CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Military Strategies to Suit Anandasangaree!

Dilrook Kannangara

The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader has spoken.

This time it is not about Tamil liberation; but about military strategies. However this is the not the first time he has shown his hidden military expertise. Security forces after well and proper security assessments decided last year to follow a few simple procedures that can save thousands of lives from LTTE bomb attacks. They included stopping the North bound train at Medawachchiya (not proceeding to Vavuniya), not allowing lorries and ambulances unchecked into government controlled areas from Omanthai and restricting civilian movement in Vavuniya/Mannar, etc. No doubt these caused hardships to civilians; but they saved lives in the south.

A bomb carrying tiger can very easily slip into Vavuniya than travel to Medawachchiya passing many more checkpoints and getting undue attention. Once onboard the train from Vavuniya these barbarians will have an unhindered safe passage to Colombo Fort! Colombo Fort railway station staged a savage LTTE attack soon after these were dropped by the army. It is a well known fact that ambulances are also used by the LTTE which is an organisation wholly comprised of uncivilised terrorists incapable of honouring the norms of war. This was also changed after Anandasangaree complained. Thankfully after a series of bomb attacks, the army has been allowed to mind their own business!

This time it is about night time bombing by the SLAF. It is a remarkable feat the SLAF achieved recently and they have invested billions of rupees in it. It is simple logic that tigers have got accustomed to day-time-only airstrikes. Night is as long as the day and terrorists can change their biological clocks very easily to turn the night into day. Vampiric tigers would have simply loved night time. Indeed they have done exactly that and consequently the effectiveness of air strikes fell drastically.

Of course there are a lot of hardships night raids cause on the civilian populace in Vanni. However, the SLAF need no expertise of a politician to tell them that. They have made enough assessments already on that. Not only Vanni dwellers, even those who are in Katunayake have to endure some hardships. This is the reality of war. As long as the SLAF keeps these hardships to a minimum without compromising their plans, that is sufficient.

When soldiers are selflessly laying down their lives in order to bring about meaningful peace, it is too selfish not to bear lesser hardships like putting up with deafening noise! He asserts unsubstantiated assumptions in saying that “aerial attacks in the night is sure to cause innumerable casualties among civilians”. Even the LTTE has not claimed this! The SLAF selects targets carefully after days, weeks or even months of surveillance and the most appropriate time is selected for a dose of hard medicine taking into account minimum disruptions to civilians and maximum destruction for the LTTE. Therefore it is virtually impossible to “cause innumerable casualties among civilians”. The SLAF has been many times more careful than the technologically superior USAF.

He has “very strongly” appealed to the President to “avoid operations in the night and also to give sufficient timely warning of operations during the day time”. If this comes from a terrorist, he is clever, if from a moderate or a patriot, it is crazy. To have or not to have night time operations should be decided by the SLAF based on LTTE movements. The requirement to give sufficient timely warning of operations is a sure way to endanger the lives of soldiers and put at risk their equipment which will jeopardise the military onslaught. This may help peaceniks to convince the government that war is not the solution and to force upon the people the much hated racist federalism - a unique blend of racism, traditional racial homelands and federalism which was invented in Sri Lanka.

It is a fact that all modern wars resulted in civilian casualties. Factually more civilians have died than combatants in all the major wars. This is not to say civilians can be endangered in war. They must be protected by reasonable means that do not hinder, reduce or otherwise lessen the effectiveness of well thought after military operations. If Vanni people are “prepared to welcome a friendly army that will liberate them without causing loss of life and destruction to property”, they will have to wait forever under the jackboot of the LTTE as no country in the whole wide world has such an army.

There is no liberation that comes in a platter. Those living in Vanni must make their share of sacrifices for freedom, democracy, development, civilised existence and liberation. They should not only put up with military action, they should also extend their unconditional support and help to their true saviours.

He reinforces this by adding “I do not want a single civilian life lost due to army action. Please ensure that this policy is maintained throughout.” May be he has forgotten that he is not a decision maker any more, nor a policy maker as people rejected him at the 2004 elections. There should not be any such utopian policy. The present policy is sufficient and already security forces are endangering themselves too much in order to take too many precautions not reciprocated by the LTTE. Liberating the people from the clutches of their self-appointed liberator is not going to be easy when the latter uses the very same people to save themselves. A classic example is how the LTTE handled Madhu. For the LTTE the faith, sanctity and the importance surrounding Madhu is enough evidence that it can be turned into a valuable hostage. What will happen had the security forces backed down from the offensive? LTTE will have a proven means to expel the forces from any offensive. Then they will take yet another shrine and its devotees hostage and demand same.

This was how terrorism grew. They started with hijacking planes and demanding various favours. Unfortunately they got some and those successes attracted many into the industry. Today they demand whole chunks of countries. But where such ransom demands were met with even bigger violence, terrorists abandoned their practice.

There is another hidden repercussion of Anandasangaree’s plea. After claiming the death of a fifteen year old due to the night time airstrike, LTTE terrorists may try to attack civilian targets in the south. Then the anti-war humbugs will grab the opportunity to strike-up a deal with the government not to bomb LTTE areas so that LTTE will inturn not bomb areas in the south! This is again extortion and hostage taking. Government should never come to any further agreement or understanding with the LTTE, even to protect civilians.

With all due respect to Mr V Anandasangaree, for Christ’s sake, keep out of military strategies; else the tragedy of the TULF will befall the security forces. The government should not overrule military strategies. They are better left to the experts.

We are free today thanks to our fearless security forces personnel, their guns, bombs, missiles and hunts. It must be maintained. Let all Sri Lankans in Vanni be free, safe and secure; never mind the others.

Disclaimer: The comments contained within this website are personal reflection only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LankaWeb. LankaWeb.com offers the contents of this website without charge, but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions expressed within. Neither the LankaWeb nor the individual authors of any material on this Web site accept responsibility for any loss or damage, however caused (including through negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of your use of or reliance on information contained on or accessed through this Web site.
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfer and do not necessarily represent those of LankaWeb.com. .

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER