Sri Lanka: Bombing To Peace
A Tactical DiversionBy Chandi Sinnathurai
07 November, 2007
Countercurrents.orgAfter killing the Tamil Tiger political head and the chief peace negotiator Mr Thamil Chelvam on November 2 in an air raid, the Rajapaksha regime is determined to bomb to smithereens other top-level Tiger leaders. This strategy will achieve the objective : there will be peace in Sri Lanka. War for peace. That is the mantra of the Government.
According to a well-placed Sinhala official, the Commander-in-chief: Mr President, has ordered to “Go for the head.” That will “eliminate” the Tiger out-fit is the basic assumption. The tactic has moved on from neutralisation to elimination. Check-mate!
In a few days time, the Sri Lankan government will present its defence budget. The military spending has sky rocketed to 1.45 billion dollars in 2008.
Such figures however, are obscene in a country where masses are struggling to put rice on plate. Particularly in the Tamil areas, especially in the North, many people are at the brink of starvation. Unemployment is at all time high. But these situations arise mainly by government design. Or do we call it strangulation strategy?
In all of these, the fundamental human rights – the right to life goes out the window.
The context of war gives economic mismanagement, unequal distribution and pilfering of national wealth and resources a convenient pretext.
A lady from Yarlpannam (Jaffna) town recently said to this writer, ‘…if people have “foreign money” then they can buy anything they want, including Scotch’. By ‘foreign money’ she meant remittances coming into the peninsula. But the majority of the population have to suffer the consequences of blockade. And the black-market must be rife. Prices of essential items have gone through the roof.
Suffering of the Tamils is taken for granted. Starve’em to teach a good lesson…got it!
All what this writer has said above is nothing new. None of these things are done in secret. The world knows what’s going on – but it shuns from reporting via its corporate media out-lets. Alas, many are kept in the dark as a consequence.
When the Tamil Tigers showed their military acumen by attacking, the widely acknowledged, “most protected air base” in Anurathapuram then, one has to be cautious, not to stumble on the same mistake of underestimating their capabilities. After all it is reported, the Tamil Tigers have neutralised the recon capabilities of the Sri Lankan forces.
At this juncture, when Colombo is hell-bent to “Go for the head” the Tigers could be matching it up with yet another Anurathapuram in the making. It cannot be shrugged merely as tittle tattle or tit for tat. The Tamil Tigers might want to go for the real Tiger head – the talainagar, the capital of Eelam – Trincomalee.
Another attempt on taking control of Trinco harbour could be round the bend. Tamil Tigers know full well that in order achieve a certain military objective, one has to create more than one tactical diversion.
As for the Rajapaksha regime their diversionary tactics is designed to conceal the economic black hole from the masses. Its sun, fun and Champagne for both the fat cats (local and foreign) and the top dogs.
APPENDIX:
The Outer Harbour comprises the Trincomalee Bay, which has the approaches to the harbour and the Koddiyar Bay in to which the Mahaweli, Sri Lanka's largest River drains. The Inner Harbour is defined by latitude 80 - 31'N and longitude 810 - 15'E has a water area of about 2,023 hectares and a land area of nearly 5,261 hectares.The harbour is flanked by high cliffs on the seaside and therefore it is well protected from the monsoon winds. The sheltered waters of the harbour is capable of accommodating a large number of vessels and offer water depths that is suitable for the movement and berthing of small, medium sized and large deep drafted cargo ships, oil tankers and even super tankers.
The harbour infrastructures include roads, railway facilities linking and providing access to and from other regions of the country. Pipe borne water service is provided to many parts of the port. At present the SLPA is in complete administrative control and development of the port and the environs except for the naval base located in Ostenberg Ridge and pockets of land in the town and China Bay occupied by the Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Trincomalee is a daylight port. Ship movements are restricted to the period 0600 hours to 1800 hours. Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels entering or departing from the harbour.
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