War to the Jungles, but not by the Law of the Jungle

"This does not mean security forces should go soft on tigers. On the contrary, tigers must be totally wiped out in order to advance a good political solution based on ethnic diversification and ethnic integration."

by Thomas Johnpulle

(January 03, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The conduct of Sri Lankan armed forces has been exemplary. There’s no argument about that. Civilian casualties as claimed by the mouthpiece of Tamil Tigers carries very little credibility and the whole world knows that. Accidental civilian casualties of the Vanni operation cannot be measured against idealistic yardsticks. The Sri Lankan Air Force is technologically too insignificant compared to the mighty United States Air Force and the Israeli Air Force, yet SLAF has a lower rate of civilian casualties.
This is remarkable and must be appreciated by all those who are genuinely concerned about civilian safety. Targets taken by SLAF are all carefully documented, corroborated by an array of intel and timed to minimise collateral damage. Often hardcore self-proclaimed patriots demand what they call ‘carpet bombing’, whatever the term means. However, SLAF has always exercised restraint to save as many civilians as possible. Given the unfortunate plight of Vanni civilians who are nothing but cannon fodder or at the very best human shields for their captors, completely alleviating civilian casualties is not possible.

The same can be said about the army and the navy.

With the fall of Killinochchi, war is heading to the jungles. This raises serious humanitarian concerns. Not only civilians will be inconvenienced more and more, but also the rule of law on combatants may be compromised. Vietnam War, Bolivian anti-Che Guevara crackdown, Russian operations in Chechnya, operations against Maoist guerrillas in India, the Congo conflict (even the conduct of UN peace keeping troops) and the Malaysian crackdown of communist rebels are good examples of how the laws of war were severely compromised in jungle warfare.

Unlike in towns and surrounding areas, information flow from jungles will be much less. It is even more aggravated in the Sri Lankan context where media is not allowed access to the war.

It is expected that Sri Lankan security forces will continue to uphold highest standards of conduct as they have done so far.

Unlike Vietnam, Congo, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, etc. this is a battle against another group of Sri Lankans. Therefore, it places a higher requirement to honour the law.

This does not mean security forces should go soft on tigers. On the contrary, tigers must be totally wiped out in order to advance a good political solution based on ethnic diversification and ethnic integration. However, in the process, Lankan security forces should maintain their high standards as before. Just because the war goes to the jungle, it need not reduce in any way the degree of care Lankan forces have always exercised.

President’s speech following the capture of Kilinochchi is quite reassuring. At last Sri Lanka has got a humanitarian as its President. Indeed the children of Northerners are his children too. Their safety and welfare are his responsibility. Amidst uncertainties of war, one thing is certain; he will keep his word. - Sri Lanka Guardian