Why We Failed in Our Foreign Policy

This is a contribution to the debate on Sri Lanka’s failed foreign policy and analyzes it in a macro context. Our foreign policy should be based on our national articulations - the strength of our history, culture and religion which are central to the understanding of our emerging political crisis. The characteristics of our policy framework as it stands now continue to draw unwarranted troubles difficult to overcome. It is about lack of smart diplomacy and sound communication, our inability to elevate our political skills to convey our inward and outward policy. Sri Lanka needs to find new ways of formulating a national foreign policy strategy that build new bridges, strengthen existing ones and certainly not burning bridges that are vital for the understanding of our point of view and rationale.

We have in the course of 6-months has alienate the West, who are the primary donors to our sagging economy, and crawled closer to the conventional antagonists of the West – China, Russia, Libya, Iran etc. to fund our war and seek protection at the UN. For decades we have exercised our Non-aligned status, deflecting international issues that drag us into picking side. It is no longer the case. The present environment is extremely unhealthy for a developing nation like ours that mistakenly sees itself emerging from the ashes gloriously after decimating the LTTE. In plain English, the bridges that successive Sri Lankan Govts had built with the West are now hanging by the threads and is not yet realised in Colombo. We are in knee deep in murky waters.

Examples of the impressions of Sri Lanka simmering in Western capitals are shocking beyond belief. US Sec for State Clinton accused us of ignoring a human catastrophe and the French FM thought we were drowning civilians and that military intervention to save them may be necessary. We will naturally seek comfort by alleging that Western Govts are highly influenced by Tamils demonstrations and lobbying, and they are extremely naïve. This argument has reached it expiration date and Sri Lanka must come to the realization very soon that we are running out of key friends and time. Thus far, no nation joined us in exclaiming joy at seeing the mass exodus of civilians to the cleared areas. More critically, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice criticized the Sri Lanka for not providing full assistance to all civilians who manage to escape the rebel-held zone, said "the fact that both sides have been shooting at civilians as they leave the safe zone is one gross manifestation of the apparent violation of international humanitarian law."

This reflects the nature of our predicament and the absence of large scale humanitarian assistance to ease our difficulties. And now the IMF $1.9 billion loan is likely held-up as consequence of our failure to adhere to conventional norms.

We have taken a firm stand by ignoring such indictment, which is short lived until we realize that the world is against us much more than we can handle. To explain this dire scenario we must understand that our current foreign policy is less about anticipatory engagement rather a post-disaster reactive one. In a foreign policy development environment, like we are in now, requires that we foresee the challenges to overcome, analyze, collect information, find solutions and implement with authority. If one component from this sequence is absent, the salient features of the conventional foreign policy development framework submit to failure as we continue to observe.

Our foreign policy has to incorporate the actions related to national security, safeguarding its interests and to form a 'union of nations' that agree with our intentions. However, it should never be build around actions of a small group of elites or power brokers, who have a different set of priorities than what we are presented with. Failure to adhere to the fundamental norms of foreign policy development is likely to place Sri Lanka with potential sanctions and charges of war crimes in our quest for eliminating terrorism. Weighing priorities such as human rights over national security is a hot potato for most countries including the US, that is said, it is not a cue that we should use too often justify our actions, and then the failure to communicate effectively why we do so and for how long has extreme consequences.

The experienced minds seem to have vacated from foreign policy-making, as well as the traditional operations of the Foreign Ministry. In this absence, nesters have moved in bringing in deadly contagious “incompetence” virus intend to pass along to all those seek a career in Foreign Service and policy development.

Triumphing over the ground realities begins by inoculating against this virus, it involves grasping the nature of foreign policy and what is entails at academic level to train fresh minds on the value of building bridges across oceans. That is the sound diplomacy misplaced right now.

Was there ever a reason for Eelam?

Lack of civilian deaths like in Gaza must be seen by Tamils as a likely reason to stop this terror menace permanently, but will they stop at that? Perhaps not. There are compelling reasons that this idea of a dream homeland for Tamils may resurface with a different face in time to come. There is telling indications from those who always profited from this bloody violence, are already throwing a diabolical spin on the defeat of LTTE. They could careless about the fact that LTTE terror brought abject poverty to Tamils and that the LTTE obliterated a generation of youthful aspiration that can never be retrieved. Their mission is to keep the flame of separation in Sri Lanka based on ethnicity is perfect.

Called them whatever you like, armchair pundits, freelance aspirants, agitators etc. are clamouring to extend their two-cent worth advice to the GOSL. Terms like legitimate right, Tamil aspirations, are conveniently thrown into the mix with the Eelamists choosy words. Allow me to be very clear, there can be no rewards for terrorism, not even a square inch of land. All citizens are treated equally, those who enjoyed privileges during the British colonialism have to recede for the sake of equality and those who engage in perpetrate terrorism to shine should get nothing.

