WALL ST. JOURNAL TELLS SLG NOT TO STOP WAR NOW

Wall street journal tells Sri Lanka not to stop the war now
(By Walter Jayawardhana)

Expressing its assertion against the Western opinion that the Sri Lankan war should be suspended, for the sake of trapped civilians, in a leading article, the Wall Street Journal said, among the few options Colombo is having the worst would be to stop the war now.

The leading article said, "The danger is that any let-up in the assault will give the Tigers time to regroup, thus extending the conflict and the civilian suffering even longer."

The editorial further said, ". A reminder of the danger the Tigers still can pose came with Friday's kamikaze aerial attack on Colombo with two small planes. That attack also casts doubt on the sincerity of the request for a cease-fire the Tigers issued Monday, especially since that proposal didn't include a promise to lay down their arms."

The Wall Street Journal further pointed out that the Tamil Tigers cannot be trusted to honour any of the promises they make as history would show: "Nor is there any guarantee the Tigers would honor a break in the fighting, let alone allow the civilians to leave. The last time a formal cease-fire was negotiated, in 2002, the Tigers spent the following four years violating it frequently. Tiger leaders must also be keenly aware that their human shields are their last remaining "defense" against a Sri Lankan army better equipped and trained than any in the country's modern history."

In no uncertain terms the newspaper argued: "The civil war has come at a high cost in Sri Lankan blood and treasure, a cost that may grow as this offensive reaches its conclusion. But the cost of stepping back from the fight would be higher still."
[ www.defence.lk ]

Strangely however, Sri Lankans are yet to make a comprehensive declaration of their opinions on whether or not the present humanitarian operations should continue. It is without any doubt that the vast majority of Sri Lankans overwhelmingly support the government's military initiative to eradicate Tamil tiger terrorism.

INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION...?

THERE's much speculation in Sri Lanka on the prospects of foreign intervention, ostensibly to provide a life-line to the tamil tiger terrorists. Increasing and already heavy pressure on the SLG not only to conduct military operations according to international standards, while preventing loss of civillian lives. Some of the oft repeated demands are simply laughable not only for their lack of practicality in a war setting, but also for the fact that some of these very nations are guilty of horrendous deeds of their own at some point in history. As often proven in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, even the world's most sophisticated armies are incapable of conducting military operations without causing civillian casualties in heavily populated areas.

However, there is increasing prospects for foreign military involvement in the final stages of the Sri Lankan humanitarian operations. As a result of the attacks by the LTTE against forcibly held tamil civillians when they attempt to cross over into government conrtrolled areas, both India and the US have offered assistance for their evacuation. While it is debatable whether India actually is capable of delivering on such an offer, the US Pacific fleet would be easily capable of making a decisive impact on the evacuation efforts, when backed by its enormous naval and air superiority.

In any case, the closing chapter of the conventional military operations will most likely end within days, while the LTTE attempts to revert to a guerilla mode. A well trained, armed and motivated Sri Lankan defence force awaits the next stage knowing fully well that in that stage, it is just a matter of liquidating the leadership to decimate the cohesiveness and threat level of the LTTE.

LTTE REVERTS TO ETHNIC CLEANSING

IN clear proof of the fact that as long as the LTTE remains armed, there can never be peace in Sri Lanka, the tamil tiger terrorists reverted to their trade mark attack strategy, ethnic cleansing.

The LTTE had been threatening a return to 'guerilla warfare' which term the terrorist group has successfully used in the past to sanitize the fact that in reality they are engaging in ethnic cleansing, an activity which makes its leaders and supporters liable as war criminals.

Yesterday, in a dawn attack against a sleeping village in Inginiyagala in the Ampara District, the tamil tigers slaughtered 2 civillians and mutilated 15 others.

Sri Lanka needs to bring these activities to the notice of the international community, and demand agencies such as the UN bear witness.

RECOVERING LTTE HEAVY ARMOR

SRI Lankan Defence Forces [SLDF] today recovered 2 no's 130mm artillery guns buried by the LTTE in the Puthukudiruppu area. These weapons, which appear to have been made in China, are brand new. However due to the close quarters fighting which is the way the final stages of this war will be faught, it is doubtful whether these long range weapons will serve any useful purpose for the SLDF either.

The guns are said to be worth at least USD 0.8Million each. Indeed a nice Independence Day gift from the hard working tamil diaspora to the SLG.

PLAYING WITH WORDS WHEN THE GOAL IS CLEAR

THE shady crooks and peacenik faggots are playing the words game, when our goal has been written on the wall. I am referring to the media proclamations stating that 'peace remains illusive' irrespective of an outright military victory in Sri Lanka.

Let's keep the record straight. Sri Lanka didn't start this round of violence. The LTTE did. They did it at a time and place of their choosing, with the declared intention of fighting a conclusive 'final war' to establish a mono-ethnic tamil only seperate state. The military operations the government is folliwing through with determination is a reaction to the unending provocations by the tamil tiger terror group. The goal of the military operations is to decimate the military capabilities of the LTTE and bring relief to Sri Lankans oppressed by the terrorists.

Peace, in this context, is a desirable outcome. It does not necesarily have to be or may not even be the immediate outcome. It doesn't matter. Once terrorism is crushed, and complete state control over all of Sri Lanka's territories are established, a gradual return to normalcy will happen. Even though a certain degree of unease may prevail in the terror ravaged areas for a reasonable period of time, resumption of economic activity will bring about stability to the region. Peace will come eventually, if and when the local population deems it desirable.

Even though peace is considered a quintessential for prosperity, one doesn't necessarily have to precede the other in that order. Neither has simply having peace proven to be the basis for prosperity. There are too many hot-spots across the globe where prosperity prevails even in the absence of peace, and similarly peaceful regions which have not been prosperous in recent history. Israel and most parts of Afrika are living examples.

Sri Lanka's has been a unique case, unparalleled in history and almost exotic in character. Sri Lankans are similarly a unique people, who have proven capable of deciding their destiny in ways deemed impossible by others.

In our case, Sri Lanka needs to clearly follow the military doctrine to the hilt. There cannot and will never be any prospects for peace as long as anyone else carries weapons and possesses the capacity to challenge the government's will. The LTTE must be crushed militarily, at any cost.

The government's task in the aftermath would be to create a conducive environment for economic activity and to enhance infra-structure in the country not only with a view to attract investment, but also the Sri Lankan talent who currently serves other nations. SLG should engage in talks to address any genuine grievences of minorities, but never concede priviledges which provide an undue advantage to any individual or group.

There are many opinions out there about what's best for Sri Lanka. The very same people who were eager to concede half of the country to a group of illiterate murderers now opine a desperate need for talks, when the need of the hour is action. The action needs to be decisive, backed by a clear vision. Let sustainable peace be a distant outcome, it does not need to be right now. Stability and revival of economic activity are more urgent and important.

EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL - NEW STRATEGY OF THE TAMIL TIGERS

HAVING exhausted the world and even the Tamil community's patience and now cornered into an inhospitable corner of the world, far from his mythological racist tribal jungle empire, the Tamil tiger chief is said to be preparing to cause mass homicide under the guise of a communal suicide by force on the civillians held at gun point by his remaining armed terrorists.

The rationale and thinking behind this alleged plan is clear; it is to cause the international community remorse for not bailing out the tigers each time they continued with relentless murder and mayhem. The LTTE chief seems to have a maniacal belief in a right for immunity from consequences for any and every criminal action, seen commonly in most criminals with large scale psychosomatic disorders. His periodical claims to being the 'sooriya devan avatar' or human incarnation of the god of the sun, is a symptom of such a disorder, commonly known as illusions of granduer.

Sri Lanka is facing pressure from all over the world, based on activities launched by the overseas sympathetic tamil diaspora. At the same time, foreign governments which host large expatriate tamil populations such as UK, Norway, Canada and Australia will be under a heightened level of alert for the possibilities of infilteration by tamil tigers on the run from the war zone in Sri Lanka as well as for potential domestic terrorist activity by LTTE sleeper cells implanted on their soil over the past two decades, now desperately attempting to attract attention to their cause. It is a well known fact that the only way the tigers have been successful at getting attention was by engaging in destructive activities, whether harming people, property or coaxed self-immolation.

The last stages of the military operations are unfolding as the SLA switches gears and tactics to weed out the terrorists from civillians in their attritional attacks. Irrespective of who says what, the Sri Lankan government's primary obligation to the nation is its national security and that prime directive must be adhered to at all costs. The citizens of Sri Lanka have paid a very high price for their nation's security and the government must obey the demands of its master, those who call themselves Sri Lankan.

