KILLING THEIR OWN FOR SYMPATHY

Corralled like pigs waiting slaughter, the Tamil Tiger hyenas are doing the predictable; killing civillians in a desperate bid to garner international sympathy and bring in pressure on the government to slow down or hold off the pending coup de grace.

In the western nations where pro-LTTE demos have been strongest, public opinion is starting to build against the inconvenience caused by the actions of tamils blockading streets while carrying flags of a terrorist organization. Realization is also starting to dawn on ordinary people that they now harbor a large group of violent and unpredictable foreigners who may stop at nothing to gain what they want. Western political sentiment, though rarely expressed openly, is becoming contemptous towards the demonstrators as they realize that the demonstrations are in support of and aimed at saving the terrorists, and actually not on behalf of the civillians the Tamil Tigers are holding and killing to win sympathy from the western nations.

Over the past week subtle diplomatic manuevering by pro-LTTE nations and western politicians pressurized Sri Lankan government to scale down military operations while India also was glad see a slow down until the elections are over. Attempting to take advantage of the respite and in an effort to bail out the tamil tigers, three western nations, Britain, France and Austria tried to bring Sri Lanka to the UN Security Council table yesterday but their efforts were shot down by a much larger vote comprising UNSC permanent members Russia and China and others who consider the anti-terrorist operations in Sri Lanka to be a purely internal matter.

As the LTTE realizes that its overseas diaspora is now becoming ineffective at bailing them out as did the Tamilnadu politicians, they are limited to resorting to the final act that is now available to them; bargain for the personal safety of the tiger leadership with the lives of the civillians still held by them. At least 300 tamil civillians who attempted to escape the tiger area have been killed by artillery barrages fired by the LTTE.

Though there needs to be some sensitivity to geo-politics even when dealing with internal issues, the Sri Lankan government at this point must not be swayed too much by international opinion. The entire nation's future is at stake and there can hardly be any credible denunciations for taking the next most logical step towards rescuing the remaining tamil civillians and eradicating the tamil tiger menace from Sri Lanka.