A Few Aircrafts Worth More
than the Lives of Six Majors Twelve Captains and Two Lt Colonels of
the LTTE!
Dilrook Kannangara
The terror attack on the A’pura base was planned by Parabakaran
with the above reality in mind.
Six majors, Twelve Captains and Two Lt Colonels of the LTTE were to
kill themselves in a mission to destroy SLAF aircraft! This shows the
scant worth, if any, of the high ranking and accomplished LTTE ‘elite’
fighters. Imagine the worthlessness of a LTTE foot soldier! It is unimaginable
the complete worthlessness of Vanni dwellers in the eyes of the LTTE.
On the other hand the LTTE ensured that the two Cessnas that were engaged
in the attack returned to their bases safely, according to the tigers.
It is a psychological fact that suicides are desperate and frustrated
and see now way out of their miseries than to end their worthless lives.
The paramount importance of retaliation
The key to containing terrorists is the use of violent and swift retaliation.
This has kept Sri Lanka in good thread for the past two years and must
continue. Else the tigers will make it a habit to launch attacks every
time the security forces are successful. A good example is Israel -
the masters of retaliation; without retaliation, it would have been
overrun by the Hezbollah from the North, Fatah from the West, Hamas
from the East and Al Aqsa Martyrs brigade from the South! All tiger
attacks must be ferociously retaliated that will teach them the vital
lesson; mess with us at your peril.
Funny Liberation
Is the LTTE dying for Tamil liberation or for aircrafts? If such high
ranking cadres were to die while destroying machinery (however much
they are worth), their version of liberation is faulty at least. Those
perished terrorists indeed died in vain as the SLAF jets pounded tiger
bases in Vanni while they were perishing. Ironically, the human rights
humbugs also do not give a damn about these corpses or the individuals
who occupied them. This episode should give the defence authorities
a practical perspective of the importance/unimportance of human rights
of the ‘liberation fighters’ and their kith and kin.
It is even funnier how the federal freaks, separatists and political
bankrupts are vulturing on the tragedy in no time.
Use it or lose it
The limiting factor in SLAF crafts is flying hours. For instance the
MiG-27s had approximately a guaranteed 3,000 flying hours each at the
time of purchase/after overhaul. (SLN and SLA assets also have useful
lives.) Similarly Mi-24 gunships, Bell 212 copters, K-8 jets, etc. also
have specific useful lives measured in flying hours stated by the manufacturer.
However, due to persistent terror attacks and other reasons, their actual
useful hours have been reduced drastically. This is the bitter truth
the defence establishment should appreciate. Therefore the challenge
is to maximise the utility per flying hour. This can be achieved by
maximising the number of LTTE cadres killed per flying hour, the importance
and value of LTTE assets destroyed per flying hour, possible terror
attacks avoided per flying hour and the number of instances ground troops
were actively supported per flying hour. These numbers must improve
in the future to justify the colossal investments made on these crafts.
Obviously a slow paced war means underutilisation of these valuable
assets. This in itself is wastage. On top of that the untimely destruction
of these machines awaits them. Therefore, the government should put
these giants to proper use that would maximise the actual achieved benefits
per flying hour of each aircraft.
Else lose them while on ground!!
Although the security forces were brave enough to fight the infiltrators,
the overall handling of the matter was shameful. It makes no sense why
multi-million dollar killing machines were left to be destroyed when
they could have turned the tables on the tigers. Of course there was
a ground battle, but these machines are made for battles! Aren’t
they? This yet again proves the old adage ‘the sword that is not
going to war is only useful to chop jackfruit’. Gunships are even
useless for that!
It is no secret that the Mi-24 – Havoc or Hind gunships are heavily
underutilised (using it for ceremonial purposes is a waste) in Sri Lanka.
The “Havoc” version was so effective against Afghan terrorists
in the mid eighties that it was code named “Devil’s Chariot”
by the Mujahidin; the American code name - ‘havoc’ is a toned
down version of the original name. It was estimated that had the Soviets
continued their war with this piece of equipment (the “Havoc”
was introduced towards the end of the war) the first Afghan War would
have been different to the second war which is being fought now. It
can fly low without being shot down and take ground targets with fatal
accuracy; with night attack capability it can be used to harvest LTTE
cadres in hundreds when they least expect it.
The “use it or lose it” phenomena applies to political leaders
as well. It would not come as a surprise if the tigers attempt on the
lives of the President, the defence secretary and the tri forces commanders
as the tigers have unleashed the rules of the jungle. It is a simple
equation that engulfs the long term safety of the politicians as against
the terrorists – kill or get killed. At least this should motivate
the leadership to authorise the security forces to go after the LTTE
in a killing frenzy. Now the political leadership has antagonised the
LTTE beyond the point of no return, the President should take effective
steps to either prevail or perish. Public appearances should be stopped
until the tigers are put out of business. It makes political sense as
the President has not delivered what the nation wants and until he delivers
it there is nothing new he can tell the people. On the other hand, the
firebrand Prime Minister has proven to be more aggressive than the President.
