Monday, August 6, 2007

Special Forces Alpha Squad details revealed by media

Several days ago, a government television news bulletin showed a group photograph and accompanying video footage of a Sri Lanka army (SLA) Special Forces units who were engaged in the Thoppigala offensive when it was in its initial stages. We were shocked to see the footage because it showed images of the Alpha Squad of 2SF and clearly mentioned the names of its commanders. Alpha Squad was used in Long Range Surveillance (LRS) missions in the first phase of Thoppigala offensive.

Image: Special Forces cap badge. The four arrows depict the 4-man team regularly used for covert strikes and its DPU capabilities

Alpha Squad is a covert ops unit attached to the SF. Its soldiers are used to penetrate enemy lines and gather intelligence for air strikes and artillery strikes. Information about such units should never be exposed in media as the enemy intelligence in constantly on the lookout for them. Previous media debacles where sensitive information about covert units were publicly revealed ended up with the intelligence personnel paying with their lives. (best example would be the millennium city incident, where several newspapers irresponsibly published a full list of names of personnel involved in the clandestine DPU unit nicknamed "Mahasohon Brigade'). Although credit should be given to soldiers who put their lives on the line for the motherland, media should be careful not to expose too much specially when the enemy is the LTTE.

100 comments:

  1. Here we go again!

    Our people just can't keep things under their hats.
    I hope all action has been taken to protect these Boys and their kin.
    This is another reason why our counter intelligence must be strengthened.

    This is a good example of what happen when media is given a free hand to cover on going Military operations!

    DefenceNet every thing must be done to keep these guys safe, and to make sure this does not happen again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guys,can anyone tell me frm where to obtain Janes Defence Weekly magazines & Air forces monthly mags-for reference purposes.tkx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why army let those media persons to go with them? or camera them?

    They may be national media but army could stop it,couldn't they? Media may not know they are recording confidential things but army know it.

    And i saw they camera the planning area's also.LTTE can easily target them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As Kun mentioned, why in the earth any media got closer to special forces?
    Was there any internal support? How can media get closer to any of the fighting area with out forces support? if so should n't some one in forces check the clips prior to releases?
    Why do we keep doing same mistakes again and again.
    Media A*** holes is the main problem in SL.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Media A*** holes is the main problem in SL. "

    Perein I don't think you could blame the media 100%, like Kun said how do they know who they are filming, for them it was jsut another group of soldiers. The Military must be on top of its game.

    Rifard, Janes Defence publications can be obtained from their web site, BUT they do not come cheap!

    Jane's Defence

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jack-
    Problem is we are handling the terror here. Media members should have common knowledge rather than trying to be a heroes or getting a pay rise.
    I would also blame the authorities who has act like kids by sending media to this area, moreover they should have viewed tapes prior to published.
    We should isolate the area from media and send the troops to what they are good at. Media or you and me are not in field. It's those heroes who's doing the job.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "May god protect their lives so that they can go home at the end of this after crusifying the LTTE"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Navindran,
    "$9.5-Million Dollar Home for Gotabaya in California"

    You are blindly repeating ealam websites. Go to their web site and find the source. The value is $0.95-Million.

    ReplyDelete
  9. For $950,00 he has a nice home..How about Ranils and VPs assets..any websites.

    ReplyDelete
  10. kbs,
    "I typed "Chamal Rajapaska" into Google Maps and it shows him having a $20,000,000US..."

    The link you have given doesn't work. I also typed "Chamal Rajapksha" into google maps and didn't get anything other than the Indiana Buddhist Temple. Would you tell me please how exactly you found the above information.

    ReplyDelete
  11. great news, now promoted to brigedier, a well known special forces comander is going back to north to lead S.F units after a well rested vacation. remember sampoor/vakarai operations

    ReplyDelete
  12. a million $ house in L.A area is not big deal, avarage home prices well above half a mil range

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is terrible news. Everyone says that a democracy needs a free press. I completetly agree with this. But the press of the western democracies have journalistic ethics and I have to admit that time and again their Sri Lankan counterparts have shown complete disregard for such notions and instead pursue their own agendas with little thought of the consequences.

    Dows anyone know which channel carried this news item? When?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rifard.. Jane's Subcription is easy mate just go janes.com and subcribe. I have and it's super ! Anyhow... cant believe these Morons exposed the LRP's ? Why so dumb ! Anyway,Asiatribune has a disturbing column abt ltte launching false Sea tiger ops to distract the SLN FAC so abt 200 or so tigers can sneak into Wanni ? What the Heck man have'nt we learnt our lesson's ? By the way We getting more Indian Radar Crap and also FAC ? Geez !

    ReplyDelete
  15. Navindran,
    “$14-Million =1,566,600,000.00 LKR) $4.5-Million Dollar Home for Basil in California $9.5-Million Dollar Home for Gotabaya in California -- Look it up Yourself.”

    I have been digging. I went to Nitharsanam.com. Yes above was their claim (and they show nice maps too). And it was in the other eelam websites too. But the news is a darn lie. So followings are the correct facts.

    Basil Rajapaksa

    Nitharsanam.com claims he owns the home at 15067 Preston Dr. Fontana CA92336. They try to estimate the value of his home by comparing with another house on sale in the neighborhood. The house they have chosen is at 6530 Douglas av. Fontana CA 92336. They claim the value of that house is $4.5 million.

    Actual Facts
    Yes Basil owns the house at 15067. That’s the only truth in it. Average market price around that neighborhood is less than half a million. The house at 6530 (they claim worth $ 4.5 Million) is actually on sale now. Owner is asking $0.45 Million ($449,500) for it. LTTE has increased the value by 1000%.

    Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

    Nitharsanam.com claims that Gota’s wife owns the home at 91773 Wickham Ct San Dimas CA91773. The house at 1612 Greenwich Rd San Dimas is in the neighborhood. They claim that average market prize of that house is $995,000 (Just below $ 1 million). But in the other eelam websites the value is stated as $9.5 million (so is Navindran).

    Actual Facts
    Yes they own the house at 1341. Again that’s the only truth in it. The house at 1612 is one block away from Gota’s house. But I couldn’t get the prize of that house may be it’s not on sale. But the house at 1149 W cypress Ave CA 91773 is in the same block as of Gota’s. The value of that house is $353,850. The market prize of all the houses that are on sale in that area is below four hundred thousand dollars. So Nitharsanam.com increased the value by 300% and Nanindran & other LTTE websites increased it by 3000%. Either these tigers are big liars or idiots who can’t count zeros.

    If you guys want to check market values of the houses yourselves use the following steps.
    1. Google search for “Trulia real estate search”
    2. Then for Basil’s type “ Fontana, CA” and for Gota’s type “ San Dimas, CA”
    3. You already have their addresses. Using the map given you can find the market prize of the houses on sale in that area. It will take some time to get use to it.

    So guys Basil & Gota lived in US before coming to SL. Of course they must have their homes in US. According to above market prices their homes are very average.

    ReplyDelete
  16. defencenet

    can you tell me how many muslims are in our forces?

    also can you tell me who col. Lafir is?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Noted, I was just posting this article in relation to the Air Force purchases. I wonder why they still need houses in the US. Secondly, the laws which favours dual citizens also favours Gota only came about recently.

    More on a defence issue, the media release is similar to what the LTTE shows in their vidoes. If SLA are quite sure that the LTTE knows about the main leaders of the SF through LTTE operatives or rouge officers then they see no harm in releasing the information. This boosters the morale of the soldiers as well as shows the capabilities to the civilians.

    The media must be vetted by MI. I do not believe that they can go ahead and just publish the news.

    An example is when LTTE stealth boat videos were caputured by the SLA, the LTTE started to show the boats in their propaganda videos.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Interesting article on Asian Tribune. India saved VP back in the 80's when he was surrounded in Vadamarachchi. They rescued VP using helicopters.

    "http://www.asiantribune.com/
    index.php?q=node/6844"

    ReplyDelete
  19. Defencenet

    Is there any way to protect the members of the Alpha Squad whose identities have been revealed?

    Can't the government give them and their families new identities and a new place to live so that they can't be tracked down?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Defencenet,

    What is the situation regarding the report of a Major captured trying to pass intel on CDs? Is he court martialled?

    Contrary to these reports, i got to know from one my sources that this was all a distorted report published by the Sinhalanet. I got to know that the CDs contained no harmful data. Can you further enlighten us regarding this?

    ReplyDelete
  21. "The Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said that a stock of 16000 ammunitions used for T-56 riffles and five hand grenades were unearthed from the dump"

    Does anybody know how much is one of those bullets or amunitions costs? Is this big by any means? What are the most common riffles use by our forces?

    Just curious to know..

    ReplyDelete
  22. Guys, don't take this the wrong way but i think SLDF bigshots have to take responsability for these type of things.
    why the heck would they let journalists film these 3SF people?
    How did they got names of their commanders etc without military knowing it? If a common journalist can get this types of things how can you expect them to safeguard these great warriors against the ltte?
    It's such a shame that these soldiers have gone into enemy territory, kicked their butts and come back only to be "sold out" to the enemy by a small mistake like this...
    No point crying after the incident...the should've never let this happen i mean how difficult can it be to not let journalists film 3SF warriors...
    pointless blaming the journalists...they are there to report...
    it's a different story if they have done it clandestinely which is not the case here.
    Our people don't learn as fast as they should :(

    ReplyDelete
  23. Navindran-there is nothing wrong in a person having houses in different countries.The US must have been easier and cheaper for them as comparative property prices are pretty low in some states WRT elsewhere in the world.This is quite common.But he needs to do his job in SL.I will bet you that many LTTE supporters in norway also have houses for example in the US.

    GEagle:i read that article in lankaweb about India saving VP in 1990 as well-shows they are not superhuman like David said.I am pleased that SecDef is speaking to the LTTE in a language they understand well.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Abit of history about ASEAN
    http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/070807-1.html

    ReplyDelete
  25. GEagle what happens if we do nothing w.r.t to soldiers.I assume that the soldiers dont visit their families on leave in their uniforms.Would not trying to relocate them draw attention to their families as well?.what do you think?.David (when you have the time) what do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Talk about India saving vp...

    Def net, guys,
    Can anyone confirm this?
    This is something I heard.
    India gave us radars together with a technical staff of about 200 people. They were supposed to train our AF personel and leave. But they seem to be just staying here for a longer period than expected.
    And on the day the radar was out of order, bang! ltte drop bombs.
    Coincidence?

    I think there's a serious inteligence issue here. I bet there are couple of RAW guys in that 200 staff (in addition to other spies).

    ReplyDelete
  27. I might be wrong but i'd say India wants to see this conflict continue for both political and economic reasons that are favorable to them...
    can't blame them cos that's to be expected...SL people should know how to tackle this and expecting other to come and save us is nothing but a pipe dream

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ranil and Tata.. i am in agreement with you guys.. now watch out.. for the most recent develoment..chief bollywood actor Nedumaran will be there..He is supposed to be bringing medicines..could be C4.I cant remember that chief ministers daughters name will be coming also.I bet she has many holiday homes around the world.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Enough these media circuses..

    I think the SF itself is partely to blame for this...

    am I wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Lets all understand something.

