More
than a War of Words - A critical no-nonsense analysis on where we are
and where we want to be
Dilrook Kannangara
At times there is only a split second difference between the winner
and the loser; may it be athletics, boxing or any other sport this rule
separates winners from others. It is perhaps more relevant in defence.
The space may be measured in time, distance, will power and the urge
to win. In this context, I invite all Sri Lankans to consider the business
of ‘vowing’ that has re-emerged as a new and fancy means of
lying. First the President (M Rajapakse) will vow, and then the Defence
Secretary (G Rajapakse) followed by the former senior presidential advisor
(B Rajapakse). Alas! On the same matter!! However, my point is not concerning
the act of vowing, per se, but rather about the matter avowed. The president,
the defence secretary and a few others have vowed to wipe-out, defeat
TERRORISM; not the TERRORISTS!
Wiping out terrorism is a subjective affair; it is as good or bad as
a vow to become a good boy. This is vague, highly subjective and has
little or no meaning whatsoever. Instead if a child vows to stop lying,
then it has meaning, relevance and determination.
Contrast this with the vow the US State Department made to put the terrorists
out of business, in spite of their ‘global war on terror’
where the word terror falls well short of being specific on terrorism
or terrorists.
Also consider the vow the SL Army Commander made almost a year ago;
he avowed to ‘flush-out’ the terrorists from the East. He
did just that; it was specific; the target was tangibly identified and
had a time frame. However, the effectiveness of ‘flushing-out’
terrorists from the East to North remains another controversial matter.
Terrorism can never be defeated without defeating the terrorists as
terrorists are the root cause of terrorism. Consider the following facts.
Fact A. There is a plethora of theories on how to
defeat terrorism and as it is subjective, none of these theories work!
Terrorism is thriving around the world in direct contrast to what was
expected at the fall of communism. Then it was widely expected that
terrorism will vanish from the face of the earth as it was a tool used
by the communists to spread communism and also a cat’s paw used
by the West to attack the communists. Apart from these terror groups
there were others that changed their course opportunistically. Further,
there were other groups linked to Mafia, drug trade, etc. business of
which couldn’t be sustained without violence and terrorism. Religious
and cult fanatics have also used terrorism for a long time. Has any
terrorism theory worked? No. Therefore what hope Sri Lanka has about
defeating or wiping out terrorism per se?
Fact B. Theories change as chameleons depending on
who is affected!
Even today where barriers between the nations have supposed to be non-existent,
one nation’s terrorists still remain another’s rebels or freedom
fighters. Al Qaeda leaders are trained by the FSB (Russian secret service)
on one hand and Chechnyan terrorists are harboured in the UK to cite
a few examples. LTTE which is a banned terrorist organisation is referred
to as a group of ‘rebels’ as opposed to terrorists by the
pro-western media. While the US government spokesman screams ‘no
talks with terrorists’, he himself asks Sri Lanka to talk to the
terrorists!
This chameleon character marked by hypocrisy has indeed been the best
protection for the terrorists the world over.
Skin colour (not of the reptile but of the natives in countries affected
by terrorism!), although not mentioned directly, seems to have a strange
and repeated connection between how the West view a nation and it terror
problems.
Therefore according to these chameleon theories what should Sri Lanka
do to defeat terrorism? Talk, talk and talk till tigers come home and
when they do come, sleep with them.
Fact C. Clashes between the theories even more spectacular
Then there are clashes between the theories concerning the same terror
group! These clashes can be traced to all terror groups in the world,
if the LTTE is isolated, these clashes seems endless. A classic example
is the infamous Majority report and the Minority report! Apart from
these ridiculous reports, there have been many other decentralisation,
devolution solutions, packages etc., etc. that were experimented burdening
the tax payers but failed to achieve anything.
Some still believe the ultimate solution to Sri Lanka’s woes can
only be found in an India-Pakistan type separation; they conveniently
forget about the ghost trains that were essential parts of the Indo-Pak
divide.
Another spectacular clash is the clash between the unitary theory,
united theory and the “do-not-mention-unitary or united” theory
clash.
Amidst all these arguments, terrorism thrives in Lanka.
Fact D. Failure of these theories never acknowledged
Who said Sri Lankans never learn from past mistakes? How funny that
we pursue the same old non-working utopian solutions to find a resolution
to a tangible problem, which is terrorism?
It is a fact that the peace industry (at least on an individual level)
is much bigger than the business of war. Self appointed ‘peace’
hypocrites earn at least 20 times more than the one and only Army Commander!
This is widely different to what happens in the US, UK, Australia, Japan,
Russia, India, Singapore, etc. Peace commissions in Sri Lanka are much
higher than war related commissions as evidenced by the staggering number
of NGOs, INGOs, etc. that function here amidst claims that Lanka is
the most dangerous place on earth for them!! Obviously these massive
dangers are far outweighed by their earnings and profits; otherwise
these NGOs would have packed up and left.
Amply supported by these clowns, the theorists continue to bleed the
nation and plunder the tax payers’ money. Only when we accept the
absurdity and irrelevance of these imposed theories can we search for
workable indigenous solutions. What is most hilarious is the self-confession
of proponents of political solutions that their solutions cannot by
themselves stop the conflict. If so what is the point in wasting time
and money on their solutions?
