An "unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe" demands our attention.
Punctuated by haphazard attacks, the Sri Lankan war finds its fateful genesis in 1972 when Velupillai Prabhakaran formed the Tamil New Tigers. With a name change to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1976, the militant organization has continued to wage a vicious secessionist campaign that has morphed into the longest-running armed conflict in Asia.…
Article comments
26 - Jordan Richardson
By the way, I only mention the U.S. once in this article in passing. I called for international media access to the region, support for aid groups internationally, and international monitors to address the human rights issues.
It wasn't until Dave came by and whined about "having to help out" that I actually addressed the Big Bad U.S., and that was only in direct conflict with his idea that America's hands are just too busy right now. Your assertion, that America's hands are just too dirty, is similar.
27 - roger nowosielski
I was talking about breaking the old patterns, Jordan. During the Kennedy era, America was being perceived by the world at large as a force for the good. We had the power, the influence, and perhaps even the will. Then Vietnam happened.
If US were to demonstrate to the rest of the world that it's going to do an about-face, I'm certain the international community would respond. Just to give you an example: the NATO intervention in the Kosovo war was by an large supported by all. And except for the few hitches, it was a successful operation.
I'm not being motivated here by my own personal feelings or "pride in my country." Just thinking about it objectively, in terms of offering the right kind of leadership. But as I said, it would take nothing short of a drastic reversal.
Something like that is badly needed, because as things stands, the international community, without leadership, appears paralyzed and impotent.
28 - RJ
It's all really simple, if you understand the internationalist leftist mindset:
The USA tries to help in Somalia - We are colonialists trying to impose our racist will on an impoverished Third World country full of peaceful Muslims
The USA flees from Somalia after its soldiers are slaughtered - We are gutless cowards who embolden terrorists like Obama bin Laden
USA doesn't stop genocide in Rwanda - We are heartless racists and are fully culpable
USA tries to restore order in Haiti - We are racists who are engaging is paternalistic hegemony in the Western Hemisphere
USA doesn't intervene in the former Yugoslavia - We are impotent paper tigers
USA does intervene in the former Yugoslavia - We are cowards who only bomb from above, and turn the Serbs and Russians into enemies
USA bombs aspirin factory in Sudan - WTF???
USA invades Afghanistan after 9/11 - We are just interested in an oil pipeline, we don't have enough troops, this is the graveyard of the Soviet and the British empires, we are indiscriminately murdering civilians, we hate Muslims, we have no exit strategy, we ask too much of our NATO partners
USA invades Iraq with a coalition of allies after innumerable UNSC resolutions, and overthrows a dictatorial regime that repeatedly invaded its neighbors and butchered it own civilians - The USA is a warmongering, genocidal NAZI regime trying to steal oil from benevolent kite-flying Arabs for empire and glory
USA doesn't invade Sudan - George Bush doesn't care about black people
USA doesn't intervene in Burma - ZOMG!!!11!! MONKS!!!11!!
USA doesn't intervene in Zimbabwe - Huh?
USA doesn't intervene in Sri Lanka - Probably our fault, too.
Too bad the "international community" couldn't step in each of these times, amiright? Unfortunately, all their divisions seems to be tied down in East Timor right now (and for the next couple of decades).
29 - Cindy
NATO is under-reports the number of US caused civilian deaths in Afghanistan.
Old patterns? It's continued and only actions. This is what nations do. They only want people to fall for the storybook version about spreading love and democracy. They are only and solely self-interested and anywhere they can and have gone this is what they enforce. The rest is just PR for consumption by the masses to elicit support.
Nations are not good vehicles for intervening on behalf of others, for this reason alone. They almost invariably march in and act against the interests of the common person. (Another thing they and the media leave out of reportage.)
30 - RJ
The problem with the NATO is three-fold:
-The original mission was the oppose the Warsaw Pact (well, the NATO formed before the Warsaw Pact, but still). The Warsaw Pact is dead. The USSR is dead. Therefore, the NATO has no mission, unless it finds a new mission. And what is this new mission, exactly?
-Members of the NATO are expected to spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defense/military spending. Most don't. Exceptions include France and the UK. But that's about it.
-When the USA calls upon its "allies" in the NATO for assistance (like, say, in Afghanistan), many member nations see fit to send us cook and teachers. Thanks a lot. Leave the fighting to us, you handle the bratwurst!
The NATO is a joke, especially after Georgia.
31 - roger nowosielski
You're right. We politicized it. And the Georgia affair definitely was a fiasco. But realistically speaking, the Cold War is over. It should become a truly international force able to act, and on moment's notice, in situations such as these.
Humanitarian aid, when it's not backed by a neutral and adequate force, is a joke. It's like cleaning up the mess after the fact (as if to alleviate our conscience "because we've done something").
We must be able to avert these disasters before they happen.
32 - RJ
In 50 years, no one will have to worry about the "international community."
The EU will be in an endless three-way civil war between Christians, Muslims, and secular leftists.
The USA will be part of Mexico, or Brazil, or something.
Russia will be populated by 90 million HIV+ 50-year old vodka-guzzling alcoholics. (With nukes. But no one can find the keys, so it's all good.)
