could have agreed for a ceasefire. Which would effectively prolong the war. and create more deaths. As the cost of ending will not be avoided but will only be postponed. Any attempt to end the war later would create the same situation in 2009. Which can be avoided only if LTTE let the people go. Which we know did not happen.
I have not watched this or the first video. As with videos, I am not in a position to decipher which part is true, doctored, and the explanation turned on its head. That said, it is important that we do not forget that all who died were citizens of Sri Lanka as it was an internal struggle. There has been no closure for most of the Tamils and all I appeal for is closure by way of a mea culpa and acceptances of wrongdoing on the remainder of the living, out of this conflict, so that they can get on with their lives.
Lets not forget the equal or more number of Sinhala youth killed in Southern conflicts, for who’s living loved ones and relatives there has been no closure either.
In that sense that is the proportion I am looking for. If we cede that Northerner’s require some form of truth and reconciliation, so must those of the South.
The ongoing Human Rights abuses in the country today, are a further matter which the Govt. must take full responsibility as they currently have ALL the power and nothing can happen lest they initiate or approve.
playromeo, dont take this the wrong way but the value of your argument went down quite a bit when you differentiated between Sinhalese and Tamil. Like you said, think as a human. Lets put race aside. I am not even going to pretend to know what the people in the war went through because its unimaginable. I dont have to lose a member of my family to know that its a terrible terrible situation.
Moving on to the actual documentary, overall, this is an appalling piece of journalism; totally unprofessional and unethical. Channel 4 is making itself a whore and the bias here is retarded.
You can imagine how awesome their research is when they keep referring to Gota as Defense Minister. Also, they start of by saying that the LTTE conscripted and had child soldiers but the majority of people in the country feared the SL army more. That is a load of bullocks. I am not a Sinhalese but the army has always been pleasant to deal with at the checkpoints etc. They were always friendly. It was always the cops who hassled. I dont know many people who actually live in Sri Lanka who feared the army over the LTTE.
The bias in the video is shocking. For example, they showed shelling but what they did not show was the LTTE who was setting up shop in hospitals and firing at the army. By no means am I trying to justify shelling at a hospital but just trying to show that the documentary would have been much more credible if it was more balanced. Loads of people will watch this an think of it as merely propaganda; but this shit happened and people have to look at it seriously.
Visuals dont lie and a lot of bad shit happened and I firmly believe that an honest inquiry/investigation should take place. If a few in the army acted like barbarians, then action should be taken; that’s the only way that true reconciliation will occur and law and order will be maintained in the future. Action taken against a few does not tarnish the image of the entire army or our country; quite the contrary I feel. I dont agree with either of the major political parties saying that they will not let anything happen to the army blah blah blah bullshit rhetoric. If someone committed a crime, they should be punished. Having this point of view doesn’t make me a traitor although some will go on about how ridiculous my point of view is.
I dont agree with the way the war was handled at the end. Honestly, I dont think I have enough information to make a proper assessment. But from what I know, I feel that it could have been handled a bit better. However, I am glad the war is over but I abhor Channel 4 for trying to create a new one.
Initial impressions:
– much improved editorial/journalistic standards than the first one (not hard)
– much better analysis of the evidence presented
– much less weight attached to potentially unreliable sources
– some pretty damning evidence of some of the things that probably occurred
– a very interesting section on the international community deliberately turning a blind eye
– a rather powerful final quarter, including a response to the GoSL’s own video (Lies Agreed Upon)
… until the last few minutes, when they pretty much reverted to sensationalist language.
So, still more of a case for the prosecution than an objective report, but this asks questions that demand answers if the truth matters, shows up the LLRC report for some of its failures and is much less disagreeable in terms of presentation. By the end, it was a little underwhelming somehow. No-one seems to have asked what the victims of the killings want, whether they are found to be war crimes or not.
Agree with a lot of what you say, but you’re commentating on the first video, not this one.
@playromeo, our sisters, mothers, fathers, brothers and friends are the ones who were attached, rapes and killed in this manner. To us these people are Sri Lankans and they are our brethren. All peoples of Sri Lanka suffered in 30 years of brutal conflict. This was the bloody brutal end of a bloody brutal war that ravages us for 30 years.
The perspective is simple. If you lost a family or friend, then you want accountability. If not, then it’s all collateral damage for the greater good. Hence the clear ethnic polarization on issues likes this.
“The perspective is simple. If you lost a family or friend, then you want accountability.”
isn’t it more like “If you lost a family or ….. and if the armed group you supported is gone, then you want accountability”?
as some one pointed out some time back, diaspora didn’t talk about “accountability” when LTTE was still functioning.