...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.
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.
1 comment:
Keep up the good work TS!
Please keep writing. Even if we did not comment much, we appreciate your writing and dedicating this blog to a noble cause.
Hail "One Sri Lanka!"
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