Red China will rule the roost. And I don't believe they will give a flying fuck about "international opinion" or "empathy" or "human rights" or "emancipation from the salt mines." They will just dominate.
Hey, that's what happens when you geld the entire herd of nations, except the one with 1.3 billion people in untapped slave labor. Oh, and nukes.
My next graduate degree will be in Mandarin. I sincerely hope my future masters only waterboard me infrequently, and that my chains rest lightly upon me.
33 - roger nowosielski
You may well be right, especially about the NAFTA deal. I don't know about the Chinese, though. Throughout their history, they've never had a stomach for world conquest. It may be counter to their national character.
34 - RJ
roger:
We can only hope. Because, let's face it, if they do decide that they want global conquest, they kinda sorta have a major fucking opening right now.
No one seems to notice, but Red China is quasi-recolonizing sub-Saharan Africa right now. Good times were had by all, except of course the indigenous people.
Think the Belgian Congo was a colossal cluster-fuck? Google Zimbabwe in 15 years.
Yeah.
35 - Ruvy
My next graduate degree will be in Mandarin. I sincerely hope my future masters only waterboard me infrequently, and that my chains rest lightly upon me.
RJ, you white devil,
Your first assignment in Mandarin is to learn how to say "ma" in the four tones of the Mandarin language, properly, so that you will be saying, "whatever his majesty desires".
Should you fail, you will be flogged with a bammboo stick and you will be held down with 20 kilogram chains on your wrists while water drops slowly on your face - and you are dragged behind a pickup truck with four drunken rednecks in the front screaming "SOOEE!, SOOEE!"
Mild discipline.....
36 - roger nowosielski
I don't think it's the leftist mindset that's the problem here, RJ, but what I and Jordan (see his earlier remark) believe that our hands are dirty. And unless the perception changes, we can't act in the position of leadership.
Before your doomsday scenario comes into fruition, though, it would serve the world's interest to have a fully capable international force able to intervene and stop these little conflagration before they erupt.
37 - roger nowosielski
The first thing we should do, IMO, is stop importing their stinking products (which are only dangerous to one's health) and cancel the fucking debt. Throw the ball in their court just to see the response.
If they're the enemy, let's find out now rather than later.
38 - RJ
Ruvy:
Seriously. Sounds like a typical Friday night at the sushi bar for me.
Well, except the whole language thing. I guess there's a difference between Japs and Chinks?
/sarcasm
39 - Dr Dreadful
Am I the only one here who thinks that Sri Lanka is entirely justified in the course of action it is taking?
I'm sympathetic to the Tamil people's right to self-determination, but the Tigers were a bunch of ruthless bastards. They're responsible for some of the worst terrorism in the history of the 'art', and pioneered suicide bombing long before it became fashionable among Islamic extremists.
An opportunity arose for the government in Colombo to crush the rebellion once and for all, and they seized it with both fists. The Tigers have advertised their intent to regroup and continue the fight once the war is over, and the only way to stop them doing that is to exterminate them.
It's horrible that noncombatants are caught up in all this, but it's utterly unrealistic to think that a war, especially one of this type, can be fought without incurring civilian casualties.
A Sri Lanka without the Tigers - who in the past have even gone so far as to carry out air raids on the capital - will, in the long run, be better for all the island's people.
40 - RJ
Doc:
I think that's pretty much the government's point of view. And I'm not suggesting that it's necessarily wrong.
But have you read the list of the Tamil's grievances? They are kind of an oppressed minority group. I too strongly oppose their use of suicide bombers. But, just because their means were unsavory, does that mean their cause was unjust?
It doesn't really matter, though. This battle is over. If the Sinhalese majority begin to treat their minority groups like full citizens, then the battle is likely over for all time. If not, there will inevitably be another insurrection at a future date. That's how I see it.
41 - Ruvy
DD,
Not only do I not have a dog in this race, but I don't even know which dogs are running. In other words, I cannot give you an intelligent comment on Sri Lanka. Over at Desicritics, you can see a lot of folks who think the Sri Lankan gov't should keep killing and killing - or on the other paw, that the Tamils have an entirely justifiable case in rebelling against the government.
I will say this though. RJ's dire predictions for the future, whether sarcastic or not - make sense.
If I didn't believe in Divine Redemption, I would agree with him. But, in all truth, rational as that vision of RJ's is, I do not think it will happen. If China becomes a dominant power on the planet, it will be for a period of maybe a year, if that.
Heh.... That's the trouble with prophecies. If you claim you are a believer, you gotta believe in the prophecies....
42 - roger nowosielski
They ought to have let the fuckers to secede. Obviously, another conflict along ethnic bloodlines.
Cindy's long comment regarding the historical origins of the conflict, as based in the British divide and conquer policy, is an interesting one, though.
Have you chanced to read it, Doc? Your opinion?
43 - Cindy
Sri Lanka has, I believe, the record for disappeared citizens held by a democracy. They've been committing genocide while claiming it's all about the Tigers. Funny how gov'ts take liberties like that. Can't say I can support genocide. I wouldn't support the Tigers either--just the people.
