Our Intelligence Strength has been Defeats - Dr. Rohan Gunaratna

(October, 19, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research Dr. Rohan Gunaratna identified five methods to move forward and fight against terrorism.

An intelligence centre for terror activities and developing a military intelligence unit technically are priorities.

“We should set up a highly qualified and technologically developed military intelligence unit to pose a threat to the LTTE. Civil intelligence should be developed and combined with the military intelligence to carry out this unit successfully. He reiterated the importance of the military intelligence.

“It is vital to recruit qualified intelligent officers to the service and ensure continuity of the intelligence officers. Once the Government changes we shouldn’t change or remove the intelligence officers engaged in counter terrorism,” Gunaratna said while addressing the delegations at the International Conference on Countering Terrorism (ICCT) at Bandaranayke Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo on today (19 October) evening.

Instead of buying military equipment alone, developing human intelligence services and having elite forces for defensive and offensive operations were other dimensions.

“As long as we strengthen the human intelligence and elite commando forces, it will be easier to combat terrorism, enter enemy territory and destroy their detachments. When we have powerful special commandos, air borne troops and high level of intelligence unit we can avoid victimising many civilians and leaders,” Gunaratna pointed out.

“I beg to differ on appointing the head of intelligence only from the rank and file based on merit without political considerations. The problem is that intelligence is such a sensitive area that the Head of State must be free to appoint someone he/she can trust, and is politically aware. The rank and file will provide continuity as long as political influence is not exerted on them,” he added.

He noted language had a great role and it is a bridge between the Security Forces and the local community. “Lack of local languages capability among the Security Forces makes it difficult to combat against terrorism. The Security Forces should have Tamil language capability.”

He emphasized that lack of leadership among the Security Forces was another barrier to combat against terrorism. “Military leaders should be recruited on the basis of speciality, merit, performance etc but not seniority or political influence”, he said.

“To combat the LTTE the Government should win the hearts of the Tamil people. The Tamil people are not supporting the LTTE. Many Tamil political leaders and scholars have been assassinated by the LTTE. There are Tamil leaders who oppose the LTTE ideology. These Tamil leaders should be involved in the fight against the LTTE and they should be provided maximum security.”

According to Rohan, “Promote international cooperation and agreements to prevent terrorist fund raising, weapons purchases, cross border attacks and illegal activities including those that are conducted through legal fronts.”

“It is importance to establish policies and administrative mechanisms that address the past grievances of the offending population. Otherwise the same conflicts may arise again. However, social reforms alone do not help in controlling terrorism. These must be used in conjunction with other options”