Fonseka discusses war victory

"Fonseka said that he was able to finish off the war in two years and nine months because he led from the front. The fact that he had also been attacked by a suicide bomber gave his men the added confidence in him."
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By Paneetha Ameresekere reporting from Colombo

(November 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) With military dictators in the region ending up as failures, General Sarath Fonseka, tipped to be the Opposition’s common candidate to face President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the forthcoming poll, said that he would do things differently.

He was replying to an observation this reporter asked him on Tuesday: that military leaders from this part of the region made poor leaders of their countries.

Fonseka said that he believed that the private sector was the engine of growth in the economy. However, he didn’t comment when asked what his thinking was in regard to state run utilities.

This took place at the annual conference of the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (CPM), where Fonseka was the chief guest. The theme of the conference was the “can do” approach.

Speaking at the event, he said that if teachers and grama sevaka niladharis could be engaged in politics, there was nothing wrong in a soldier taking to politics.

Giving an inkling of the plans he has for the country, he said that centres of excellence covering health and education at the secondary and tertiary levels, including the building of student hostels islandwide, was needed to tackle youth unrest.

Fonseka said that he was able to finish off the war in two years and nine months because he led from the front. The fact that he had also been attacked by a suicide bomber gave his men the added confidence in him. 5,200 soldiers were killed and another 23,000 injured in the war. Describing the intensity of the fighting, he said it was like fighting the Third World War, with heavy fighting raging day and night.

He said that another reason for the war win was that he attacked the enemy at his strong points. “This way I was able to kill not 10-15 terrorists, but hundreds,” said Fonseka. They also took the enemy off the beaten track, gaining the element of surprise. “No vehicle could traverse and no helicopter could land and sometimes casualties had to be carried for eight kilometres in such diversions,” he said.

Another reason for the victory was promotions being made on merit. Some 2,000 corporals and sergeants were promoted to the rank of second lieutenant this way, while “friends” in the army who couldn’t perform were overlooked for promotions. He also took the blame for debacles like the attempt to break through the Muhamalai defence lines twice, which led to the deaths of 210 soldiers.

He blamed weak military leadership, not political leadership, for allowing the LTTE to survive so long.

He said that in 1999, as a young Major General, he had told President Chandrika Kumaratunga in reply to a question that the war could be finished off in four years. Another Major General who was also present at this occasion said eight years; a third, who was commanding the army’s Special Forces said that the war could never be won; while a fourth made his presentation without any comment in regard to deadlines.

All four Major Generals invited by Kumaratunga had made presentations. The army was modernized during Kumaratunga’s regime with 120 mm, 130 mm, 152.7 mm m.b.r.l.s and tanks being procured during that period, he said.

-Sri Lanka Guardian