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The government vs the LTTE; is this war winnable?Mario Perera Kadawata
I read Mr Kannangara's article. That the war is winnable in 2008 is the conviction of the powers that are and their allies.and so the war goes on. His argument that today's warfare not being about capturing bunkers but about killing the maximum number of terrorists lacks clarity.That the LTTE fighters are most found manning their bunkers is commonsense knowledge within the grasp of any man in the street. Bunkers are captured when their defender either fall in battle or flee.All bunkers are generally strategically placed.
When Mr K says that today's warfare is about killing the maximum number of terrorists he would seem to be extending the war beyond the fighters on the ground to a vague category called terrorists.A terrorist is a person who practices terror. That the LTTE practices terror is well known here and internationally. Yet one cannot label another a terrorist without proper criteria of identification.When the person targeted is notoriously known to be a member of the LTTE, the question does not arise. So too when the perpetrator of terror is killed or caught in the act. But a sweeping general statement that this war is about killing the maximum number of terrorists is nt only questionable but even borders on the absurd..To brand anyone as a terrorist he must first be identified as one. This is why fears are constantly raised about innocent people being targeted as terrorists.No one can raise the issue about LTTE fighters being killed during attacks on their bunkers.But when attacks aerial or artillery or other are directed at other specified or sometimes unspecified targets with the accompanying announcements that such and such a number of ?terrorists' were killed the logical doubt constantly arises as to whether the dead are ?terrorists' or innocent human beings. It often happens that LTTE attacks on civilians are justified by them on the ground that our military has targeted Tamil civilians.We say ?no' and they say ?yes'.The ?yes' and ?no' appear like the two ends of an ever moving see-saw.
Mr K's diatribe about the Lord Jesus is unacceptable. I would even call it despicable.Regarding his argument that Jesus never brought peace anywhere (stated by the catholic he assumes he is), why does he not look closer home, at the country of his birth. I do not want to fire at any religion or religious leader as he brazenly does while announcing his own creed, but his argument is extendable to all religions. Religious leaders only show the way.As the saying goes you can show the bull the trough, but making him go there or drink from it only the bull can do.Ninety percent of Mr K's article is full of such anti-catholic venom. This places a strong doubt about his ability to study any question dispassionately. This also makes debating such questions an exercise in futility.
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