    The reason India is willing to sell us two additional radars is not because they were suddenly overcome with love for poor old Lanka. If any of you think that, then you are foolish beyond belief.

    India has been worried for the past years about the growing influence of China and Pakistan in Lanka's war against the LTTE. The last thing India want's is Chinese or Pakistani naval base in Lanka. The main struggle here is between China and India.

    You see China is already financing and building ports in Myanmar(Sitwe), Pakistan(Gwadar) and Lanka(Hambantota). These three ports are designed to give China strategic control over the its trade in the India ocean. This all part of their "string of pearls" strategy. China as a rising super power is worried about the possibility of distruptions of oil and gas tankers coming to China from the Gulf and Africa.

    India is worried that it will be surrounded on all three sides by China, so that why they are sweet talking to Lanka with good deals on radars etc.

    China and India both want to consolidate their access to the Indian Ocean and to secure sea lanes through which its energy supplies are transported. Lanka is located in a strategic position in the India ocean so it can't be ignored.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hey magnet

    “also can you tell me who col. Lafir is?”

    He is one of the founders of SF … he did his supreme sacrifice in the Mulathive attack.. I think he is married to sinhala girl …

    We all ways remember him as a great hero

    ReplyDelete
  32. All media should work for country first.
    UK People done the damage and washed our brain through our Educaiton (Still doing as well through world bank and NGO)
    Please think this is only one country for you and me finally our kids.
    Please think as a winning team for against LTTE Terror.
    War heroes in FDL are doing excellent job for our country please think about.

    ReplyDelete
  33. About Basil and Gota's houses...

    Their and their family members' lives are in danger while visiting US, as LTTE have already smuggled 'suicide kits' and hidden them closer by.

    When Scotlandyard arrested the one of the LTTE kingpins in London, they found a suicide kit hidden in his house.

    Surely, it has been there to be used on a VIP.

    ReplyDelete
  34. noltte=peace your absolutely right!.Dont take the arrest of santhan too seriously..i have a feeling it was simply due to diplomatic pressure-a lot of people will disagree with me.Why is there no more news about his arrest?.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "What is the situation regarding the report of a Major captured trying to pass intel on CDs? Is he court martialled?"

    Well the case is still ongoing. He is a suspect but is innocent until proven guitly. He will be under close observation of MI.

    "can you tell me how many muslims are in our forces?"

    Unfortunately we cannot give you an exact number.

    "I think the SF itself is partely to blame for this...
    am I wrong?"

    You are correct. Media guys went into the captured areas with the consent of military. We do not think they even knew it was the Alpha Squad pictures they released publicly. This kind of thing should be well regulated (and is regulated in almost every country)

    "Is there any way to protect the members of the Alpha Squad whose identities have been revealed? "

    There are certain procedures that are adapted by the military to protect personnel whose cover is blown. The most common method is to send them abroad.

    ReplyDelete
  36. There really is no point blaming the media for this or expecting journalists to be working for the good of the GoSL. The media is there to report (anything and everything they can). Full stop. Those are the rules and the Army knew it. The Army and the SF are to blame for this leak. THEY should've been more careful in protecting the IDs of these soldiers.

    I haven't seen the footage in question 'cos I'm out of SL at the moment, but maybe it's not too bad. Soldiers in the NE often look quite different when they come home on leave. If names were mentioned, it still doesn't mean that their addresses can be tracked. If a caption said, Sgt Ariyaratne (or whatever), it's not helpful really. So far the LTTE hasn't tried to hit individual ORs at home (the way the JVP did), but aimed at a few higher ranking officers (like Muthalif, etc). What is more likely is that the LTTE will keep a record of their faces, so that they can keep a track of the unit's movements in the NE.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Almost all the arrests of LTTE kingpins in London, France, and Australia have been done as PR exercises to avoid blame.

    The LTTE fund-raising is still going on in all those countries, and Canada being the highest despite bans.

    In all the Western countries, laws of the land apply differently to LTTE terrorists. They can terrorise Tamils and impose LTTE law on them. But the very governments that gave refuge to them give a blind-eye.

    When it was obvious that LTTE was behind the Credit Card cloning scam, which robbed Millions of $ from UK public, the government of UK came to LTTE's rescue.

    These governments exactly know about all the multi-million $ illegal empires that LTTE run, yet they put blind-eye on them.

    We are looking up to these countries to be examples and help us to get rid of blood-thirsty terrorism. But unfortunately, for some hidden reason, it never happen. Instead, they come to threaten us. They take the side of the terrorists, even though the truth is obviousely visible (despite their own trusted intelligence and country situation reports).

    I have never seen any other terrorist organisation being supported by international community like this, despite their heinest crimes against humanity, and the safety of their own countries.

    BTW, Army should be totally responsible for media leak... and many in the A/C rooms do not realise that we are on War!

    I can give you guys a good example. Recently, when Navy migrated their email system, they openly published the 'Temporary Universal Password' necessary to log into individual's mail boxes in the Navy.lk website.

    It said, use your own email address and this new Password to log into your own mail... How convenient!

    Stupidity and ignorance to the MAX!

    If I was the Navy commander, I would have court-marshalled the idiots who were behind that.

    ReplyDelete
  38. With regards to all geopolitical issues and descisions(past, present and future) in the world, one must remember one thing:

    Countries have no friends, they only have interests.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hey,jack & rajaratasurfer.tkx,but i dont think the subscription prices look rosy!.anyway can i get like maybe secondhand hard copies of Janes Defence Weekly,Air Forces Monthly,etc,tkx

    ReplyDelete
  40. "Hey,jack & rajaratasurfer.tkx,but i dont think the subscription prices look rosy!."