False promises of the DS and the Army Commander and
the cost of backtracking
The Army Commander’s promise about the northern operations (which
he made before the Eastern liberation) has been a misstatement; so was
the statement by the Defence Secretary that “we are not interested
in real estate in Vanni”. They are now after real estate than LTTE
cadres. Had their stated plan been executed, the Mi-24 gunships could
have earned their worth (at least in part) than perish like worthless
suicides. If these powerful authorities think that the defence budget
is their mothers’ inheritances, they are, to say the least, corrupt.
Patriotic individuals urge them to stick to the original plan of exterminating
the LTTE in Vanni, else resign with dignity. It should be remembered
that when the trapped LTTE cadres were allowed safe passage to Vanni,
the army top brass stated that it was not safe to engage them in a fatal
fight in the East as they can make things difficult for the Sinhala
and Muslim villages there; fair enough as this did happen in the Muttur
battle where hundreds of innocent Muslims were killed. But there is
no excuse for not annihilating the tigers in the North. Are we to believe
the fairy tales of Mangala and Sripathy?
Terrorists teach us what they fear most
The infamous ‘defence analyst’ with the name of a Jamah Islamia
terrorist had stated that the one and only navy reconnaissance aircraft
has been destroyed and hence it will cripple the navy’s deep sea
mission capability and hence it is inferred that the tigers will get
shiploads of weapons and beat the SL army! He has also stated that 18
crafts of the SLAF have been destroyed. To fully reap the benefits of
this fear SLN’s patrolling operations got to be further strengthened;
deep sea missions especially; relevant equipment must be made available.
This alone can win the war without anything else. Another fear factor
for the terrorists is the strength of the SLAF; therefore all the good
work of the SLAF must continue with vigour.
Another ‘intellectual’ has stated that the terrorists came
from the ‘impenetrable’ Wilpattu jungles and therefore it
is inferred that the incapable Sri Lankan forces will be beaten as a
matter of certainty. Let him be reminded that the SLA can penetrate
anywhere with ease and pleasure. They have the legal right, the drive
and the weapons to do so; the bottleneck is at the politico-defence
link further confused by human rights clowns. These statements are valuable
as they point us to what the tigers are guarding. It is compulsory that
the vast jungles in the Vanni region are controlled; even with controlled
burning and land clearing; even the tough Environmental Affairs Minister
would not mind. Heat maps (There are portable devices that map heat
points.) on the vast canopy can reveal human dwellings and weapons dumps
– these can be bombed and spray-fired upon from the air by Mi-24s.
Hunting down tigers in game-style in the reserves should be handled
by the LRRP that has already made news worldwide.
Another lesson is the threat posed to the tigers by the advancing security
forces. Parabakaran’s fears in 1997-99 was confirmed by his military
leader – Colonel Karuna during Operation Jayasikurui. It’s
that time again; but the blunders of yesteryear must be avoided this
time. Consequently the Normandy style Vanni assault should begin harvesting
more LTTE cadres’ lives.
The next biggest fear is the fear of paramilitants and extrajudicial
killings of LTTE infiltrators in government controlled areas. Due to
this the LTTE has been unable to launch spectacular attacks as in the
past. Human rights humbugs are give the task of clearing the coast so
that infiltrators could freely roam killing intelligence officers inside
police stations! There should not be any let up in the process of executing
terrorists within a setting of impunity. This is the only proven successful
means of ensuring civilian security. If these are human rights violations,
the only way to correct them is by exterminating all terrorists so there
are no infiltrators! Plaster solutions and utopian HR initiatives as
before will only dig our own grave.
The cost of war and the price of peace
Next year’s defence budget will be USD 1.5 billion; this is a mammoth
defence budget for a poor country. However, if the country is to have
a future, terrorists must be annihilated. A short term justification
of the war can be found in the vast mineral deposits in the North and
the East. Any hard pressed financial obligations after the war can be
settled by selling-off (or processed exporting) of these minerals. Their
complete exploitation will also deter future separatists. Therefore,
the huge defence budget is justified provided that the LTTE is exterminated
soon. However it got to be done before the cost of war exceeds the value
of these mineral ores! Definitely not at the present snail pace. Another
vital concern is the escalating world oil prices set to hit USD100 sooner
than later. This puts enormous pressure on the government and the military;
this pressure is multiplied every month that passes. Hence, it is de
rigueur that the strike rate is boosted soon.
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