Is it not a fair question to ask Wanni Tamils why they should get anything more of everything than rest of the country?

Dear Hon. Members of Parliament (Tory Caucus)

5 Sept 2006

As a Sinhalese-Canadian, I am writing to appeal to you to give serious consideration for the developing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Tigers, the notorious terrorists, are being beaten on the battlefield subsequent to a well-intended mission taken up by the Government of Sri Lanka to minimise casualties to both the armed forces and civilians as result of endless violations by the Tamil Tigers of the weak Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) contrived by Norway.

In spite of these battlefield defeats, the Tamil Tigers have found a source of inspiration from an unexpected ally, Norway. It is the country that we have come to admire for recognizing peace activism throughout the world, sadly Sri Lankans see their comradeship with the Tamil Tigers is a shocking display of moral denigration. How is it that Norway finds Tamil Tigers with a long history of brutal terrorism an appealing group to work with when there are several non-violent Sri Lankan Tamil political parties in existence working to find a solution to the Sri Lankan ethnic problem? Norway’s position is that if the violent is to end, the Government of Sri Lanka as no option but to seek “peace” with a terrorist group, who conveniently claims to represent all Tamils (?). They pursue an agenda of violent self-determination struggle for a separate statehood for “Eelam.”

Though not a member of the EU, Norway has become the biggest apologists for Tamil Tigers for bizarre reasons know only to them, even attempted to sabotage the EU decision to ban the Tamil Tigers. Unfortunately, they have concluded that among several alternative Tamil political parties that Tamil Tigers are the sole representatives of Sri Lankan Tamils. To supplement their conclusion there have been several instances of Norwegian military hardware and communication equipment being donated to Tamil Tigers, thus allowing them to remain active in the business of terrorizing Tamils and Sinhalese.

The Tamil Tigers, with their Norwegian backers are promoting a separate as an excuse to end terrorism. This is extremely acceptable to those who were born and raised in Sri Lanka, which is a country united by ethnic diversity, just as Canada is today. Would you as MPs of the Conservative Party of Canada allow Quebec to separate just because their aspirations run high from time to time? I guess not, Sri Lanka is not an island that can be split up based on the whims of Liberals and NDP to get elected to form the next government.

My letter to you has a specific purpose, that is to bring to your attention the following:

• Tamil Tigers (LTTE) are NOT the sole representatives of Tamils
• For 25 years Tamil Tigers have initiated a racist war against the Sinhalese committing ethnic cleansing, while the Sinhalese have provided security to over three million Tamils of all ethnicity to live among them in the Sinhala dominant South
• Tamils represents the third minority (8%) after the Muslims (10%)
  
• Tamil Tigers are a proven unreliable – discredited – murderous - terror outfit unsuited to engage in democratic politics to bring peace to Sri Lanka.

To seek a permanent solution the Sri Lankan Tamils must choose a non-violent leadership to represent them instead of LTTE to initiate a direct dialogue with the GOSL. Under the present climate, there is a clear mandate for the government of Sri Lanka to act forcefully against the terrorists. Given that, Sinhalese and other minorities in Sri Lanka refuse to negotiate with Tamil Tiger terrorists. (Similar to the refusal by the Afghan government and NATO forces along with the Canadian government to seek peace with Taliban forces in the Afghan conflict. It is already determined that the presence of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan is to deliver a blow to Taliban to force them to give up terrorism).

On the issue of seeking a non-violent Tamil partner to end the civil strife, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) represents the most appreciated alternative acceptable to the majority Sinhalese. The TUFL is led by V. Anandasangaree, a passionate politician with over fifty years of experience in Sri Lankan politics. He and his party represent the Tamil liberation since independence from the British and today its leadership is somewhat decimated by the Tamil Tigers for opposing its violent campaign. The TULF and Mr. V. Anandasangaree hold the best hope for bringing peace to Tamils.

Herewith I present to you the excerpts from a recent letter by him to the President of Sri Lanka – Mahinda Rajapakse, expressing his desire to find the way to resolve the conflict in a peaceful manner, which is fundamental in seeking a solution.

On Trial: Tamil Diaspora And Their Inconvenient Truth

I shall begin by stating that “there are no meritorious rewards for terrorism.” Our very persuasive response on the battlefield to this Tamil terror speaks volumes of the plain truth that many phoney scholars of the Sri Lanka’s conflict have for years failed to acknowledge. They were in blatant denial of the reality and were easily gullible to the flood of anti-Sinhala rhetoric while worshiping a Sun God that has scant regard for humanity.