    Yeah I told you :)

    But there is still some free content, you get like half the article, better than nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  41. "Countries have no friends, they only have interests

    so i suppose it's in OUR interest to find out what THEIR interests are! would it be wise though to play up fears in Delhi about chinese involvement? more important yet, what can we do to get America on side?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Easy, promise USA the partial use of Trinco harbour....

    ReplyDelete
  43. Strangling LTTE of foreign funds is the best defence that can be done against LTTE.

    That will certainly bring them to negotiation table too.

    What are the suggestions on how to achieve the same?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Noltte, to claim that western govts are actively supporting the LTTE is both ridiculous and a very immature way to look at the world.

    No NATO or EU govt has EVER helped the LTTE, though possibly elements within their system have. That's inevitable, and part of life.

    What you must remember is that the original grievances the Tamils had (and which spawned the separatist terrorists) were legitimate, and democratic western govts identified with that and (rightly) saw the Tamils as an oppressed minority. Now that their cause has been hijacked by the Tigers, we need to fully convince western govts that we are no longer the oppressors. We cannot do that easily, and when things like abductions and the Pettah evictions go unpunished it sets back our cause with these govts.

    It will take a lot to convince them that we are the good guys, and frankly we are doing a shit job at convincing them.

    The banning and crackdowns in the EU and North America are a start and instead of scoffing at it and claiming its just a show, we need to look at ways to help them to crack down further.

    We also need to convince the diaspora Tamils that they must stop funding the Tigers.

    Claiming that the UK govt sprang to the Tiger defence during the credit card racket is rubbish. Do you have any evidence of this?

    ReplyDelete
  45. Guys,
    I don't know if anyone remembers but a couple of months ago I posted a link to an Indian news article that alleged Israeli involvement in training the tigers while they were supplying arms to Sri Lanka. Most of the bloggers at the time simply dismissed it saying that India was merely pointing fingers to make sure that Sri Lanka will stop moving closer to Pakistan, China and Israel to obtain military hardware.

    However, I was concerned and did some research and I was finally able to find the source of the info in the Indian article. It is a book written by Victor Ostrovsky who happens to be an ex Mossad member (The isralei external intelligence service). The book itself is called 'By Way of Deception: Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer'.

    I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in having a read and our worst fear appears to be true and it is not an Indian fabrication.

    ReplyDelete
  46. "Easy, promise USA the partial use of Trinco harbour...."

    India would not like this at all. They may be close to signing a nuclear deal with the U.S. but they still remember President Nixon ordering a carrier group into the bay of bengal in the 1970's.

    ReplyDelete
  47. If strangling the LTTE of its foreign funds is not that effective then our sea is the next line of defence.

    If we buy better maritime surveillance hardware(aircraft, OPVs) for our navy, then that significantly increases our chances of find and destroying the large LTTE weapons carrying trawlers at sea. Sinking a trawler hurts them more than sinking countless small fishing boats that smuggle in weapons.

    What good will their foreign funds be when most of the weapons they buy with that money ends up at the bottom of the sea.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Can anyone tell me what the current size of Lanka's Army, airforce, navy and homeguard is? And by how much all four branches are set to increase by?

    ReplyDelete
  49. DavidB,

    I will settle with your argument of 'certain elements' about the foreign governments. I also think that it is the best way to put it.

    "Claiming that the UK govt sprang to the Tiger defence during the credit card racket is rubbish. Do you have any evidence of this?" - I can remember the Chief of Police coming out and saying that they could not find a link to LTTE.. It looked like he is the only one who could not see a link..I am sorry that I can not trace to any article right away despite Googling.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Guys, following is the today's editorial of "The Island". As usual it's very interesting.

    Prabhakaran’s luck

    Prabhakaran has always been lucky. Whenever he fights his way into a cul-de-sac and is about to be done for, someone rushes to his rescue. In 1987, when he was trapped in Vadamarachchi, where he would definitely have perished, India intervened, dropped parippu and whisked him away in a chopper thus ensuring the protraction of her neighbour’s conflict, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths ever since. Then the late President Premadasa saved him from the IPKF, which had reduced the LTTE to about six hundred cadres. Prabhakaran showed gratitude to Rajiv Gandhi and President Premadasa for the services rendered in his inimitable style. Both were blown to smithereens!

    There are signs of a fresh attempt being made to save Prabhakaran at a time when he is cornered in the Wanni, fearing a military onslaught. There is little that his friends can do to help him out militarily. His allies in the international community and his well funded lobbies overseas are making a last ditch attempt to let him off the hook.

    They are all out to prevent the army from moving into the Wanni. Prabhakaran may still be a force to be reckoned with in the North because of the heavy concentration of his fighting units and weapons systems in two or three districts. He is sure to put up fierce resistance but he has no way of withstanding a sustained military campaign by a determined army. It has not yet recovered from Karuna’s breakaway. The loss of the East, especially the Thoppigala defeat, has had a debilitating impact on the LTTE’s morale. Prabhakaran’s fighting units are overstretched and he is becoming increasingly dependent on auxiliaries sans battlefield experience. Should the army open more than one front in the North, he would have his work cut out.

    Prabhakaran’s problem is that he is a leader who is more feared than liked. So, when pressure builds up with or without the army moving in, there is the likelihood of cracks appearing in his organisation. Through years of brutal suppression of dissent, he has made enough and more enemies. The massacre of his popular deputy known as Mahattaya and about 200 of his loyalists consequent to what was believed to be a personality clash is a case in point.

    The only escape route available to Prabhakran is a truce. It is not likely that the initiative in this regard will come from the government which is gung-ho and cock-a-hoop following the Thoppigala success. Prabhakaran cannot afford to swallow his pride and declare a unilateral ceasefire unlike in 2001, having promised the final war and collected funds for it. For him, such action is infra dig. But, he may not mind a third party doing it for him. It is here that his foreign friends could be of immense help to him. They are already working towards that end.

