AS the final stage of the humanitarian operations are reaching a climax, international pressure on the Sri Lankan government is also reaching its own crescendo. And interesting other activities are taking place, which disturb the geo-political pecking order and leading potentially to chaos of a higher intensity.
Sri Lankan Defence Forces have decisively decimated the tamil tigers' fighting prowess. What is left is a brief series of skirmishes to liberate the remaining few thousands of civillians still held hostage by the LTTE. The Sri Lankan military commanders are determined to annihilate the LTTE this time and have recieved reliable intel that the leadership is trapped within the approx 5 kilometers of land mass now completely surrounded. Special forces and commando units are infilterating the remaining area and are being guided to specific targets based on real time intel from both air-borne surveillance systems and operatives on the ground. Attacks carried out based on such intel have completely wiped out all of the tamil tigers' heavy weapons arsenal.
Sensing the imminent endgame, overseas LTTE supporters are in over-drive attempting to halt the military operations by whatever means possible. They were successful to some extent to obtain a brief declaration of condemnation of Sri Lankan military action by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is suspected by most Sri Lankans as sympathetic towards the tamil tigers' cause. Clinton's remarks are more of an embarrassment to herself than to anyone else, due to the absence of a factual basis for them. Well organized Sri Lankan groups can be depended on to challenge her views openly in coming days.
Other nations too have entered the frey, in some cases potentially disturbing the military status quo in the region, which may not be to the liking of nations aspiring to regional super power status.
A French helicopter carrier [probably the Jeanne d'Arc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_d'Arc_(R_97)] which was recently on a port call in South India is reportedly in close proximity to Sri Lanka in international waters, and so is an Indian frigate. These vessels possess the ability to launch helicopters which can easily reach Sri Lankan shores within 15 minutes. The US Navy is also said to be on alert but are stationed further afar.
The French have also offered to assist with evacuation of civillians and their senior diplomats have made veiled threats of military action against Sri Lanka as well. It would be in Sri Lanka's interest to take these threats seriously and prepare her defence forces to take all necessary action to defend our nation's soveriegnty and her territorial integrity. It is a well established fact that the French can't piss straight if the Americans aren't there to hold their dick for them, so dealing with any Frenchy adventures should not be too much of an issue for Sri Lanka's veteran armed forces. To back down in the face of these threats would definitely amount to inviting further interference from the pansies of the Western world.
These developments involving western naval operations in their own back yard must make the Indians predictably uneasy and unhappy over the percieved lack of control in a pond that they have struggled to assert dominance for decades. And that creates opportunity for Sri Lanka to play a balance of power game to neutralize the entire circus.
The Sri Lankans have the option of calling the Chinese to send in a sophisticated missile frigate capable of decommisioning the old Frenchie, on a friendly visit to Trincomalee. That is guarateed to piss everybody off even more, but will estalish one solid rule; when it comes to our business, we make the rules.
When a status quo breaks, chaos happens. And there's always profit in it for those who know how to play the game. It definitely looks like the right time to ratchet up the rhetoric on our side.
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