Like a canine biting an old bone, Lankan policy makers still go after
doomed old theories without success.
Fact E. As usual in Lanka, wrong root causes were
identified; terrorism thrives as a result
Pro-LTTE forces suggested in the 1970s and 1980s that the university
admissions scheme, employment prospects, the Sinhala-Only policy, lack
of delegation of powers to N-E governing bodies, ethnic riots and unequal
distribution of wealth are the ‘root causes’ of terrorism.
These were termed ‘Tamil grievances’. By the 1990s the government
universities had a disproportionately (vis-à-vis their population
percentage) larger Tamil population, N-E Tamils had the lowest unemployment
rates, Tamil had become a national language (without people voting for
it), the North and the East were combined forcefully and governing powers
delegated, ethnic riots had stopped and most Tamils migrated to Sinhala
majority areas and Tamils from the N-E had become the richest race in
the country. As a result the LTTE and the pro-LTTE forces declared that
there are no more Tamil grievances (of course not) and that the Tamils
have ‘graduated’ to Tamil aspirations! They now demand that
Tamil aspirations must be met before addressing Sinhala and Muslim grievances!
Did the granting of everything that the pro-LTTE forces demanded eliminate
terrorism? On the contrary; terrorism increased and expanded as they
came to understand that terrorism can win them anything and everything.
This strikes a chord with the development of terrorism the world over.
It started with hijacking planes. After the enormous success in hijackings,
they ‘graduated’ to a higher level. Today terrorists are fighting
the world over and are fearlessly taking on the superpowers. However,
where terrorists were ferociously handled (e.g. Bolivia, parts of India,
China, Japan, Australia, Malaysia), terrorism died down quickly.
Identifying wrong root causes in Lanka is like how they identified ‘suitable’
recipients for tsunami aid; some aid recipients were actually living
in the up-country!
Fact F. The root cause of terrorism is Terrorists;
nothing else
As discussed above, some countries were damn serious about terrorists
as they clearly identified terrorists as the only root cause of terrorism.
They broadened the definition of terrorists to include those who provided
moral support, financial support and terror agents. Countries like Bolivia,
parts of India, China, Japan, Australia and Malaysia violently and ferociously
handled terrorists. In a classic display of military and paramilitary
might, the Bolivian defence forces ravished the Che Guevara movement
mercilessly. Although Che Guevara became a symbol of rebellion, Bolivian
authorities ensured that such rebellion does not take root in their
country.
Therefore, wiping out the terrorists is a practical and a tangible affair
involving blood, death and weapons; there are no shortcuts. Is Sri Lanka
in the process of wiping out the terrorists? Answers to a few important
questions would reveal the flaws of the present military strategy.
How many attempts were made on the lives of Parabakaran, his associates
and his top terrorists by the security forces? Definitely fewer than
the number of attempts he made on elected politicians.
Has the LTTE manpower reduced owing to attacks on them? Not in any sizable
way. The LTTE is estimated to have upto 30,000 cadres (compared to 200,000
SLDF personnel) and losing 6,000 of them to deaths and desertions over
two years do not affect them as recruitment continues.
Can the war be won if the SLDF killing rate of terrorists continues
at this speed? No, if the LTTE is to be wiped out, at least 30,000 cadres
must be killed within a space of a few months. Else their most powerful
but easily perishable weapon – manpower – is going to remain
intact. LTTE has proven their capacity to amass a large fighting cadre,
train them and send them to the battlefield quickly.
How many identified LTTE targets remain safe? Plenty. From Omanthei
to Muhamalei and Mannar to Mulaitivu it is the tiger territory. Surely
there are many more targets than the few attacked by the SLAF. LTTE
held massive terrorist parades in open spaces after the A’pura
attack and nothing happened.
Due to serious loss of credibility, only a very few continue to believe
the government today, especially when it comes to LTTE casualties and
own casualties. However, a quick assessment of the above can lead one
to believe that the SL security forces aren’t going anywhere though
they have successfully curtailed the LTTE. If the government is serious
about winning the war and regaining lost credibility, the war effort
must be expedited. Otherwise the myth about LTTE’s formidability
in Vanni is going to continue.
The President and his brother who is the defence secretary should vow
or display by action that they are going to wipe out the terrorists
(not terrorism) from Sri Lanka. Until then the war of words will continue
and the defence forces will be instructed to shoot the phantoms of terrorism
but not the terrorists.
The thin dividing line between patriots and idiots is the former’s
faculty to understand clearly this political bluff.
However, without all these analyses the general pubic seem to have arrived
at the same conclusion; they now believe that winning the war is impossible
at this speed. After all they have been fooled many a time with the
same set of lies by politicos. Politicians must be forced to perform
or quit without allowing further time to the LTTE. Give the LTTE too
much time, they will surely rid the politicians before they quit.
Above all this nation badly needs critical and judicious patriots. If
the critiques of the government’s military programme are only traitors
and LTTE sympathisers, such programme would never be put under a proper
scrutiny. When the answers to the above four questions take a dramatic
change (from what they have been for the past 30 years), we are on course,
else we are off-course; we can sink their ships, get them banned worldwide,
flush them out of one province, etc., etc. but until the answers change
terrorists and hence terrorism shall prevail.
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