    There are certain conditions that need to be created for their project to reach fruition. First of all, the government’s military capability will have to be weakened by suspending foreign aid and making the economy scream so that there won’t be sufficient funds for the war effort. The LTTE lobbyists have got around some lawmakers in the West and made ventriloquists’ dummies of them to call for withholding aid to Sri Lanka and to urge their respective governments to get involved in the conflict here in a bigger way.

    If international support is to be mustered for the LTTE, its image has to be repaired. But, that is not something possible. It sits on the UN List of Shame for recruiting children and stands banned in many countries. However, they are not without an alternative. They are on a campaign to project the Sri Lankan state as the bigger of the two evils by telling the world that the government is killing more people than the LTTE and aiding abetting child recruitment by retaining links with the Karuna Group. This is the impression that the world community gets from reports issued by the various human rights groups including the Human Rights Watch (HRW). If anyone who is not au fait with the situation here goes by the latest HRW report on Sri Lanka, he or she may jump to the wrong conclusion that the real terrorist outfit is the government and not the LTTE.

    It is not for nothing that the International Crisis Group (ICG) President Gareth Evans recently said in Colombo that if the army launched offensive operations in the North, there would be a humanitarian tragedy warranting the intervention of the international community, on the basis of Right/Responsibility to Protect (R2P). A former Australian foreign minister, Evans sent a clear message to the Rajapaksa government: Attack the LTTE in the North and invite trouble!

    The other prong of the save-the-Tigers strategy is a regime change so as to intall a government which will opt for appeasement and the revival of the CFA, according to which the troops will have to be withdrawn to the 2002 (February) positions. The army might even have to vacate Sampur, Vakarai, Muttur, Thoppigala etc. and the LTTE will be able to enter the East once again on the pretext of ‘doing political work’. Prabhakaran may get the Eastern Province back without firing a single shot!

    The Tigers and their allies know more than one way to skin a cat!

    The LTTE has a history of having facilitated regime changes through assassinations. The PA would never have captured state power in 1994 but for the elimination by the LTTE of a number of key UNP leaders who, it knew, would not give in to its demands. The outfit is capable of making things happen.

    Will Prabhakaran be lucky once again?

    ReplyDelete
  51. Something that also needs to be factored in is the image erosion that has been suffered by the tigers not only by their continued listing as a terror outfit, but also in the face of debilitating military set backs in the hands of the determined SLDF. These are not reversals that are easy to reverse. There may be dogs barking here and there, but if Sri Lanka's popular demand from its populace is for a sustained military campaign for the annihilation of the tigers, then that would become national security policy, an achievable goal and priority number one which surpasses all else. It is beyond argument that we are seeing the corrct window of opportunity to achieve this right now as well.
    What Sri Lankans need to guard against is not the verbal diarrhea of narcisists such as Ranil and his like, but against over-zealous government action against dissent which may anger democratic nations that are on our side at this time. At the same time, the govt needs to keep its henchment such as Karuna in check, and make certain that they refrain from greater crimes such as child combatant recruitment, even while they continue to carry out targetted assasinations against ltte targets. There is greater danger in pissing off the UN, than the Human Rights blokes.
    There is a healthy level of public opinion against the government's corruption which indicates that there is potential for the development of civillian pressure groups in to the future to keep governments honest.
    By the way did anyone notice some self-appointed defence expert in the srilankanewspapers.com making fun out of material posted on this forum ? .. There has to be a good reason why such people are thumping key boards and not really contributing to the most decisive war of our nation in any meaningful way. Arrogance is a sign of the stupid and that has to be that very reason.

    ReplyDelete
  52. "By the way did anyone notice some self-appointed defence expert in the srilankanewspapers.com making fun out of material posted on this forum ? "

    Yes I saw that one, a lday by the name of su33 I believe :)

    ReplyDelete
  53. http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL296839.htm

    Srilankan, how about a new guesstimate of the kill ratio?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Oshada, Viktor Ostrovsky's claim was made in the late '80s, eighteen years ago, NOT recently. He was fired from the Mossad, and his testimony was in doubt. Also, he was the ONLY person to make this claim, and could not back it up with any concrete evidence. The Israeli govt didn't even bother to deny anything.

    The recent claim by India is transparently an attempt to cut Israel out of lucrative SLAF and SLN defence contracts.

    Noltte, the Brit cop's comment was at the time that the news broke, and at the time they could not find any evidence of a link with the LTTE. Brit cops (unlike ours) don't speculate or add to rumour. They will only give the bare minimum of known facts to the media. Investigations are ongoing, so if you have fresh news, pls link us to it. Special Branch and Scotland Yard don't give news updates on ongoing cases.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Guys, anyone read the UNP report about the Mig27 purchase in the Sunday Times? Who knows about the validity of the claims?
    Defencenet, were the Mig27s useful in the battle for the East, and what are it's advantages over a Kfir in a ground attack role? Thanks for any info.

    ReplyDelete
  56. DNet,
    What is the sound comes from Colombo Harbour???

    Any Atack or training programme..?

    ReplyDelete
  57. http://www.defence.lk/img/20070808_03.jpg

    The Gentlemen par excellence..

    My heart always goes for him..

    May you all find eternal peace..

    ReplyDelete
  58. Guys,just a thought-what do u think if our military staged a coup,like in Thailand based on the corrupt government?(highly unlikely,i know,just hypothetically speaking)!!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Also,do u think an SU-25 FROGFOOT is better than a MIG-27 flogger for attack purposes.i have read articles about its(SU-25) high maneuvrability & endurance capabilities in addition TO A BIGGER weapon load.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Defencenet

    Is Major General G.A Chandrasiri who is the commanding officer of Jaffna a tamil?