DEATH BY FIRE, THE LTTE'S ENDGAME - by Rover

I found this very insightful article by Rover, which deals with the plathora of lies, deception and myth surrounding the 'self-immolating' activities engaged in by militarily defeated and desperate racist tamil terrorists and their supporters.

"..After 30 years of self-destruction of its cadre with the intention of terrorizing innocent civilians by creating suicide bombers, LTTE is now encouraging self destruction of their remaining cadre in protest of being annihilated for being suicide bombers and terrorists! Seriously, how smart is this? Here I analyze generally why people resort to death by fire, the explicit message the LTTE is trying to convey by this, and the futility of this primitive practice...

Read this very insightful article here http://roversterrain.blogspot.com/2009/02/death-by-fire-tigers-end-game.html?showComment=1234724340000#c7677065551608916360

DEALING WITH 'INTERFERING' FOREIGNERS

There are many who are expressing their opinions and supporting a 'go to hell' attitude for the Sri Lankan government to adopt with those pesky and 'interfering foreigners and colonials'.

The hard fact is, it is not that simple.

The Brits, Indians and others arn't getting concerned for nothing. And let's stop kidding ourselves; they are not being colonial, neither benevolent towards insignificant, black skinned tamils who speak with a horrible accent and have a history of even horrific brutality against their own kind.

Their problem is with their own domestic concerns. They've slept with mongrels and now its time to wake up with the fleas. LTTE getting decimated in SL could make the 'immigrants' in their own little home towns go ballistic, and the occasional suicide bombing could happen in a, let's say, a crowded train. This is a scary reality the western politicians who have sizeable and potentially dangerous tamil populations are waking upto and realizing with horror. And it is not because they do not care about anyone else. They care about themselves more, and their main yet unexpressed concern is for their own safety.

This is why it behooves SL to walk the diplomatic line diligently, softly and yet carry a big stick. NO can be said politely, empathetically while being emphatic.

Arrogance isn't clever. It is plain stupid. Especially when there's so much at stake and a much easier and better way is available.

[Sandman, in Asian Tribune]

DELIBERATE MIS-INTERPRETATION CONTINUES TO BE SRI LANKA'S ENEMY

THRU' most of the two plus decades of conflict with racist tribal tamil terrorism, Sri Lanka has had to fight an uphill batlle against interested and powerful international players. It was not only foreign governments themselves who engaged in these politically devastating games, but in later stages even foreign non-governmental organizations began to use such strategies to prolong the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's misfortune thru' it all was her relative inability to effectively defend against or counter the propaganda value of such deliberate mis-interpretations of fact, and in some instances absolute fiction created by some of these governments and organizations perhaps due to reluctance on the part of her bureaucrats who were left powerless by various previous SL governments.

Largely until the breakout of hostilities in the current 'Final War' declared by the LTTE and behind the scenes diplomatic support extended by the US and India, Sri Lanka had been not only ineffective, but also helpless. However, the current government has not only committed to a comprehensive military-politico strategy to curtail terrorism on her soil, but has also embarked on robust counter-propaganda activity.

While only a fool would assume Sri Lanka would be able to deal the coup de grace to the LTTE with its extensive overseas support base without having to suffer some diplomatic fall-out, the SLG also needs to restrain itself, in order not to appear too aggressive in responding to minor irritants. The recent diplomatic uproar with the Germans and the Brits could have been avaoidable cases. This is not to say we need to be survile to anyone, but to remind that we need not make enemies out of friends. Let's leave that to the LTTE, who've been masterful at antagonizing absolutely anyone and everyone who supported them at anytime.

Sri Lanka has already done the impossible, against all odds. In success we must find humility and understand where our strengths lie. Appearing arrogant in success will not only make us lose good old friends, but could also potentially disappoint and alienate our own diaspora.

