Terror chief Prabhakaran cannot be helped to escape and no power on earth should thwart and frustrate the determination of Sri Lanka in this pursuit. If the stand of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in relation to the current crisis in Sri Lanka has any credibility, then it questions the validity and integrity of the US action in Iraq. She had better rectify that before commenting on Sri Lanka.
By Satchi Sithananthan from Frankfurt
(April 25, Frankfurt, Sri Lanka Guardian) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sadly exposed her shallow grip of the ground realities of the Sri Lankan situation. It almost amounts to say, leave the murderous Tigers to do whatever they want to do with the thousands they herded from all over Wanni, marched them as bearers of heavy military equipment and other war material towards Mullaitivu and to have them as human shields and also intended as a source for cadres, immaterial whether they are children or the elderly. The ultimate aim was to use them as a bargaining counter for a ceasefire for a new lease of life for the LTTE if threatened with extinction.
Surely, surely a US so used to, and familiar with terrorism globally and currently raging blight and blast on civilian population in Iraq so long in its determination to wipe out terrorism in a distant land claiming that this threatens the US, must have sufficient information about the kind of peril LTTE holds not only for Sri Lanka but even in other countries with an underworld network it has developed unlike Al-Qaida and the Taliban. In fact, it is this underworld that trades arms for Al-Qaida and Taliban and the LTTE also perfected the suicide bomber technology that is now part of their hideous weaponry.
Neurotic nightmare
While the US with all its sophisticated technology and immense military resources is unable to locate one man who has become a neurotic nightmare to the Americans, Sri Lanka is just inches and moments away from ending the Tiger plague with the terror chief cornered in a hole. He cannot be helped to escape and no power on earth should thwart and frustrate the determination of Sri Lanka. If the same formula is applied, Clinton’s stand on Sri Lanka questions the validity and integrity of the US action in Iraq. She had better rectify that before commenting on Sri Lanka.
Secondly the Sri Lankan Armed Forces are engaged in a mighty operation of saving the thousands held as human shield when it could have simply wiped out the LTTE long ago without any consideration for the horrendous collateral damage it could have done to the people in LTTE captivity. Did not the US Forces do exactly what the Sri Lankan Armed Forces could have done but did not do in the case of the civilian population in Iraq? The world has not forgotten how the US Forces used poisonous gas to ferret out the Vietcong and in the process thousands of civilians were killed.
Thirdly since Madam Clinton’s statement beggars integrity and sound judgment and she is quite a smart person too, when taken in the context of what the Government of Sri Lanka ought to do in respect of the LTTE, one wonders what kind of hidden forces are playing on her to have made a statement quite unworthy not only of her but a US government no more headed by a moron like George Bush but by a remarkable and determined head of state, President Barak Obama.
Fourthly, in respect of the Sri Lankan situation, the US should have without even being asked, freely and heavily aided and supported the Sri Lankan government in rooting out the Tiger plague. It is hoped the US is not trying to fight another war, its own obsessive fear of the growing power of China and India for which the South Asian theatre is best kept destabilized. If this is indeed the factor that is going to govern the US policy which believes the sauce for the goose need not be the same for the gander and vinegar instead would suffice, even ideal.
US has a lot to learn
If this be so, the US has disqualified itself from being a major player in Sri Lanka’s determination to wipe out the Tiger menace with a highly disciplined Armed Forces engaged in this task. The world community sees how the soldiers and sailors and the medicos of the Armed Forces are handling the awful ground realities affecting the civilians who are fleeing from the very people they claim to lead. Are there any such records of the US Forces in Iraq or even from Vietnam? The US has a lot to learn from how the Sri Lankan Forces are conducting themselves in a deadly war situation and against the most brutal terrorist force in the world.
The LTTE has terrorized Sri Lanka and India for over three decades, developed a global underworld of shady activities from alien smuggling, drugs, counterfeit currency, credit card fraud to illegal arms deals and already there are ominous signs of what the Tigers are capable of using the pro-LTTE Diaspora on the international scene.