    ReplyDelete
  61. I must admit the resolve of most of the members in this forum of late not to be deviated off topic to political and other subjects.

    You can see some people like Rifard trying stir up little storms, abusing personalities like Gotabhaya Rajapaksha with filth at times.

    I hope the membership continues keep this resolve up. well done.

    ReplyDelete
  62. GEagle,

    I agree with your comments
    "What good will their foreign funds be when most of the weapons they buy with that money ends up at the bottom of the sea."

    However, LTTE foreign funds are being used not only to buy weapons, but also for paying $M of kickbacks for Lobbying, Journalists of Media, NGO manipulations, etc..etc.

    Expats who denounce the LTTE menance can play a significant role in respective government actions against LTTE fund-raising.

    Certainly, destroying LTTE arms shipments, and detecting War-like material destined to LTTE at Colombo port will help.

    Now, at this moment, LTTE has enough convensional weapons to carry out a short-term all out battle (their shortage is man-power and not the conventional weapons). But, certainly they will run-out the stocks if the battle was intense and was dragged for more than a year.

    How many more OPV's would we need to cover the entire island? My hunch is that we need more FACs for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  63. noltte=peace

    "However, LTTE foreign funds are being used not only to buy weapons, but also for paying $M of kickbacks for Lobbying, Journalists of Media, NGO manipulations, etc..etc."

    You are absolutely right. The LTTE propanganda machine has tweaked their tactics a little after their latest defeat in the east. They are going after our economy now. The LTTE is now telling their supporters in the West to help convince the Western governments, politicans, NGOs etc that the Lankan economy is on the verge of collapse and that foreign aid and foreign investments must not be sent to Lanka for it is a waste. In other words they are trying to paint a grim picture about the Lankan economy and its treatment of civilians to send our economy into a tail spin.

    Why are they going after the economy so eagerly? Well, the LTTE realised that a Lanka with a growing economy will mean more revenue going to the government with translates to a bigger military budget. A Lanka with a growing economy means a lanka with a strong well funded military. So hit the economy hard and the military power will also dwindle. Its like hitting 2 birds with one stone. Even barber Chelva himself said after the defeat in the east that they will go after the economy.

    "How many more OPV's would we need to cover the entire island?"

    We have about 4 right now. But the Navy has told the president that they will need somewhere between 10-15 OPVs to properly patrol our seas.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Gentlemen i told you so...
    http://www.army.lk/morenewsfet.php?id=2371
    Just a wild guess of mine;)

    ReplyDelete
  65. noltte=peace.. i agree with Davids comments egarding the crackdown.

    ReplyDelete
  66. We cannot REALLY blame western govts per se.. The problem is -LTTE money is used to prop up the campaigns of certain politicians during election time in return for certain statements by them that may be false WRT the SL govt.Remember "money talks".But we have to have a "postive" outlook on this.. and our diplomatic campaign has had some significant results not achieved before.What i said before.

    ReplyDelete
  67. GEagle ... you hit the nail on the spot brother.

    ReplyDelete
  68. The best way to defeat the LTTE to help members of your family that are less well off than.Help them instead of hindering them..The SLankan tamil relegious celebrations brought happy tears to my eyes.SEE i have been with this LTTE menace for 30 yrs now..

    ReplyDelete
  69. I dont know the validity of this
    http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/080807-7.html

    ReplyDelete
  70. "Is Major General G.A Chandrasiri who is the commanding officer of Jaffna a tamil?"

    Magenet,
    No he is not a Tamil. He is Sinhalese.

    ReplyDelete
  71. May the Triple Gem bless Mr Chandrasiri,
    may god give him strenght to wipeout this mad sadistic evil from Slanka.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Rifard, the SL military will never stage a coup, 'cos there's no real unity within the forces. That's how the Brits planned it -- that way Sinha Regt troops will never join Gajabas, etc. If you look at coups worldwide, it's very rare within Brit-style militaries. The exception is when religious or tribal issues unite various units.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Why Sri Lanka need a Military Coup?

    It is the last thing we need anyway..

    Rifard, what prompt you to ask such a question?

    ReplyDelete
  74. I thought the reason why SL never had a military coup, even though there was one planned in the 1960's, was because the officer corps are quite well groomed against it. It takes commanders of stature to lead a coup and those that we had of that calibre have always been good soldiers who always obeyed their commanding officer, the President, even when the prez was a tyrant. Case in point; Gen Kobbekaduwa and R. Premadasa.

    On a different note; There was an interesting article, an interview with Rtd Gen Hariharan of India, which is worth reading, in the media. Pay particular attention to three important points in the discussion; his foregone colclusion that the tigers will be beaten, the necessity for the SLG to refrain from an aerial campaign which would cause civillian casualties and cause international furore, and finally the importance of recognizing the invincibility of a conviction, whether right or wrong. I thought he had finally gained a fantastically macro perspective of this issue, after the not so focussed assessments which he made earlier.

    ReplyDelete
  75. I often wondered about the depth of analysis or the abject lack of it in these internet forums, even though the participants are obviously intelligent and motivated individuals. While not reading too much into it, the fact that none of the forums that I've regularly visited over the past few years have carried any analysis of the real impact of tamil terror and its utilitarian value to Sinhala chauvanism's agendas continue to intrigue me.

    Has anyone given thought to the fact that the events of July 1983 have contributed to the decimation of the tamil intelligensia who would have otherwise by now achieved what the mongrels will never achieve by force? I tend to believe that had the tamil intellectuals survived as a force within Sri Lanka, a seperate state could have happened by now. By leading it into violent degeneration, the tamil nationalist struggle has been reduced to something despotic and unacceptable at a global scale.

