Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Clashes continue in Northern front

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been engaged in fierce firefights in the no-man's-land ahead of the Vavuniya-Mannar defense line for the past week. Nearly 20 LTTE cadres have been killed in these battles. SLA units involved in these limited offensives too received casualties mostly due to enemy artillery fire.

Special Infantry (SI) formations of the 57th division moved ahead of their bunker line into the LTTE controlled territory to carry out several successful strikes on rebel positions on the 15th. First of these strikes was launched on a target in Mullikulama area. LTTE pulled back to defensive positions after a fierce battle. SLA troopers recovered 7 bodies of LTTE cadres killed in the battle. These were later handed over to the International Red Cross.

Another such attack took place near Vilathikulam in which the army killed four more LTTE cadres. SLA have been increasing pressure on tiger positions in and around Vilathikulam during the recent times, possibly indicating the initial step of a major offensive into Wanni. Capture of Vilathikulam will be critical to a future Wanni offensive as it can play a vital role as part of a MSR (Main Supply Route) to the besieged Jaffna region.

Meanwhile the death toll of the Yala LTTE attack has now risen to 7. 6 soldiers were killed in the LTTE raid and another one was killed when the tractor that was sent to transport the bodies of fallen soldiers was hit by a claymore mine. Whereabouts of the LTTE cadres who carried out the attack is still unknown.

101 comments:

  1. Defencenet
    It would be better if we can have a detailed map of this area. Specially around mannar wanni defence line

    ReplyDelete
  2. second that request, I don't know where half these places are LOL

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  3. dont we have battle videos..
    beacause ltte always shows these dwora sink,
    i hate this

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7040000/newsid_7046200/7046254.stm?

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  4. patriot

    What kind of navy boat is shown in the first 7 seconds of the BBC news clip? It does not look like a Dvora, UFAC or IPC.

    Could it be a new kind of naval vessel?

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  5. thanks for the map puluta. very useful!

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  6. http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=2709

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  7. goldeneagle,

    Thats not a new vessel. Its either a Simonneau or Trinity Marine class FAC. Its difficult to get pictures of those types of vessels, but pretty sure its not a Killer or Cheverton class FAC which are also operated by the SLN. All these vessels are far less numerous that the Dvora MK I and II and the Colombo class FAC's.

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. goldeneagle,

    Actually, I think its a Trinity Marine class. That class of vessel I think has the twin 20mm weapon as shown in the video.

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  10. I read a note in lankatruth about the american & indian govts requesting the govt not to attack wanni...any truth in this?

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  11. LTTE casualties...now it's clear who's eating Punnakku :))))))


    http://www.sinhala.net/LocalNews/SinhalaNet_Full_News.asp?ID=2538#NewsViewBM

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  12. spot on milliya, all these cacualty figures are fabricated . Army is loosing they are trying to hit the LTTE FDL with stones and hammers while LTTE fighters are equipped with MBRL and super weapons.Since LTTE great freedom fiters are invincible, these attacks just bounce off thier bodies and make them even more invincible.. true true .....

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  13. It's really funny,the government claiming each day that 10,12,15 or 20 terrorists were killed in fierce clashes..where's the proof..can we see pix of the bodies,please to confirm the REAL truth..Or is it the opposite i.e 10,20 troops been killed every day..WAKEUP,ppl!!

    It's enough that Prabha's Tiger Cubs are being brainwashed,now it's sad to see us Sl's being brainwashed by Mahinda ma-ma!!!(oops,MR's Triad,forgot)!

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  14. pic of the ltte casualties r here http://www.sinhala.net/LocalNews/SinhalaNet_Full_News.asp?ID=2538#NewsViewBM

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  15. Whoever being killed, it is the sons and daughters of our nation that get killed. It is something to be sad about overall.

    Instead of having a T-56 in hand or suicide jacket on their chest, they could be the ones who have been holding laptops, a microscopes, stethoscope etc in their hands, or holding books closer to their chests.

    It is sad to see that so many lives are lost because of a Nazi ideology that LTTE leadership have been subscribed to, and brain-washed hundreds and thousands of innocent youth who could have been the fighters of the real enemy, which is poverty.

    There are only two choices left,

    1. Either the Nazi LTTE leadership should unsubscribe to their mono ethnic Eelam ideology and unite under a single flag or,

    2. That LTTE Nazi leadership who spread hatred and violence should be destroyed for the safety and well-being of 19 million people of this country.