Giving decision making power to the Generals for military operations brought us military success. Similarly the government should engage career diplomats and effective professionals to deal with the diplomatic scene which is gradually evolving into something less than friendly towards Sri Lanka. It very much looks like the right time to re-inforce Sri Lanka's achilles' heel, which has always been propaganda ineffectiveness, by employing capable professionals to aggressively project a positive image of its efforts to restore peace by eradicating terror.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK - 2009/2010

THE Economist forecast for Sri Lanka dated Feb 10th 2009 is given below

From the Economist Intelligence UnitSource: Country Forecast
Sri Lanka
Outlook for 2009-10

The government is expected to regain control of all territory held by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, Tamil Tigers) by the end of 2009. The ethnic conflict will decrease in intensity in 2010.

Unrest will continue in the Tamil community and the LTTE will carry out further attacks on civilian and military targets. Government plans to devolve power to Tamil regions will produce results only in the long term, if at all.

The president, Mahinda Rajapakse, and his brothers will continue to dominate the government. Mr Rajapakse's United People’s Freedom Alliance administration is set to secure re-election in the 2010 parliamentary election.

Real GDP growth will slow to 3.2% in 2009, before accelerating again, to 5.4%, in 2010. Weak external demand will be partly offset by the positive impact that improving security will have on domestic demand.

The rate of consumer price inflation is expected to remain rapid, despite weakening global food and oil price pressures. The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts that inflation will average 10.2% in 2009 and 7.4% in 2010.

As government spending on infrastructure investment falls, import growth will slow in 2009, helping to reduce the current-account deficit to 3.2% of GDP in that year.

We believe that Sri Lanka’s economic outlook is subject to downside risks. The exchange rate remains an area of particular concern.

Monthly review

In a string of advances in January Sri Lanka's military regained control of the LTTE's administrative capital of Kilinochchi, as well as the strategic Elephant Pass on the A9 highway.

A journalist critical of the government was shot dead by assassins on motorcycles in January.

Another independent media organisation's offices were vandalised by armed men.

Sri Lanka's foreign-exchange reserves dropped to US$2bn, or 1.7 months of imports, at the end of November, according to government data.

On December 30th the government announced a series of measures designed to stimulate and support the export sector.

Sri Lankans living overseas will be permitted to invest in Treasury bills and bonds in another effort to attract funds from abroad.

Real GDP growth reached 6.3% in July-September, boosted by a 12.4% surge in agricultural output as land in Eastern province was brought back into productive use.

http://www.economist.com/countries/srilanka/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=13003159

FROM OTHERS' FAILURES...

...COME lessons worth learning.

It should be to no one's surprise that the Americans want Osama bin Laden dead. So do most people who know what monsters like he stand for. But so far, the world's most powerful armed force has not been able to accomplish this feat.

Though there have been various accounts of US efforts to eliminate bin Laden, a very credible accounting of the failed efforts come from a book written by Daulton Fury, ostensibly a Special Forces soldier with experiences in Afghanistan. His book Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for World's Most Wanted Man [St Martin's Press, 2008] has valid lessons for Sri Lanka, in their hunt for an even bigger fugitive and a killer without par.

"...The military we had in 2001 was probably too cautious, and too wary of the PR and political fallout that could come with failure, to mount the kind of high risk operation that would have been necessary to bag Bin Laden. At other times, the puny number of Americans sent to Tora Bora makes one wonder if the American government was ever really serious about getting him. Fury's orders were to kill Bin Laden, and bring back proof. His orders were specific - Bin Laden was not to be taken prisoner. A trial would embarrass the Saudis, and perhaps miscarry. And with no reliable infantry to seize and hold ground, the possibility of capture was remote..."

Without beating the obvious to the death, the similarity in situations are stark and unavoidably revealing. Sri Lanka has carried the fight to the enemy with resolve until now. It must continue to hold that same resolve until the job is done and completed. Nothing less than the complete annihilation of the LTTE leadership would bring lasting peace to Sri Lanka.

Perhaps this is a book worth reading for the Sri Lankan leadership.

GETTING THE TALENT BACK TO RE-BUILD SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka Appeals to Citizens Living Abroad to Return, Help Rebuild
Reports Raymond Thibodeaux from Colombo

..With Asia's longest-running war drawing to a close, analysts say the next big hurdle is convincing Sri Lankans who fled abroad that it is time to come home. But that is exactly what Sri Lanka's government is setting out to do..