The truth is that for decades the Tamil diaspora desperately tried to connect LTTE’s successful terror growth with the emerging signs of their nationhood. This claim was superseded by the enormous price on the Tamils currently living in Sri Lanka. Once a vibrant community has now become so destitute that a majority of them live on handouts from the government and aid agencies, a prelude of an economic basket case. As the war reports keep filtering-in, the new discoveries of this LTTE’s achievements on the ground the is realizing that this war for Eelam is just mythical and is very much in line with the Rama and Ravana yarn, a major fluff. The inconvenient truth that the Tamil diaspora failed to tell the world was that the LTTE is all about devoting its time, energy and resources solely on militaristic consequences.

Unfortunately for the Tamil diaspora, in their quest for Tamil Eelam, they hardened the tenacity of the Sinhala on Eelam, received no support from the Muslims, who are also a minority and did not share the ideology and never saw the need to shed blood for Eelam. The more suicide bombs and slaughter they committed, the nation felt need for the final onslaught against the LTTE just to put an end to their senseless killing and destruction. This national phenomenon, perhaps was improbable years ago, rose out of the collective desire to not to give into terror. While the terror mastermind never saw this coming, the Sri Lanka government sought resources both material and human to engage against the most resourceful, blood thirst, influential and best financed terror outfit ever. So began the “mother of all battles” against the LTTE.

After three decades of fighting, the Tamil diaspora watched their community being reduced to a maligned society in Sri Lanka and diminished their role as inconsequential in any national debate. More Tamils were wiped out of the earth by the LTTE than the Sri Lanka forces and lost its advantage as the second minority to Muslims. In fact, their living standards in areas where the LTTE reined supreme have fallen decades behind the rest of the country. The chances of blossoming future Tamil leaders under the LTTE’s affection for education were as pitiful in Africa.

Such was the apathy of Tamil diaspora, they could not shed a tear or even raise objection to having poor unfortunate Tamil siblings separated by forced drafting to serve the mighty Tigers until Eelam is achieved. But, the Tamil diaspora’s own nestlings escaped the wrath of LTTE and schooled them in foreign land away from the battle torn Tamil Eelam. How convenient for the Tamil diaspora to have steady supply of human resources to fill the tiger ranks with the funds they provided to realize their resplendent Eelam?

In reality, this death, suffering, destruction and displacement endured by the Tamils is the direct result of LTTE’s actions, which was thoroughly financed by the Tamil diaspora. The more funds trickled into the LTTE’s coffers the more violent and brutal they became and grew in confidence to build the only terror outfit with a navy and an air force (or air farce). The picture we get from the battlefield is that the giga dollars that they raised by threats and intimidation, has not gone for the welfare of the Tamils as they proudly claim. The schools, hospitals and public services are still financed by the Sri Lanka government, and even the utility services were drained off without paying a cent to providers. Nice going Eelam architects.

Despite the agonizing sorrow the Tamils in Sri Lanka underwent, the LTTE received undivided attention from the Tamil diaspora to become the cheerleaders and paymasters of the destruction of Tamil society in Sri Lanka to create the Eelam. The Tamil diaspora could not careless about the underprivileged Tamil kids being forced into LTTE murder squads as long as their own were in the safe heavens in the West. Could not care if their properties were seized by the LTTE and held for ransom as long they ensure that the path to Eelam paved with gold bought from their money.

It is amusing to watch this diaspora parading customary placards and shouting slogans against the only people capable of ending the Tamil agony under the LTTE – the Sri Lanka government. How ironic that their own funds caused the mayhem and misery for the Tamils. Instead they chose to preoccupy on diverting the world’s attention on non-existent “Tamil genocide” by the Sinhala. If genocide ever took place in Sri Lanka then they need to prove mass graves like in Nazi Germany, Kampuchea, Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo. Please point them. The plain truth is that none exists today with Tamils, but there are mass graves of Sinhala policemen from the late eighties after the LTTE rounded-up because of a blunder by the then government. That was genocide.

Other catchy terms like “Tamil grievances” and the “legitimate Tamil aspirations” are also thrown into the mix by the Tamil diaspora as a way of attracting naïve audiences around the world to give the impression that Sri Lanka still lives by a Sinhala colonial dominion. Little they tell the world that it is the Tamils in Sri Lanka who have piles of grievances against the LTTE and that the Tamil aspirations to live in peace and achieve the same living standards with the rest.

The Tamils living in Sri Lanka have paid a supreme price at the expense of the pathetic fallacy of the Tamil diaspora arguing that their aspirations are not bounded to the unitary Sri Lanka but via an arduous route to Eelam – the land reined by an evil empire run by the only living darth vader - Velu. Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) those who contributed to terrorism must be arrested and imprisoned upon their arrival at KIA. The ideal solution for Sri Lanka lies in splitting the Tamils living in Sri Lanka to treat them fairly and the Tamil diaspora to face the music for their reprehensible crime.

