The Truth and Other Casualties of War- A reply to Sonali Samarasinghe.

(American Army Manual paints American reporters as a National Security threat.)

by Charles.S.Perera

(September 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is strange that Sonali Samarasinghe wrote to Sri Lanka Guardian on the 24 September,2008 on Truth and lies, in her article "The truth and other Casualties of war ".

There are many types of lies. Sonali Samarasinghe had been subject to one, but denied by the other as the truth. Therefore, we can assume that, lies and truths are like the two sides of the same coin. The media is not an example of the purity of truth. News is often exaggerated or twisted in favour of one or another. BBC is one such institution, and truth is not the hall mark of the Sunday Leader.

Some times it has its benefits, being a journalist or even a not much known politician in small developing countries like Sri Lanka. Specially when the country has a Socialist President with a Socialist Government. In such a place bashing the President and his Government, accusing them of human rights violation is a sure means to be recognised by the International Community and Institutions, to offer a Global Shining Light Award, or US Freedom Defenders Award. I bet that next in line for an award is Thisaranee Gunasekara, who does President bashing, in style.

Now to come to Sonali Samarasinghe's article about the journalists and the Army, it is said that the new American Army Manual paints American reporters as a national Security threat.

However, lies and war seem to be interconnected. One keeps the other going. After all war is not the best thing that could happen, and lies are not the best to be expected. The American war in Iraq began with a lie, with false documents, supposed to have been prepared by Tony Blair, to support the lie that Iraq had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

There are some lies which could be tolerated, there are other lies which are as intolerable as the war itself. Lies are diffused through various means to mislead the enemy. And the truth is kept away from the public , to avoid an uprising of the people against the war which may result in mass desertion of the soldiers from the army, or their disappointment, which would result in the enemy taking the upper hand.

Samarasinghe refers to a report in the Sunday leader, that contested statistics cited by the Army Commander LT.General Sarath Fonseka. I am not surprised, because that is the stuff of which the Sunday Leader is made of, from what I have heard. It has no iota of patriotism. The two journals the Sunday Leader, and the Mawbima fall into the same category.

Putting into question the statements issued by the Commander of the army is the last thing a patriotic citizen should do. The war though it is evil, becomes a necessity for the country that defends itself against an aggressor. Hence, it is all important that the Armed Forces are left to do their duty without unnecessary probing in search of truth.

In military parlance , a lie could be a strategy, to help the army to gain ground over enemy. A Commander is not happy either when he kills the enemies, or when he has to sacrifice his own soldiers. Nobody would envy the position of a Commander in the midst of a war. He has to take decision, which would to a non combatant be unconventional or cruel. He has not got to explain to every prying Dick, Tom, and Harry, why, how or what, of his actions.

Our Armed Forces are carrying on a difficult war with dedication The death is a factor that an Army Commander has to take account of, and at the same time keep up the moral of the other soldiers to continue the battle despite the soldier next to him had fallen dead. So leave the war to the Commanders, and his soldiers, and let us prey that it would soon be over.

The Commander of the Army at war is not seeking popularity or credibility. He is there to win the war. He has to take the most difficult decisions, planning strategies to win the war with the least damage to its own army. He is not bound to make any statements to the media, because the media falls into the hands of the enemies, who scan them sentence by sentence to detect weaknesses and loop holes of the enemy to plan their attacks, and arouse the feelings of the public against the army . These are the psychological weapons used by the enemy to discourage the soldiers, who would finish by not giving of their best and thus losing the battle.

Questions asked and answers in the Parliament are different from those asked by curious journalists, not always to help but more often to damage. An army discouraged by the media reports which often exaggerate the information they get, or run down the army to make the public become critical, is not what a Commander wants to happen in the army under his command.

Questioning the conduct of a war by legislators, and journalists is a right enjoyed in democracy, says the Global Shining Light Award winner Sonali Samarasinghe, referring as an example the Chief Commander of the United States Forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus who was intensively questioned by the US Congressmen…., But being questioned by the American Congress is all together a different affair, and there are closed session of interrogations, when more important matters are questioned.

The Sunday Leader after having made accusations, and vilifying the President and the Government, has now sent his emissaries to begin their bashing of the Government Armed Forces and its Commander General Sarath Fonseka. That by all means is not being democratic or patriotic. The Army should be kept out of their unworthy interference.

Sonali Samarisinghe does not seem to be as well informed as I presumed her to be about the subject she had ventured to write about in keeping with her newly earned decorations. She does not seem to have read much about the American Army, and its opinion of the interfering journalists.

In order to update her knowledge, I refer her to Columbia Journalism Review which says:

"…There are certain information considered sensitive by the American Army, which are not imparted to the journalists. Steven Aftergood, senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists and director of the federation's Project on Government Secrecy, raises some red flags about the new regulations, writing that the "sensitive" information as defined in the manual includes "not just vital details of military operations and technologies but also documents marked "For Official Use Only" (FOUO) that may be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act." In other words, as he says, "it follows that inquisitive members of the press or the public who actively pursue such FOUO records may be deemed enemies of the United States."

That is for Sonali Samarasinghe's assertion that, "..Questioning the conduct of a war by legislators and journalists is a right enjoyed in democracies…."

American Army's Operational Guide Lines adds that, "A person doesn't have to be in the military or government to support OPSEC…As a Nation, we are in this fight together, and all Americans are encouraged to practice OPSEC."

( OPSEC stands for Operation Security Guidelines)

The Army commanders being questioned by the Congressmen is different from the commanders questioned by the journalists. Interrogators are not traitors, but they are thinking is different, therefore there would be a clash of right or wrong which reported in favour of the interrogators point of view, would affect the army point of view. The army should maintain an image that attracts future recruits to the army. If that image is smeared by over zealous interrogators it would affect the army recruitment prospects. Young men do not necessarily join the army for the salary, but there is for some an attraction for the uniform, bravery and hard challenging life. Therefore, the good image of the army has to be preserved.

Making all sorts of accusations and criticism against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government is bad enough, but when she begins to turn her guns of vilification on to the Army Commander Lt.General Sarath Fonseka, she begins to walks on unknown territory. The Army Commander Sarath Fonseka is a person held in great esteem by the people of the country, though not by the Sunday Leader. He is a great hero of the Nation, who walks heedless of death threats, to visit the combat zones, to be with the soldiers and encourage them, in their dangerous mission of saving the motherland from the terrorists.

Sonali Samarasinghe says, "We are not aware whether Gen. Fonseka contributes to the thinking of the famed German war strategist Karl Von Clausewitz: 'War is a continuation of politics by other means'.". This statement of hers goes to shows, that she does not know to evaluate a person, or try to understand that the origin of the unfolding events, is the result of the effort of a man of unblemished character, who is dedicated to the very hilt of the commitment of the task he has taken on himself to accomplish.

The success story of the Government Forces in bringing the LTTE terrorists, whose "military force" was spoken in highly exaggerated terms as an invincible army, to the present ignominious position, is due to the wisdom of the President who allowed the army to plan and carry out the military campaign against the terrorists without any political interference.

Sonali Samarasinghe goes beyond her journalist ethics –if there is such a thing, in casting aspersions at the esteemed Commander of the Army Sarath Fonseka, as having to look over his shoulders to make statements of a political nature to get an extension of service. In any civilized country, the Army carries out its duty of defending the country giving the credit of military successes to the Government. It was so when there were Kings, the wars were won in the name of the King. Therefore Sonali Samarasinghe you should turn to another subject to pour your venom.

Sonally Samarasinghes article trying to attack the army, without facts shows the extent to which she lacks the ability to produce an article of quality. - Sri Lanka Guardian