CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

The Vulture-Culture Hatred – Are We with our Security Forces or with the Enemy?

Sisira Pereira, Panadura

The LTTE came, destroyed and most of them died in the effort and the Tin Can planes escaped.

There is much to ponder, much to weep and most importantly much to do to rise from the depths of despair. No hiding that our Air Force, which has valiantly guarded the Nation and served the country against the brutal LTTE terrorism over the years, suffered badly in Anuradhapura . Fingers are pointing in all directions and official probes are underway. Somewhere, somehow we lacked the necessary collective skills and thinking that helped the LTTE to capitalize and hit us hard where it hurts. No doubt the Nation is crying over the demise of young soldiers of the Military and destruction of military assets worth millions of dollars. And it is the responsibility of the higher defense officials to probe and close the loop holes and lapses in our defense system that could have lead to a debacle of these proportions. Although in war defeats are not alien, Sri Lanka cannot afford any more such preventable debacles. We need to be so vigilant about the enemy. Our tri forces can battle this war with the LTTE and win it comprehensively but it is just that all involved has to play their part. A collective dedication is the need of the hour and even a single avertable loose loop, will bring about catastrophic results to the ongoing operations against the LTTE terrorism.

And it is the onus of the patriotic masses of Sri Lanka to rally against all odds and stay with and help the tri forces, battling the LTTE terrorism, rise from the defeats and face the enemy with high morale and determination.

A democratically elected government is answerable to its electors. A terrorist organization is answerable to nobody. When defeats happen in the battlefront, as obviously no country can claim 100% success against battle against terrorism, a government has to come out with the figures of extent of damage, the loss and accept responsibility. The opposition like the UNP will assess the situation and try to take political mileage out of the Nation’s despair and demand from the government to reveal even details pertaining to National Security, and exaggerate the losses incurred by the Security forces. The media (without borders!!) will swarm the hotspot like vultures and try to pick their share of meat and exaggerate the issue to their advantage to sell more of their products in print and on air, thereby laying bare any sensitive information the enemy would grab with glee.

For a terrorist outfit like the LTTE things do not happen in the same way.

Even if terrorists suffer a defeat after a defeat, they can conveniently conceal their damages, downplay the losses and keep the issue under a close lid so that the outside world would not come to learn how badly they have suffered or how vulnerable they have become at each point of defeat. Even if their cadre and military ware are destroyed, the LTTE terrorists are not expected by anybody, even by the Diaspora who send them the blood money, to answer to them as to how badly they have suffered at the hands of the Security forces and what the monetary cost of all that really is. They are not expected to reveal any figures or numbers. There will be no opposition MPs demanding the LTTE to come out with exact figures as to how badly they have suffered. In fact, if the situation plays to their advantage, an opposition like the UNP will be prepared to downplay the terrorist defeats at all costs.

Most importantly, media will be out of bound in terrorist infested areas. There will be no broadcasting, writing or telecasting of the damages caused to the terrorist outfit. If there is any media report, they will be carefully orchestrated by the LTTE itself, thereby protecting all the military secrets of the terrorists and giving them the most important advantage in the war. Their enemy, the Security forces, will not get the added benefit of free assessment of their defeats.

Yet both sides are fighting the same battle.

The difference is, the Security Forces is faced with sideline battles orchestrated by oppositions like the UNP and the sections of media at the same time. Seemingly, the battles are portrayed to be against the government but effectively it delivers punch ing blows against the defense forces.

In this backdrop, it is most disheartening to see that sections of our media and the main opposition UNP are trying to carry forward the attacks of the LTTE terrorists from where the terrorists failed. The LTTE tried their best to reduce the Anuradhapura Air Base to ashes but got killed mid way. The UNP and these ill-thinking sections of media have started from where the LTTE stopped and is now demanding the resignation of the Defense Secretary.

But the UNP conveniently forget that its leader Ranil W. should have resigned hundred times over for giving the LTTE demarcated territory and tax-free equipment to the LTTE terrorists during his reign of affairs.

The UNP MPs are going public with damage figures suffered by the Air Force at a pace even the Tamilnet cannot keep up with. However, we are yet to see a joint-opposition condemnation of the brutal terrorist attack that took away a sizeable amount of precious military ware and invaluable human life in Anuradhapura . We are yet to see a joint call from them for a greater resolve to fight the LTTE menace off the Earth.

And that is the Vulture-Culture of the present day main opposition and some sections of the media in Sri Lanka . “Let the Nation rot in terrorism, let us feast” seem to be their guiding principle.

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