The struggle now for the Tamils in Sri Lanka is how to regain what they lost after this bloody insurrection and how to deal with the realization that the LTTE and their own residing overseas in solace contributed heavily to their ruination. While the Sri Lanka government is seeking a political solution for the “Tamil issue” let’s hope that yours and my rights are not trampled in the process. Let me be very clear, there are no shades of human rights. The rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka should be on par with all of us, nothing more - nothing less. Just because the Tamils (broadly speaking) took to arms, they should not be rewarded for wanting disregard for human life in their quest for their “rights” through terror.

A Letter to the President from Anadasangaree

His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa
President, Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Your Excellency,

Solution to the Ethnic Problem

I send my sincere greetings for the successful completion of the annual convention of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party to be held on 4th inst. As a keen student of politics, I remember taking part as an observer in the inaugural meeting held at the Colombo Town Hall fifty-five years back. Interestingly one of the resolutions passed at the convention was the adoption of “Swabasha” meaning Sinhala and Tamil as official languages of Sri Lanka. I understand that one of the important issues to be taken up at the convention is the “solution to the ethnic problem”. I hope the convention will give you a mandate to solve the ethnic problem to the entire satisfaction of the minority communities of Sri Lanka. Due to the ethnic problem the country as a whole has suffered enough and can’t go on like this any more. Several thousands of valuable Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim lives have been lost and is being lost every day. We have thousands of widows and orphans most of whom are not cared for by anybody. Billions and billions worth of valuable private and public property destroyed. Thousand of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims are languishing in refugee camps without any privacy, proper food and other basic needs for several years. Here comes an opportunity for you to ask your party that moulded you as a respected leader, as to whether they want an end to all types of killings and atrocious activities or to allow the ruthless killings and such other activities to continue. If you get a positive answer then ask the party to give you a mandate to solve it in the typical humanitarian way that you think is reasonable.

I am blamed by a few Tamil chauvinist elements that I am exposing the LTTE. The Tamils who are left in the lurch by their elected representatives speak only for the LTTE and keep mum relating to the peoples’ problems, mainly sufferings of the people. You are aware, the country too, that I face grave risk to my life from the LTTE for exposing them off and on. There was an air-raid in Mullaitheevu in which 62 students were killed. The casualties are no orphans. They are all students almost of the same age, 18 years. I do not condone the killing but I equally condemn the training programme organised by the LTTE for these victims. The propaganda all over the world deliberately done by the LTTE was that an orphanage was bombed and the casualties were orphans. The LTTE thrives on false propaganda. The LTTE has lost its credibility. The Tamils in the LTTE controlled areas of the North and the East are very much fed up with the so-called freedom fighters and want to be liberated from them. They are fed up with the claymore mine attacks and the hand-grenade attacks that cause death not only to the forces but to the innocent civilians as well, without being condemned by the TNA Parliamentarians who were fraudulently elected and have no right to be in Parliament. This is the democracy we have in our country today.

I caution you to be careful in offering a solution. The rivers do not flow backwards. The founder of your party the Sri Lankan Freedom Party was the late Honurable S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake whose dream was a federal constitution for Sri Lanka. He envisaged this long before we had any such problems. Your predecessor in office and the daughter of the late S.W.R.D Her Excellency Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunge had in an interview to Dr. V.S. Sambanthan of “The Hindu” on 15th November 2004 said, “Yes. Quite definitely yes.” To a question “Do you think Sri Lanka is ready for federalism?” His Excellency J. R. Jeyawardene on his retirement had in an interview said “Federalism is the only solution to the county’s problems.”

The government is committed to finding a solution based on federalism, as agreed at the Oslo agreement and the Tokyo declaration. Any deviation from this position will cause discredit to the government. The United National Party has offered to give you all support to solve the ethnic problem based on the Oslo and Tokyo declarations. The UNP candidate at the Presidential election, polled 49.7% of the votes cast, for a federal solution. The leftist parties are committed to a federal solution right throughout. What you need today is courage which I do not think is lacking in you.

The International Community hopes that your solution will be based on federal constitution. My suggestion to consider an Indian Model is purely to save some, who are opposed to the terms “Federal” and “Unitary” and to satisfy the People of Tamil Naad who are being misled by some Tamil Naad Politicians who will be compelled to agree to powers devolved on various regions in Sri Lanka like the power enjoyed by the Indian States.

As for the Tamils, on whose behalf I have every right to talk, the only solution acceptable to them, as an alternative for the demand for separation, is a federal solution. I strongly believe that there cannot be a compromise on this position and failure to find a solution on the basis of the federal structure, will once again leave the problem unsolved. I sincerely believe that the Sinhalese people will not expect the Tamils and Muslims to be satisfied with a solution under a unitary constitution, which did not grant them relief for the last fifty years and after so much of sufferings and loss of life and property.

