Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia

Towards the end of the war, when the Tamil diaspora and the LTTE saw no light at the end of the tunnel, they requested theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ politicians with whom they were alignedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to put pressure on theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lankan government to stop the war. Thereafter, delegation after delegation visited Sri Lanka to coerce the President for ceasefires. The President had said that,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ there was a timeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ when he had declined to answer the phone because of the incessant calls from foreign countries requesting a ceasefire .
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Towards the end of the war, a top European delegation consisting of David Miliband (UK)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and Bernard Kouchner (France) arrived and Hilary Clinton whoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was scheduled to be in the teamƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had got held up. So she hadƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sent a message sayingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that she is backing the two delegates.
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Their main request was to end the offensive against the terrorists. The irony was that when the war was nearly ending and the terrorists were besieged and on the run, the delegates were saying , ‘Now is the time to end the fighting’. They had even offered to go to the No Fire Zone to discuss this with the LTTE .
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The President had made it clear to them that there is no need for a cease fireƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  as the military strategy at that stage wasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on a ‘Humanitarian Operation’ . As the delegates had kept on insistingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the President had told them very politely, ” This is my country and I take decisions. Don’t try and lecture to me onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ how to run the war”.
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Miliband and Kouchner confirmed this at the press conference after the meetingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  saying, “…We tried very hard – we insisted and insisted for a ceasefire but there was no wayƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ we could turn the President aroundƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ …”
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By any chance, if the President had pulled out as his predessors in the past we would have been back in square one. And Gen. Fonseka would have withdrawn to the bunkers andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  been a non-entity. Gen. Fonseka came to the limeliight because of the President’s ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ firm stand against foreign pressure.
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Other threats brought against Sri Lanka were:
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a) Suspending funds from donor countries
b) Economic sanctions
c) War crimes
d) Withholding of the World Bank loan and so on.
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Further, the West not only refused to sell arms and war equipment to Sri Lanka but also prevented aircrafts carrying suppliesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ flying over their air space during the war.
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Therefore, at this crucial election the people should be proud of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ President whoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ had with stood all this foreignƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ‘aggression’.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