If she was ill-advised and that would be unfortunate, Madam Clinton must instead be concerned about the larger interests of the US in which she should view that the LTTE should not be salvaged to ensure it does not become a cancerous force in South Asia. Otherwise, one could conclude that she may feel that a circumstance should be created where Sri Lanka could become another Diego Garcia from which to control China and India.
In whatever way one looks at her statement, the conclusion could only be that she did not care for the best interests of the people of Sri Lanka. Her stand is not only unfortunate but also betrays the hypocrisy of the US in the global theatre. Little Sri Lanka is the country that today offers a hope to rid the world of terrorism and also the place where the Armed Forces are an example in a democratic state.-Sri Lanka Guardian
Home Unlabelled Clinton has flipped the flop; if not hollow then it is ominous
Clinton has flipped the flop; if not hollow then it is ominous
By Sri Lanka Guardian • April 25, 2009 • • Comments : 6
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Remember this is the country that created and supported despots like Saddam and etc so no one should be surprised by any sayings the Americans make. One thing it does not matter who is in charge in the USA all of them have peanut brains and half of them are fried with drugs.My advice to the USA is get your house in order and then give your two cents to the rest of the world.
Ms.Clinton is not ill-informed it is she pretends that she does not know.
the whole world does this except Russia and china and India knows this but finds it hard to come out with it.
USA failed misarably in their own war on terror.They couldn't believe how a small nation like sri lanka got rid of this so soon and too late for them to do anything about it.
Now they are in a position to eat their own words and if ,prabakaran is caught alive most unlikely many nations and names of western leaders will come to open for Prabakaran will be out with it for sure and these gentlemen including Norway in running in sane to stop this.The western worlds darkerst secrats are with Prabakaran.
One more thing to south asian idiots everywhere who has the "indian accent'Don't you see what the west is after all these times?
They wants us to be divided forever throw stones and guns at eachother on their expenses so that they can have a good time .
The bloody idiots we are keep fighting and killing and keep the game going for them.
Keep the terrorism going asia so that we in the west can sell our weapons to you.afterall where are we going to find a market in the western world to sell them.No western country is on war.Even USA is fighting it far away from their own.Keep your backyard safe and thrown the bomb to your neighbour.
Hilary is a bit slow in grasping what's going on. It appears she sadly lacks 'woman's intuition' as demonstrated way back when Bill was playing up with Monica.
Mrs Clinton must explain or apologize her comments.
It's quite evident that the statements made by Hillary Clinton angered many Sri Lankans. Then again, her words were in-line with the comments from many other Western nations. However, her statements may have been constructed based on a lack of information about the current situation. Keep in mind, the United States has no vested interest, be it economic or otherwie, in Sri Lanka. Rather, the US is currently dealing with it's own problems - the economy, rebuilding foreign relations, domestic relations, etc. Perhaps, Mrs. Clinton's intention was not to make a bold statement, but rather simple commentary on the situation.
As a Sri Lankan - American, I'm not surprised at her statement. Rather, there are several of us, the US Diaspora, who question the government's actions. Obviously, we are against the LTTE, and we want an end to the war, but that doesn't mean that we are hopping on the band-wagon of the government.
Furthermore, I would urge that people stop criticizing Mrs. Clinton at a personal level. Granted, people are angry at her comments, but those statements were made as a politician, and not on a personal level. Let me note that Mrs. Clinton has proven herself to be generous on several occasions, and people in Sri Lanka have been recipients of her generosity. After the tsunami of 2004, there were a group of Americans who came to visit villages that had been affected in the Eastern province. They made medical donations, clothing donations, along with enough monetary donations for several houses to be reconstructed. This group was sponsored by Mrs. Clinton, and much of the funding came from her personal shares. I would know, I was one of those Americans.
So, moral of the story, judge the politician and not the person. After all, as history has shown, Sri Lankans should be very familiar with politicians that make statements for the sake of commentary.
If you listen to any unbiased source in Afghanistan or Iraq, you can easily learn about the magnitude of the civilian casualties in those countries in the hands of U.S. forces. No matter who is responsible, civilian casualties are best to be avoided at any cost, but being hypocritical about that is a shame. I am sure the Obama administration will be sensitive to that.
AD, NY
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