Wish you all success.
Yours Sincerely,
V. Anandasangaree,
President – T.U.L.F.

A Response to Gareth Evans – A ‘R2P’ crisis in Australia

In his credential he claims that Evans is a “crisis expert” willing to indulge in assessing global and regional conflicts to lend his opinion to ease the pain of the suffering of the ‘victims’ of brutal suppression by states.

Evans fails to admit to the willing participation of Australia in the global terror war, gleefully engaging in fighting terror in Iraq and Afghanistan with the US, undoubtedly contributing to high civilian deaths. Surely here is an occasion for a ‘R2P’ intervention to prevent further loss of civilian casualties by the Western coalition sponsored terror on innocent civilians. Evans ignored that there were 230 civilian deaths by the NATO forces in Afghanistan this year thus far.

In Sri Lanka, we are fighting the pioneers of barbaric terrorism, ethnic cleansing, political assassinations and the destruction of the democracy that 90% of the population has enjoyed since independence regardless of the ethnicity. Evans, Sri Lanka is NOT your Darfur to meddle in to make a name for yourself.

According to Evans GOSL should back-off and let these cowards continue to engage in terror activities that brutalize and suppress Tamils by Tamil terrorists. Recent cleansing of terrorists from the East has brought about liberation to Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims there so that they can now begin to have a peaceful life. This is not seen by Evans as justice, but a defeat of social equality. Marching toward to terror bastion in the Wanni by the security forces is the next step to liberate all Tamils of this terror menace. Yet, Evans sees differently – a wonderful conjecture for a man claiming to see citizens on Sri Lanka liberated from Tamil terrorists.

Supposing we are act upon Evans’ hypothesis, we must then understand that he is very hypocritical. The Aboriginals of Australia live in such poverty that in contrast even though Tamils caught up in fighting are living better. The Aussie Aboriginals are worst of today than they were before the British landed there. Their land was robbed for farming and then fed liquor to them so they become invalid to stake claim to their own lands, as a result, their fundamental rights were taken away by the state that Evans served so proudly. Apparently he seems to suffer from amnesia on the suffering of the Aussie Aboriginals endured to this day and Evans has done nothing to remedy this gross injustice or does not want to address either. Think about it, we have a serious human catastrophe to consider ‘R2P’ in Australia to save the Aussie Aboriginals.

Well, Evans must realise that there are only few terror stricken nations like Spain, Columbia and Turkey that endures similar pain and suffering like Sri Lanka. We shall fight terror not with rage but with sheer determination and people like Evans ought to explain to the world why Australia grants Tamils terrorist refuge and permit them to raise funds freely in his backyard.

Sinhala Chauvinism Is Immortal And Relevant

The birth of Sinhala chauvinism dates back to the Buddha's time and over the centuries it maturated to what it is today as a measure to counter foreign influence that threatened its way of life, cultural and religious freedom. It has done wonders to protect the Sinhala civilization – only such one with Buddhist heritage in the world. Yes, the Sinhala nation is endangered and the Sinhala chauvinism is the only doctrine that will protect the nation and all people from devious evil doers. Throughout our history Sinhala kings showed accommodation to non-Sri Lankans and made them welcome. Thus today we have Tamil, Muslim ands other minorities living as equals with rights to free passage, ownership of property and vote in elections.

In recent times, Tamil zealots had a field day blaming everything ill towards any Tamil in Sri Lanka on Sinhala chauvinism. They succeed largely due to when Sinhala miscreants chose to abuse our traditions of tolerance and forgiveness. To claim a piece of land as their own Tamil secessionists needed something more than professing that they are a pure race with immense intellectual capacity having own language and a rich culture with a distinct identity - a lawful candidate for a separate land. Seriously? To sweeten their case they needed more than those ingredients to gain global attention and acceptance. They played the victim card, an age old trick to sucker idiots on both sides. In Sri Lanka, there were genuine victims of race related violence in 1983 and then those who perpetrated thuggery out of racial indifference. Again, as we witnessed, this was well instrumented to build the case for a fancy Eelam and to create a monster called Sinhala chauvinism linking it to fascism hell bent on annihilating Tamils. A pariah of this scale was a magnet to attract marginal politicians and journalist in India, Europe and other Western nations.