The government at times seems almost serious about it. In fact the President himself made an impassioned plea for Sri Lankans who migrated abroad to return home and become a part of the reconstruction effort. Going by such periodical and intermittant pleas that we've heard over the past few years, it seems that the importance of getting back the lost talent has been realized at the very highest levels of government and has remained a fairly top level priority.

Yet, besides the invitations and pleas, the government hasn't got its act together to lure back the lost talent. Perhaps the government too realizes that with the war in an unfinished state, the probabilities of success in such an effort are marginal at best. And the government would be correct in assuming so, since the large numbers of Sri Lankans abroad would risk returning for good only in a situation of relatively improved security, and economic stability.

Nevertheless, there are many who would voluntrarily assist in anything on a short term, if the government made the effort only to ask them. I personally know of doctors and other professionals who have returned to Sri Lanka at their own individual cost periodically to attend to the needs of our security forces and other affected people in the so called 'border villages' affected by tamil tiger terrorism. Sri Lanka needs to identify such individuals, recognize their deeds and attempt to retain their enthusiasm in the long term.

If Sri Lanka is envisaging a situation where her sons and daughters now domiciled abroad are to return voluntrarily to serve the mother land, she needs to understand the basic necessities that have to be fulfilled before the idea can become a serious proposition to the majority of such people.

-The anti-terrorism operations need to be prosecuted to a successful conclusion. Irrespective of what anyone may say, the large numbers of Sri Lankans abroad view the present anti-terror operations with satisfaction and consider them to be a measure of the present govt's seriousness towards eliminating this particular and persistant problem.

-Law enforcement also must be cleaned up, and the government must be able to guarantee a satisfactory level of individual security to all citizens. A nation which managed to bring absolute descipline to its fighting forces should be able to bring similar or better descipline to its police force.

-Sri Lanka should consider offering free or even honorary dual-citizenship to the people she wants to bring back to the country. A large number of those who are willing to consider returning are discouraged by the prospect of having to navigate typically convoluted Sri Lankan governmental bureaucracy. Assurances of streamlining processes will not do. Just give it freely to the deserving, if they are needed badly enough.

-Identify the most productive group to attract. There is a large population of young to middle aged professionals who would return to Sri Lanka if suitable schools could be found for their children. These are the people in the most productive years of their lives, possess higher education, valuable skills and experiences and hence should be considered the prime target group to be attracted.

The numbers of Sri Lankan professionals who would willingly return if these requirements can be fulfilled are significant, and can easily be the game changer for the future of our nation. A good starting point would be for the Sri Lankan ambassadors abroad to start asking the expatriate Sri Lankans the obvious questions such as what it would take to get them to return home.

All that it takes is serious action in place of serious sounding speeches. Speeches sans action will make the Sri Lnkan diaspora doubt the seriousness of the government and the credibility of its future plans to attract the overseas talent will suffer as a result.

WHY THE LTTE HATES SONIA GANDHI - by B.Raman

Angered by the reluctance of the international community, including the government of India, to exercise pressure on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to observe a ceasefire to protect the 150,000 Sri Lankan Tamils caught up in the conflict zone in the Wanni area, pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam web sites have kept up their attacks on the government of India and the Congress party. These attacks are in the form of unsigned or pseudonymous articles and letters to web site editors.

The attacks on Congress President Sonia Gandhi tend to be vicious. The Congress is projected as the 'Sonia Congress' and the 'Dynasty Congress' and the government of India as the 'Sonia Establishment'. She has also been projected as not nationalistic. On February 3, criticism of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi appeared for the first time. Pro-LTTE elements abroad seem to be unhappy with him for not exercising pressure on the government of India to stop the fighting in the Wanni area.

While there is no evidence to show that these attacks are emanating from the LTTE leadership, the fact that they are being disseminated through pro-LTTE web sites would show a silent nod of approval of the LTTE leadership for these orchestrated criticisms. Keeping in view the dangers of a negative impact of such attacks on the minds of irrational elements in the Tamil community, it would be prudent to strengthen the security for Sonia Gandhi.

The LTTE leadership and those sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora supporting it are increasingly desperate and bitter over the reluctance of the international community to exercise pressure on the Sri Lankan government to suspend the military operations in Wanni. The LTTE's calculations that just as the international community exercised pressure on Israel to suspend its military operations in Lebanon in 2006 and in Gaza recently before Israel had achieved its military objectives, it would exercise pressure on the Rajapaksa government to suspend the military operations against the LTTE have proved wrong.

LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's cynical use of the civilians to intimidate the international community into intervening is one more disastrous blunder committed by him and has lost him even the little sympathy which he might have had in the past. He is apparently in such a state of illusion that he does not seem to realise that whereas almost the entire Islamic world supported the Hezbollah and Hamas and exercised pressure on Israel to discontinue its operations, the LTTE has no friends left in the international community except possibly the African National Congress of South Africa.

He and his irrational supporters do not seem to realise that the world's attitude to terrorism changed after 9/11 and that India's attitude to terrorism became stronger after the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. How can India demand strong action against the jihadi terrorists by Pakistan and come in the way of strong action by the Sri Lankan government against LTTE's terrorism?

The anger of many of the Sri Lankan Tamils should be a cause for concern. While India cannot but support or at least refrain from criticising the counter-terrorism operations of the Sri Lankan government, it should remove the impression widely prevalent in the Sri Lankan Tamil community that but for its military assistance the Sri Lankan Army could not have succeeded. Large sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Sri Lanka as well as abroad have convinced themselves that India has been playing a double game making a pretense of supporting the human rights of the Tamils and, at the same time, quietly assisting the Rajapaksa government in crushing the Tamils.

In the absence of strong statements or denials from Delhi, the Sri Lankan government and its officials such as Gothbaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, who is the brother of the President, and Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, the army chief, have been mischievously creating an impression that whatever they are doing against the Tamils has the tacit support of India,
It is not advisable for India to be seen by large sections of the Sri Lankan Tamils as not only anti-LTTE -- rightly so -- but also as anti-Tamil. Indira Gandhi was the most popular Indian leader among the Sri Lankan Tamils. They felt that her heart genuinely beat for the rights and sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Large sections of the Tamil community are bitter that the present Congress leadership does not share her empathy for them.

How to have this impression corrected without giving an impression of encouraging terrorism? That is the question, which should engage the attention of the Indian political leadership and diplomats.

[Source: http://www.rediff.com/ ]

LIONS DECIMATE TIGERS AND THE COYOTES MOVE IN

AS the LTTE faces imminent and irreversible defeat, the usual predators have begun to lurk in the background. It is no secret that Sri Lanka's troubles had their beginning, and reached its maturity with the covert assistance of some individuals, non-governmental organizations, and even nations who at all times exploited our tolerance and democratic values to hurt us.

To the average Sri Lankan, Eric Solheim is no stranger. The Norwegian who has been a shadowy presence in and around places where Sri Lanka's destiny was decided, has had a hand in most of her misfortunes. Though it may be difficult to prove, this man would be considered by most to be guilty of providing opportunities for the Tamil Tigers over the past couple of decades which helped build the terror group into a formidable force and caused death and immense destruction in Sri Lanka. During all those years, Solheim and his Norwegian entourage have been very adept at portraying themselves essentially as peace-makers and earned a level of recognition in the world that is essentially meant for the likes of Mahatma Gandhi. Solheim may have fooled the world, but the Sri Lankan on the street knows he is no friend to us or our country.

Solheim was instrumental in formulating the illegal and fundamentally flawed cease-fire agreement [CFA] between the democratically elected Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, bestowing on the terror group powers of a separate state. At the time of signing the CFA, they moved fast and managed to push the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike to sign the document, contents of which were not known to her. The Norwegians had their lap dog Ranil Wickramasinghe, who has since brought down the opposition UNP to the level of non-existence agree to carry out the functions of a pawn to achieve this goal. The CFA was surreptiously intended to be essentially a starting point of a more vigourous and better prepared launching ground for seperation of Sri Lanka and creation of a Tamil only Eelam. Sentiments expressed by Solheim and his group at the time which are now surfacing, indicate that they believed a stronger and militarily better placed LTTE would be a suitable situation for any discussion for the settlement of the ethnic issue. Solheim also has been one of the loudest proclaimers of the existance of an 'ethnic' issue in Sri Lanka, and pushing world powers to accept the LTTE as the sole representatives of all Tamils on the island.