(remember the people?)
44 - roger nowosielski
A good case in point for the tyranny of the majority.
45 - Dave Nalle
So, the USA can lean on the Sri Lankan government to stop killing civilians with no reason, then.
Well, I think it means that they've run out of people to kill, so by default they're all nice people now, right?
Dave
46 - Jet Gardner
I'm more inclined to believe they just want us to send them some money to stop fighting.
47 - STM
The conflict has spread here. Some people said to be of tamil background stormed a house in Sydney after an argument over the argument and threw acid in the face of a sinhalese man, seriously injuring him.
Police are still looking for the intruders, but arrested five men following a brawl between members of the sinhalese and tamil communities earlier.
Sri Lankan Consul General Gothani Indikadahena said the victim, a business student in Australia, may lose his sight and had suffered many other injuries.
48 - zingzing
"Your first assignment in Mandarin is to learn how to say "ma" in the four tones of the Mandarin language, properly, so that you will be saying, "whatever his majesty desires". "
actually, that's "my mother yells at horses." but whatever.
49 - Jordan Richardson
Stan, we're having the conflict bubble over up here, too. I've an article in pending right now that slightly details some of the conflict on the verbal end, while a Buddhist temple was burned down in Scarborough, Ontario a few days ago with alleged connections to what's going on over in Sri Lanka.
We really do live in an international community, no matter which individual country we might happen to reside in.
50 - Jordan Richardson
#43,
Well said, Cindy. The Tamil people need to be heard, but the Sri Lankan government is intent on blocking most access to media and providing their own information. It's very difficult to get actual facts out of the region, although many aid organizations have been trying to do so.
As I say in this article, there needs to be pressure on the Sri Lankan government through the avenues of diplomacy (for example, the IMF loan should have been rejected entirely or at least put on hold until the gov't could prove that the cash wasn't being used to arm more troops to commit more Tamil genocide) to let more aid organizations in and also to grant full media access so that the world can understand the issue.
51 - eureka
Excerpt from CNN video on 'Witness to Survival" by Ms. Sara Sidner on her visit soon after the Presidential election: the journalist challenges the President's lies
The journalist is prevented from going to the North at the army checkpoint, police and army in plain clothes to monitor the journalists, IDPs can be interviewed only in the presence of the Army and Tamil fishermen are moved inland to let Sinhalese fishermen take their place with army camp for protection.
52 - eureka
No war, no peace: the denial of minority rights and justice in Sri Lanka, Report by Minority Rights Group International, 19 January 2011:
With the end of the conflict between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE or ‘Tamil Tigers’) in 2009, normality has returned for much of the population of Sri Lanka. But for members of the country’s two main minority groups - Tamils and Muslims - living in the north and east of the country, harsh material conditions, economic marginalisation, and militarism remain prevalent.
Drawing on interviews with activists, religious and political leaders, and ordinary people living in these areas of the country, MRG found a picture very much at odds with the official image of peace and prosperity following the end of armed conflict. ....
''The UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues should be granted an invitation by the government to visit the country in order to report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of minorities in Sri Lanka.’’
53 - eureka
A publication of the Institute for Constitutional Studies, ‘Twenty Two Years of Devolution - An Evaluation of the Working of Provincial Councils(PCs) in Sri Lanka’, launched on 21 December 2010 says: … Recentralization is the hallmark of the system. Today, PCs have become a means by which the centre controls regional resources. They have also become the avenues through which the centre consolidates its political power.
54 - eureka
The President who has been buying time by ''appointing'' various bodies reports of which he has been refusing to publish has recently come out with the truth like his predecessors:
''If I make any devolutionary concessions to the Tamils, it will be curtains for me” - Sri Lanka: Indian Delegates go Home Empty Handed, Kumar David, southasiaanalysis.org, 15 June 2011.
L. Athulathmudali, 4 Feb 1985: ‘’Proposing a federal constitution will be political suicide."
R. Wickremasinghe, 13 May 1997: "We are a political party, we will not do anything that will not get us into power, nor would we do anything when we are in power to lose power."
55 - eureka
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PANEL OF EXPERTS ON ACCOUNTABILITY IN SRI LANKA (PDF) (31 March 2011): '' .... The final months of the war are a grave assault on the entire regime of international law. .... The Government subjected victims and survivors of the conflict to further deprivation and suffering after they left the conflict zone .... Recommendation 4: The Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should be invited to reconsider its May 2009 Special Session Resolution(A/HRC/S-11/L.1/Rev.2) regarding Sri Lanka, in light of this report'' -
56 - eureka
Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka - a Continuing Debate, Jacob Ashik Bonofer, October 2010: ‘' K.Gurunathar, former Director of Lands in the united North-Eastern province reported to the Commission(LLRC) that “a lot of lands in Trincomalee had been taken over by various government departments for department projects. While this might be necessary the Tamils were finding it difficult to secure land….That lands, supposedly taken over for public purposes or for state backed activities were being handed over to new Sinhalese settlers…Sinhalese settlers had illegally and forcibly occupied lands on both sides of the 50km new road between Seruwila Buddha Vihara and Somapala Vihar.”