In the process, the Eelamists distorted the Sinhala chauvinism to the extent that it is highlighted by not-so smart pundits that for the survival of Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Sinhala chauvinism must end. If Tamils are to re-gain their lost privileges the Sinhala people ought to be punished for their “crimes” against humanity. This damming assertion excludes what we as a nation managed to achieve prior to colonial invasions and the place the minorities had in our society. The historical records show what roles they had and how engaging the minorities were, and recognition they received in turn. The core of the issue, as I understand today, is that Tamils are unwilling to accept their minority status in Sri Lanka and wish to be the dominant one in their regions and hence sought to cleanse others from their territories as we saw in the last two decades. So remind me who is exercising racial prejudice?

Looking back, we have witnessed in hotspots like Bosnia, Rwanda and Indonesia where race riots helped the migration of victims of violence to the West burdening them sufficiently enough to get “involved” in the conflict. Genuine victims or not many Tamils employed this card very effectively to garnish their claim that living in Sri Lanka is beyond hellish. As years went by, it became evident that many migrated for purely economic benefit and little do with safeguarding their cultural heritage in Sri Lanka. Tamil zealots exploited the circumstance to their best using these “victims” of racial extermination as the primary source of finance for their bloody war for Eelam. Their war cry reached its expiration date and they are on the deathbed. Thus, the history will record so.

It is a Herculean denial for anyone to suggest that the bedrock to the conclusion of the terror war is not Sinhala chauvinism. Its core value propelled the President to raise a force to counter a meaningless terror campaign and to fulfil the desires and aspirations of all communities. Sinhala chauvinism united us so that we as a nation not wither under the weight of 50 million Tamils across the sea and the might of Western threats, intimidation and financial sanctions. In short, we survived the onslaught of Eelam distortion and subversion.

It is this basic principle that will guide our nation to fulfill its potential in coming years. Without a doubt Sri Lanka has to and will recover from this epic brutal chapter in its long history in its next phase of nation building. A resurgence of the true Sinhala chauvinism is the key to ensure that all communities accept their significant status in the society and respect the right for each others peaceful existence. Everyone’s rights are guaranteed under the Sinhala chauvinism, if not bastardized by imbecile elements in the politico who chose to diminish the role of the stronger vibrant society under a majority that is rich in tradition and civilization.

One way to approach this is to dismiss any notion coming from European capitals about a handbook on how to deal ethnic issues. Our message to them is that we are no longer servants of any colonial powers of yesteryears. We can rebuild and prosper our way.

Fighting A War On Multiple Fronts (Within)

As a young man growing up in Sri Lanka I had a fascination with our majestic history. Every time I visited cities like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya etc I am always awed beyond description. What caught my eye was the elaborate defensive layouts spread across the lands the king of the day had to prevent invaders getting through. Our history has several records that detail how hostile invaders occupied the North Central region for centuries, one Chola king was Elara. He was defeated comprehensively by the majestic Sinhala king Dutugemunu and this feat by our military in the second millennia should be held in similar esteem.

It took corresponding level of planning, patience and raising an army that can break through fortresses. However, times have changed, we are not sure if king Dutugemunu had to endure terrorism to the scale we have today. More significantly, many will not realize that we are currently equipped with the minimal war machinery that a nation facing terrorism today. Sri Lanka is the poorest nation that has the lowest war budget having to deal with the most ruthless terrorists today. Yet, we are conquering all odds against us externally and internally. I wonder whether we have enough knowledge to compare the achievements of the yesteryear conquests and what we achieved today.

Though victorious on all fronts, a few missteps in the Wanni campaign caught my attention. This issue of so-called “bund,” the earthen wall with a trench, is worrisome. Overcoming these land barriers has been extremely contentious ever since the army countered these at every front as they moved forward. That is because they did not know how to deal with it effectively. We have an air force with unmanned aerial reconnaissance capabilities which should have given the army advance notice of the earthen walls that hampered the free movement of troops. In fact, the air force had videos showing how the LTTE using excavators digging these trenches and piling up earthen walls broadcasted on defence.lk for the whole world to see. But nothing followed up to stop the LTTE from doing their desperate actions. For example, the air force could have send the MI-24s to disable the earth moving machinery to aid the army’s march to the terror capital with minimal losses. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

Questions were again raised when the army’s 57 & 58 divisions were closing in on Killinochchi and the “rain” of LTTE artillery and mortars that landed on the troops when they went over the earthen wall at several fronts. The army commander was quick to blame the navy for negligence - letting a clandestine ship offload desperately wanting munitions that resulted in the many army casualties within days. Though the navy may be guilty of falling a sleep at the bridge for a short time, they acted promptly to sink the remaining cargo to bottom of the sea. The difficulty for the navy was that the sea off Mullaitivu is a passage to many merchant ships and Sea Tigers posing as fishermen, and the Sea Tigers are masters at masking such operations. Recently our navy had done a yeoman service literally destroying the Sea Tigers to make army’s war in Wanni undemanding for most part and this was a slip they regret deeply.