    Prabhakaran will not give away his Nazi violence, because he has been trapped in his own 30 year blood-bath where he has passed his exist point . What he is doing now is taking the whole Tamil population down with him.

    It is for the interest of everyone including Tamils to destroy this Nazi LTTE leadership. Once it was done, it would be day that everyone can get together without any hatred and fight our real enemy together, as I earlier said - poverty!

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  16. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP UNTIL OUR HOMELAND HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.
    NAZI FORCES OF SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT WILL BE ELIMINATED. SOON JAFFNA WILL FALL.

    PULIKALINAM TAKAM, TAMIL EELA TAYAKAM!

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  17. Your Homeland??????

    This all was under Sinhala rule way before that shantytown kingdom of jaffna was established in the 13th century.

    Go read some real history books published by international academic authors(no I am not talking about the mahavamsa(I know you guys hate that book)),instead of the LTTE garbage pamphlets that say Tamils lived in North and East since the dawn of time. I guess the historical truth of Tamils as late-comers to Lanka really hurts guys guys eh? Deal with it!

    If you want a real Tamil homeland, go to Tamil Nadu and NEVER EVER COME BACK TO LANKA. Thats your original homeland, stay there and never come back, don't even look in the direction of Lanka.

    No wonder Tamils are considered a monkey race in India, its because of people like you who give all tamils a bad name.

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  18. GE,

    great stuff!

    These brainwashed Tamils have an inferiority complexity.

    They should learn to live with the majority of the country peacefully or go back to their own true homelands Tamil Nadu.

    These brain-washed kids think that Tamil Nadu was populated by Sri Lankan Tamils and not the other way around :-) (BTW, Sri Lankan Tamils are being treated as third-grade by Tamil Nadu Tamils). When ever there is fighting, Tamils in the North and the East run to the (enemy territory) for their protection than running to Tamil Nadu. BTW, Sri Lanka is the only place on earth where people flee to the enemy for protection when there is fighting. That fact alone itself indicates who is their 'true enemy'.

    And, there is no other place in the world that natives speak Sinhalese.

    It is time for these brain-washed start thinking as Sri Lankans.

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  19. Guys, Don't feed the trolls.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:DFTT#Not_feeding_the_trolls

    ReplyDelete
  20. BBC has started 2500 job cuts,

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7050122.stm

    It will not affect the Tamil and Sinhala service, as LTTE would keep looking after them.

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  21. As interesting as it could be, but some BBC services such as Sinhala, Tamil, Urdu and Russian are funded by British Foreign Office and not by BBC itself. This is a fact.

    It is a little bit a give away when you compare conduct of these services and unofficial British foreign policy. (Officially it is in line with all international norms)

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  22. Sam,

    You mean that the British Foreign Service is willingly funding an 'anti-Sri Lankan' element?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Noltte=peace i am in complete agreement with you.But a cynic will say hey "you (tamil politicians included) supported the LTTE now you effing live with their policies".Its none of our business.Initially our army was a laughing stock at tamil diasphora dinner tables.The killing and suffering "their boys" inflicted on innocent peoples in other parts of the country was a joke.They forgot a cardinal truth in life: what bad you do to others finally comes back to you.

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  24. what i would like to know is current news on shanthan and those 2 crooks who were engaged in visa scams in england.I hope Mr Athas will oblige me.

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  25. I would really like to know 1.) what happened with the case and, 2.) is why no-one is talking about the Suicide Jacket, which was found in the ceiling of one of the LTTE goons who was apprehended in UK.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Some interesting articles from Lanka Guardian,

    http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/2007/10/exiled-journalists-network-meeting-held.html

    http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/2007/10/mahattaya-factor-haunting-ltte-and.html

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  27. Fellas, that FAC on BBC,definitly Halter Marine FAC like my man earlier said, built in Luisiana ,USA. V. hardy craft !SLN had 6 of these beauties & Glad SLN fitted the 23mm and cupolas for the 14.5mm stern guns !

    Mexico and the US Special forces have some too. They have Kevlar fitted hulls so, only way those baboon Sea tigers got one in 2001... suicide attack in the dark ! Horses Asses !

    But, these FAC are hard to hit due to low profile than the Dvoras !

    We could have more but, I heard due to strong Israeli lobby for Dvoras. That's Ok ! We'll still kick their ugly sea tiger candy asses.
    But, I really like Adm.Karannagoda, he has a good operational mind than the crooked Sandagiri. Only way we gonna win this round guys.....competent leadership ! Right Rifard ?