    Does anyone really want to end the mob-rule scenario of vanni at this point and risk the return of the intellectual warrior ?

    ReplyDelete
  76. "There was an interesting article, an interview with Rtd Gen Hariharan of India, which is worth reading"

    The link is here in case anyone was wondering what TS was mentioning:

    http://saag.org/notes4/note395.html

    Thanks TS.

    ReplyDelete
  77. tropicalstorm

    Lets all undertand one thing. And that is that terrorism is a symptom. For this symptom to appear there is an underlying cause. Take care of the cause and the syptoms will disappear.

    The cause has been Sinhalese discrimination against other minorities in Lanka(BTW I am sinhalese). There are a few reasons why this discriminiation and the Sinhala/Tamil conflict happened. The roots of this problem stretch back to colonialism and further back in history.

    I won't go into giving a history lesson but for Lanka to truly become a unified nation multi-cultural nation we must offer the Tamils an acceptable solution to this problem. We must try to end discrimination against all minorities(Tamil, Muslim, Veddah, Burgher). The current community in Lanka is much better and tolerant than it was 50 years ago. So there is hope.

    Most of the Tamils now live in government controlled territory and are opposed to the LTTE. We must help the Tamils whose communities have been shattered by this bloody war, we must help them re-build their communities, get them jobs and provide their children with an education(so they won't be duped to join the LTTE with false propanganda).

    Whoever wins the hearts and minds of the Tamils in Lanka will truimph in this conflict. Thats why the LTTE is so afraid of the recontruction of the East, they know that if the government puts a better solution on the table for the Tamils, then it is the beginning of the end for the LTTE cause.

    For the tamil idea for Eelam to disappear we must provide them better opportunities. Then not even an intellectual warriors can turn the tide.

    ReplyDelete
  78. LTTE infiltrators driven back
    Rafik Jalaldeen

    WELI OYA: A group of LTTE cadres attempting to infiltrate a village in Ranabapura, Weli-Oya was beaten back by Security Forces last morning. A Home Guard was killed in the incident, the Media Centre for the National Security said.

    http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/08/09/sec01.asp

    ReplyDelete
  79. I agree wholeheartedly with GE about 'hearts & minds', and to a certain extent with Tropical Storm about the Tamil intelligentsia. However, I'm not sure that the latter could've achieved Eelam without the counterpoint of the separatist militant groups. The guerrillas/terrorists made the Sinhalese take the Tamil cause seriously. Before that, for 20 years, the Tamil intelligentsia achieved nothing. I think the greatest blow both to peace and the Tamil cause was the LTTE's destruction of the other separatist groups, which would've formed a broader base for negotiation, as well as given any interim administration more legitimacy.

    ReplyDelete
  80. goldeneagle,

    I totally agree with you. Also I want to add that we no longer live in a world we used live in precolonial and colonial era. World is shrinking with more effective forms of communication that transcend political boundaries.

    ReplyDelete
  81. GE, I wouldn't disagree that leaders of Sri Lanka after independence could have done more to make Tamil people feel like equal citizens.
    However, to think that separatism or terrorism just rose out of discrimination is to be misled - there are obviously many complex issues including interference by foreign powers (India being the obvious).
    As well as the start, there may be many hidden agendas in letting the conflict go on. Destruction of any capability to effectively plan separatism for a long time may be one. Many people would wonder why Prez Premadasa supplied arms to LTTE - he obviously thought there are bigger threats than LTTE.
    I tend to look at it from a historical view point - where we are now is not anywhere near the worst.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Done In By a Booming Economy
    August 9, 2007: The LTTE is being seen as an empty threat. The collapse of LTTE forces in eastern Sri Lanka, and inability to carry out a promised terror campaign, has encouraged government forces, and made Tamil civilians more willing to resist LTTE pressure (to volunteer, or donate money.) The navy continues to destroy LTTE gunrunner boats off the northern coast, while the air force bombed an LTTE base on the northern coast. These bases are disguised as fishing villages, but better intelligence has led to the discovery of which "fishing villages" are simply masquerading as smugglers bases. Meanwhile, in the east, the government is trying to get the LTTE Karuna faction, which allied with the army to crush LTTE control in the area, to disarm. There are over a thousand armed Karuna gunmen, and they say they will give up their weapons when they are sure there are no LTTE loyalists in the area that can come after them. There are still believed to be several hundred armed LTTE loyalists in the east, who have gone underground, and may turn into a criminal gang to survive, and be difficult to eliminate. Most of the army units have now gone north, where skirmishing on the front line is increasing, with the LTTE getting ready to resist an army advance.


    The LTTE vow to attack economic targets is not an empty threat. Sabotage and suicide bomber activity teams are being detected and caught. But last year, the economy grew 7.4 percent, and this year is doing even better, the best economic growth since the 1970s.



    The death toll in this new phase of the war, going on for two years now, is about 5,000. A 2002 ceasefire ended 19 years of fighting that had killed about 65,000. But the ceasefire collapsed in 2005. Since then, the LTTE has tried to reposition itself as a hapless victim of government terror. Given the LTTE history of violence and terror, few Sri Lankans, or foreigners, have fallen for the new pitch.

    ReplyDelete
  83. kiri,seems like u are a hardcore MR supporter!my apologies.my thoughts on the coup were just random.i mean,even thailand is a similar country like ours!.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Defencenet,

    I just emailed you a reference to website..

    Hope that helps...