Let’s go back to the earthen wall. Had the air force forewarned the army, they should have seen what was coming up and had preparations to take them down efficiently. They saw the magnitude of the LTTE’s effort only when they reached the walls. It seems the army’s only option was to go over the wall like the trench warfare during WWI exposing the troops to the wall-top LTTE snipers and mortar range hidden far back. It appears that the LTTE knew the army would d. In short, the army carried out the only strategy to overcome the earthen wall was exactly what LTTE had in mind for them. How did they know the army was short on strategies? Waylay worked until the LTTE ran out of munitions, thanks to the navy sinking of that ship, though delayed.

Much of the agony of losing invaluable troops could have been avoided had the army and air force built an effective communication channel to work out the pitfalls and strategies to overcome the earthen walls. For example, they should have estimated the magnitude of the walls by air and the army could have surprised the LTTE by mobilizing a fleet of earth moving machinery to push back the walls into the trenches, thus, exposing the LTTE strategy foolhardy.

What was very amusing from a military engineering point of view is an insight to LTTE originality in desperate times. When they dug these trenches, the earthen walls were built in front of the trenches, making the army face the wall first and then the trench. Later when the monsoon rains come these trenches were filled with water and became moats. Did they plan for this too? I do not think so. So why they thought this was a bright idea still baffles me. In fact, what the moat did was to entrap the LTTE between the wall and the trench (limited to minimal manoeuvring) and making the army approach the foot of the walls with ease. The idea of building such a barrier since ancient warfare is the have the trench (or moat) facing the enemy, instead the LTTE built it behind them. Imagine the consequences if that had been done, the army would be still struggling at these earthen walls today. What amazes me is the army even could not take full advantage from the obvious gift that the LTTE presented to them i.e. using earth moving equipment raze them.

Furthermore, the air force’s unmanned aerial reconnaissance could have given the army the locations of the LTTE’s mortar and artillery position awaiting the troops when went over the earthen wall, fired at those positions and could have attack from air. Apparently that did not happen too, instead the army commander had a major blow out with the navy commander and now they are not on speaking terms. As a result of this blow out, someone very high up in the command ordered Israel’s Gaza strike like air assault on the LTTE positions for three to four days for the troops to finally conquer the walls and march towards Killinochchi. The questions for me is that why didn’t the army sort of the walls before things got completely out of hand and after many troop losses?

And what about the colossal troops sacrifice in Kilaly and Muhamalai on two occasions to hoodwink LTTE when the army knew that narrow stretch was impassable? What the army should have done was task the 58 division to bypass the earthen wall at Paranthan by going along on the beach to Elephant Pass to relieve the 53 & 55 divisions above.

No war is without mistakes, however, minimizing the losses is the key for many commanders. My wish is that this war when it ends will lead to a stronger force from lesson learnt. The three forces must be strengthened to ensure that such future insurrections never happen by understanding the nature of the problem and adapting innovative counter actions to make Sri Lanka what it was.

A Rejoinder to HRW’s Q & A on Sri Lanka

This rejoinder is to expose HRW’s attempt to conduct a fishing expedition to see which option will succeed in bring the GOSL to a kangaroo court of their liking.

In the absence of any other global issues like in Gaza or Darfur, HRW is calling for a “United Nations commission of inquiry to investigate violations of international humanitarian law by both Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the recent fighting.”

HRW confesses that “many people have criticized the UN Security Council for focusing its international justice efforts on African and Arab parties.” Therefore, HRW considers it is timely for them to render balance to this inequality by bringing out charges against GOSL to appease this constituency.

In order the drum-up potentials charges whether by a state ("fighting terrorism") or an armed group ("ethnic homeland") HRW cites the following:

“By Government forces: indiscriminate use of weapons such as heavy artillery in densely populated areas; and enforced disappearances of suspected LTTE fighters.

By LTTE: using civilians as human shields or otherwise placing them at unnecessary risk; deliberately firing on civilians seeking to flee the conflict zone; and the use of child soldiers.”

HRW acknowledges that “LTTE used the civilian population as human shields and government forces firing heavy artillery indiscriminately into populated areas,” and claim ownership to first-hand accounts and photographs from Sri Lankans trapped in the government-declared "no-fire zone" paint a grim picture of death from combat.

Rejoinder

When the GOSL has prevented media and NGO’s getting into the conflict zone, its only source for this “evidence” can come from the TamilNet, who masterly had still-photos and videos ready exclusively for HRW.

There is ample evidence to support this collusion by associating TamilNet’s propaganda claiming civilian casualties that coincided with flash HRW reports using the same casualty figures and also making references to detail photo imagery of shelling (without locations/dates/time) by the SLA from on-the-spot video cameramen.