As our street-wise Sri Lankan would already know by gut instinct, Eric Solheim is no friend and in fact is worse than most enemies. It is his kind that gets close and then knives the unsuspecting victim. He does suit the LTTE lobby's own game plan, since he also operates by the same rules. If there is a difference between the average tamil tiger suicide bomber and Solheim, it is that the former is braver and is willing to die for his/her cause. The Solheims of this world are truly the coyotes and carrion birds who rejoice and fatten themselves in the death of others.

Currently Solheim is making the usual noises in India. He has told Indian media that the failure of the CFA was unfortunate. It is believable, since it was intended to form the basis for a much bigger game and that game didn't materialize since the LTTE chief was too impatient and mistimed his attack on the Sri Lankan security forces. Had he waitied until a more pliable and demoralized Ranil Wickramasinghe, who implicitly believed the Norwegians' theory that the LTTE cannot be defeated came into power, eelam could even have been a ground reality today.

Sri Lanka and her leaders cannot afford to continue to make the same mistakes yet again. Not only is Solheim the friend of our enemies, but is also the enemy of our friends, since they deny the rights of democratically elected tamil leaders such as Devananda to be representative of tamil aspirations to exist within a unified Sri Lanka. The likes of Eric Solheim need to be treated with utmost suspicion at all times and their minions monitored when on our soil. In the aftermath of the fighting these carcass feeders will descend on our shores yet again under the guise of re-construction. That is when the next game of subversion against the Sri Lankan state could begin. It would be wise for Sri Lanka to prepare now for these possibilities.

FOLLOW-ON AIR STRIKES DECIMATE SEA TIGERS

THE SLAF took the game to a new level. Follow on air strikes on the location where leading sea-tigers were targetted in Puthukudiruppu destroyed at least 3 back hoe machines and killed a large number of LTTE cadres summoned to cordon off the area.

The SLA has also launched a sustained artillery attack on this location.

Reports in from the battle front indicate the death of 2 LTTE leaders speculated to be Soosai and Ramesh and at least another 15 tamil tiger terrorists.

TROOP TRANSPORT OVER MULLAITIVU

A Russian built Mil17 flies over a troop carrier in Mullaitivu.

DE-CAPITATION STRIKES ARE A SOLUTION

SRI Lankan Defence Forces are closing in on multiple fronts and the news is that the LTTE leader Velupillai has hightailed it out of the war zone, leaving the rank and file to defend his 'Suriya devan' (God of the Sun) title and self-proclaimed 'sole-representative of the Tamil people' status with their lives. Quick to decamp when cornered, this guy has always been good at getting conscripts to take the heat and die so that he can get away safely.

Meanwhile the SLAF was given a tip off by 'Wanni sources', typically moles within the LTTE about a gathering of Tiger top rungers at a house owned by Soosai, the sea-tiger leader. Jet fighters struck the house while a surveillance aircraft kept vigil overhead to ensure that no one escaped. Soon afterwards, a back-hoe was seen desperately attempting to dig through the demolished house to access an under-ground bunker. A second air strike by the SLAF destroyed the earth moving equipment as well as causing more casualties to the terrorists.

OPERATION SRI LANKA REBUILD - VIEW FROM NEW DELHI

INDIA seems to be getting it right finally.

After years of being a malefic regional presence in the eyes of many of her neighbors, India is starting to see things in a new perspective where her smaller neighbor is concerned. In a region where she is flanked by nuclear armed rivals China and Pakistan, India is now starting to realize how vital it is to build a strong and dependable relationship with Sri Lanka, so that the smaller neighbor's very strong ties with the regional nuclear powers do not become a potential future source of threat.

It is with this view that India seems to have embraced a policy of differentiating Tamil terrorism from Sri Lankan tamils and deal with each seperately. Sri Lanka could not have asked for more, especially from the very nation which created the terrorist monster the Sri Lankans now have to eliminate by themselves.

India also sees a prminant role for herself in re-building Sri Lanka. Such a policy would provide India a foothold where she has slipped considerably in the past and an opportunity to earn the trust and gratitude of her smaller neighbor, a solid foundation for a long lasting relationship.

Here's a great article on India's apparent perspective, potential short and long term strateges in Sri lanka http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday_TOI/Sri_Lanka_rebuild_View_from_Delhi/articleshow/4058287.cms

THE TARGET IS CLEAR

Under increasing pressure and imminent death, the LTTE supremo is said to have found a hobby; pocket-billiards.