    ReplyDelete
  85. Dear rifard...It is not a case of supporting MR or another party.It is a question of supporting anybody who comes to office and destroys the biggest threat to SLanka.IF I am a politician and i come to office it does not matter even if i have 10 houses in the south of france...provided i DO my JOB for which i am elected.What has happened in the past is these politicos have siphoned off millions of dollars of hard currency abroad during their tenure in office while at the same time doing sh*t about decimating the LTTE with a few exceptions. This is because people who have had to live with these baba bafoons for 30 yrs are sick to death of their murderous antiques.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Rifard said...

    "Also,do u think an SU-25 FROGFOOT is better than a MIG-27 flogger for attack purposes.i have read articles about its(SU-25) high maneuvrability & endurance capabilities in addition TO A BIGGER weapon load. "

    SU-25 was developed as a tank buster. As you said its maneuvrable and its build specifically for the CAS role. I once heard that SLAF considered the Frogfoot when looking for candidates to upgrade its fleet in the mid 90s. The reason they dropped the SU-25 was its lack of speed, hence the vulnerability.

    A full explanation regarding the SLAF plan to upgrade the fleet in mid 90s are in the now famous kfir mishap thread in lanka newspapers...

    ReplyDelete
  87. beg your pardon..should read ..bata

    ReplyDelete
  88. tangara,
    Got your mail. Thanks a lot.

    The Asia Times Online article has minor errors (propably because it's updated in 2006).
    For example, we have 10 Kfir Jets(as of August 2007), not 5.

    Didnt have the time to go through the other article yet. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Defencenet, guys what is this news? And where is this "westminister abbey" (why do we have such strange names in the east LOL (Beiruit, Tora Bora, and now this??)


    hu Aug 9, 1:52 AM ET

    "Four Sri Lankan commandos shot dead: rebels

    COLOMBO (AFP) - Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least four police commandos and wounded several others in a confrontation in eastern Sri Lanka, the guerrillas said Thursday.

    The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they launched counter attacks Wednesday against the police Special Task Force units in a jungle area known as Westminster Abbey."

    ReplyDelete
  90. jack,
    There is such a place in Ampara area. There was an incident earlier 3 STF troopers were KIA. LTTE cadres scattered in the area did a hit and run attack on troops engaged in Niyathai Jaya offensive. LTTE casualties are supposed to be high too but this cannot be confirmed.

    ReplyDelete
  91. David; To understand my idea of how much more an intellectual approach would have been more effective, you need to disengage from a historical perspective and look at it from a changed world dynamic point of view. The point of reference (time) needs to have been somewhere in between the 1990's and the present, and from a purely globalist perspective. It also needs to consider not as an overtly secessionist movement, but as a more subtle 'buy your way in' angle. Admittedly, there is doubt whether that would have succeeded totally in carving out a seperate state or an autonomous region such as in China, based on the level of Sinhala southern chauvanism which has not simply survived thru change, but has in fact thrived into surprising maturity with credible political clout. Somehow, I am in two minds as to whether that would or would not have been an entirely good thing for the country, as an engine of economic progress.

    My greater worry is that in considering the tamil terror issue purely as an anti-social phenomenon whether we are fooling ourselves in to complacency, while a swift mutation in the terror outfit's external image projection and command structure would catch us flat-footed and totally defenceless.

    ReplyDelete
  92. To elaborate further, consider the following hypothetical scenario, at a time gone by:

    The Norwegians lull the SLG into complacncy and then wiggle Velu into Norway as an exile. Tamilchelvan becomes political leader of a newly formed 'democratic' tamil movement, which still continues to retain its military apparatus. The Norwegians wangle concessions out of the then PM to finance infra-structure development activities in the N/E at SL tax payer's expense, while the LTTE continues to build up its coffers and arms from the international diaspora contributions.
    There is no war - no peace, everything lies in limbo. Meanwhile the LTTE continues to build up its intelligence network, induct thousands of sleeper cells and recruit others in various parts of southern SL.
    The Norwegians are fooled into believing that this time they've really achieved something credible, compared to their monumental failure in peace-mongering between Israel and the Palestinians, which primarily was aimed at weakening Israel's resolve in dealing with terror with an iron fist. They claim a nobel peace prize, and the world de-proscribes the LTTE and pumps more money into the N/E, fattening the capabilities of the LTTE, which also attracts a greater population to move back into their areas, building up their manpower availability.
    Five years later the LTTE decides it is time for the 'final war' with multiple and simultaneous strikes on all fronts....

    Could have been a different story all together. Scary, ain't it?

    ReplyDelete
  93. It's a good thing that only I have the key to the time machine...

    No it is defintely not a weed...

    ReplyDelete
  94. Guys,Do you know if the Notorious Russian arms dealer Victor Bout has any dealings with the ltte or Gosl ? The reason is.... there are an alarming number of former Soviet republic Il-214's & other types parked at Katunayake far end tarmac ? Just checking fellas!

    ReplyDelete
  95. The following article describes how LTTE endangered the lives of Tamil people to get mean PR mileage..

    http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6907#comment-12055

    ReplyDelete
  96. Blog news of the Mig Deal http://lankanewsupdates.blogspot.com/2007/08/gotabhaya-imported-flying-coffins-at.html

    ReplyDelete
  97. Navindran,
    What a blog it is. Zero comments so far.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Navindran,

    What is happening to Sri Lankan economy?

    It is amazing that it is still holding up right (given your past predictions)?

    ReplyDelete

All DefenceNet members will communicate using the account DefenceNet bearing profile number 11553575476849786179. This number can be found at the end of Profile URL. Beware of impostors.

Comments with racist remarks, personal attacks and misinformation will be deleted. Replying to any such comment will only encourage the saboteurs to post more. We request all our readers to ignore such postings and continue the discussion without diverting from the theme of the blog.