Friday, January 23, 2009

DIFFICULT TIMES AND HARD DECISIONS

SRI Lankan Defence Forces are on a roll. Six divisions of highly trained and motivated troops are fighting battles that are the stuff of legend and stories told someday to grand kids yet to be born. Unprecedented in Sri Lankan history, over 150,000 troops are now engaged in the on going humanitarian operations.

In the face of the determined SLDF juggernaut the LTTE hyenas are scattering and taking shelter behind the civillian human shield. The UNESCO is demanding safe passage for the Tamil civillians held by the LTTE, while the UN is furious over a group of its employees being detained by the terrorist group.

In the meanwhile a naval engagement sank four sea-Tiger craft and the SLN lost a Dvora fast attack craft to a suicide boat explosion. Nineteen saiors have reportedly died in this attack. The navy's divers recovered sections of the craft and its advanced armaments.

Speculation was rife over the past few days that the top tigers are attempting to flee by air, possibly to Malaysia or Indonesia and the SLN was said to have fired on an unidentified aircraft in the Wanni skies. There's some confusion about the accuracy of this report, which has been denied by the SLAF which supposedly had a sophisticated surveillance craft airborne at the same time. Hon. minister of Parliament Karuna, the ostensibly reformed former mass murderer of the east claims that the LTTE leader is still in the uncleared areas. Most well known Tiger leaders are also said to be engaged in the combat zone.

At the same time, attacks against dissenting media is continuing with yet another day light assault against a well known news reporter and his spouse. These happenings led to six former US ambassadors to Sri Lanka write to Prez. Rajapakse seeking a restoration of true democratic values in the country even while having to deal with the scourge of terrorism.

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