However, when interviewed by ITN and Rupavahini, Tamil civilian accounts exposed that it was often the case LTTE shelling them to (1) implicate the SLA and (2) instil fear to stop civilians leaving the No Fire Zone.

Despite the absence of independent verifiable data that HRW could have produced, now they attempt to assign the entire UN estimate of about 6,400 civilian deaths solely to SLA shelling. Worse, no one in the battlefield ever did a body count, except the SLA of their own since LTTE deaths cannot be verified.

Rejoinder

What proof that HRW has or even the UN for that matter, if all these deaths were caused by the SLA?

In its preamble, HRW attempts to remind us that “international treaties and rules of customary international humanitarian law apply in any conflict.”

Claiming it is in possession of ‘facts and figures,’ HRW says it is “unaware of any efforts by the LTTE to investigate and appropriately punish individuals within its ranks who have violated international law. Its long history of serious abuses, including numerous attacks on civilians, strongly indicates that it has not.”

Rejoinder

If so, why is LTTE excused from similar charges against them?

LTTE as the other party to the conflict, either through its unwillingness to investigate or do not the have judicial capacity to do so clearly indicates that LTTE is a terror outfit dedicated only to death and destruction. Moreover, they neither have the command of the rule of law nor the capacity to exercise the rules of engagement.

In its quest for justice, HRW’s first option is to use the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the most acknowledged mechanism to bring suspected perpetrators from citizens of a state that is party to the ICC treaty.

However, fortunately for Sri Lanka, it is not a party to the ICC. HRW then argues that “ICC can assume jurisdiction if the UN Security Council refers a situation to the court, as it did in 2005 when it referred the situation of Darfur to the court even though Sudan had not ratified the ICC treaty.”

Rejoinder

In the case of, Sudan, the Security Council action had a positive vote by nine of the 15 council members and with no negative vote, or veto, by any of the five permanent members (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States).

Regrettably for HRW, Sri Lanka has friends in the UN SC in China and Russian Federation to prevent a vote going through.


Undaunted, HRW presses the UN to “investigate Sri Lanka, given the “poor record” of Sri Lanka with regard to conducting impartial and timely investigations into serious violations of the laws of war by its security forces.”

Rejoinder

HRW should know that a “poor record” is alone not sufficient to cause an investigation by the UN. If this is carried out, then the UN is burdened with bringing other nations, for example, like Pakistan or Russia (in Chechnya or Georgia conflicts) and looks like a weak argument based on hearsay and allegations, instead of eye-witnesses to collaborate HRW’s charges.

Realizing this, HRW then seeks another approach by suggesting that “it is possible to have an international tribunal to investigate and prosecute individual Sri Lankans implicated in serious crimes committed in Sri Lanka.”

However, HRW stops talking about bringing the leadership LTTE or its criminal elements to the ICC or to an international tribunal to investigate war crimes against them.

Rejoinder

This is not new and has been vigorously suggested by Bruce Fein, the former US AG and now an ardent defendant of LTTE. No matter how frivolous it may be, it could be symbolic for them to lay civil charges against individuals later in the US under violation of international humanitarian law.

Then, why not bring similar charges against the LTTE since HRW does not need the sanction of the UN SC unlike the case for GOSL?

At this juncture HRW seems to run out of legal instruments and finally admits that “even the existing international or mixed international/national criminal tribunals have no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Sri Lanka.”

Rejoinder

The critical question is what is the point of making all these allegations if HRW cannot get the attention of the world? Then, why waste our time?

Summary:

It is important to recognize that HRW reports are distributed widely, regardless of their truthfulness, in the West for political consumption to raise hell. Western Govts and media use them for convenience to escape from any blame in the event of inaccuracies or unsubstantiated charges. It is unfortunate that we have allowed the Eelamists lobbying to contribute to this mess. It is all about headlines for politicians, NGO’s and the media.

HRW’s inability to separate the actions of a state to defend and protect its citizens from terrorism, and a terror group that causes mayhem indicates its lack of knowledge of addressing national security needs raises serious questions about its hollow statements. What is lost in HRW’s position is that it is always a difficult balancing act to weigh consequences of preserving human rights vs. national security. The most notorious is the US Govts claim to defend its interests at the expense of the lives of foreign nationals i.e. in Iraq and Afghanistan where scores are detained and civilians are killed. Those incidents typically go under HRW’s radar and finds a small island nation like Sri Lanka is an easier target to bully.

Finally, HRW’s own statements fail to recognize that every war has casualties, and during the WWII millions where sacrificed to give birth to the freedom we have today. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is experiencing the same in smaller scale.

· Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that (a) GOSL abide by international humanitarian law, no matter what circumstances dictate to take measures to ensure public safety and (b) to form a team of legal experts instantly to challenge and resist any move to implicate GOSL and individuals of war crimes.