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  28. LTTE innocent! GOSL guilty!

    This is how AFP doing business

    http://www.aamovement.net/news/news_images/katrinayahoo.jpg

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  29. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_G38auUjAnBN4d4I8icPhUmz_nQ

    what the fuck is he saying???

    he says, talk peace with LTTE and then he says that no peace is possible with the LTTE.

    so according to him we should bend over and give 1/3 of our country to LTTE.

    how does these jokers get to be experts???

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  30. noltte=peace;
    Those language service and some other s in BBC World Service is funded by British Foreign Office (i.e. Foreign Ministery). It is not a secret but they keep this funding somewhat out-from-public. But you can verify this easily.

    noltte- "You mean that the British Foreign Service is willingly funding an 'anti-Sri Lankan' element?"

    What I can say is-
    Some World Service 'services' are designed to undermine sovereign states and support/inspire/encourage anti government elements in respective countries. And these 'services' are funded by Foreign Office and not by BBC. Therefore we can assume that services like Tamil, Sinhala,Russian, Hindi, Urdu(anti Indian stance) will escape pending cost cutting exersice because they are run with No cost to BBC.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Sam,
    Thank you for enlightenment!

    Looks like the British foreign service has become 'un-gentlemen'...

    But they are the people who promote democracy and fight against terrorism etc etc in the eyes of the world.. take Iraq as an example.

    Gordon Brown may not be aware of these 'un-gentlemen' work of British Foreign Service.

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  32. Since the BBC is anyway run by the British state it doesn't matter which ministry pays for which programmes really. It's all paid for by the British government just as SLBC is paid by the GoSL.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh Asithri!

    Sideffect told you about Trolls! :-)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:DFTT#Not_feeding_the_trolls

    Save the energy to celebrate some victories :-)

    ReplyDelete
  34. David B-
    Related to the BBC, as I undestand it's not paid by British Gove. All that cost paid by general public in UK via licence fee.

    ReplyDelete
  35. http://defencewire.blogspot.com/..info on the army hunt for the charles anthony brigade...

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  36. [LTTE casualties...now it's clear who's eating Punnakku :)))))) ]

    What i meant was that LTTE supporters r given Punnakku by LTTE Media...hehehehehe ;)))))))

    ReplyDelete
  37. http://www.nationalsecurity.lk/fullnews.php?id=7977


    ehe,

    This is the reason why LTTE will never achive ealam...

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  38. Perein, the licence fees are nowhere near enough to float the BBC. Fair enough, the fees (part of tax) goes towards funding. Technically, it's still the government paying. The same way RMV fees contribute to road maintenence, etc. In the end, relevant ministries fund programmes that are connected to their field. Cultural ministry funds programmes on literature and opera, tourism ministry on various local interests, etc. It's all perfectly normal. Nothing sinister about the foreign ministry funding a foreign language BBC programme.

    ReplyDelete
  39. David B-
    Not sure I want to keep talk about BBC on Defencenet blog.
    However BBC has other programes and equipements hired out to other channels where most money coming from.
    Yes there is some money getting pumped from tax payers but it's not much compared to the income.

    ReplyDelete
  40. "Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots."
    The Art of War by Sun Tzu Chapter XI: The Nine Situations

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  41. Perein,

    Government = Public

    Because the 'Public' owns the Government

    ReplyDelete
  42. An Inconvenient Truth
    October 19, 2007: The chaos remains in eastern Sri Lanka, where the LTTE has been defeated, but replaced by a number of criminal gangs, composed of former LTTE gunmen and local opportunists. The government does not want to crack down too hard on the gangs, not yet, anyway, lest the criminals decide to become Tamil guerillas. There are already some of those in the east, the remnants of the LTTE force that was largely, but not completely, wiped out after a three year campaign. Fighting continues to intensify in the north, where the last LTTE stronghold is. Between that, and continued unrest in the east, there are now several hundred casualties a week. The LTTE may be losing, but they are not defeated.


    The air force, navy and diplomats continue to take apart the LTTE logistical system. The air force recon flights continue to find LTTE supply operations, and destroy them with air raids every few days. The navy is now going after LTTE coastal sea movements, eliminating a key form of transportation in the north. Sri Lankan diplomats have made many foreign nations aware of LTTE criminal enterprises, which raise money to buy weapons and equipment for the LTTE gunmen in Sri Lanka. Last week, for example, police in New York City arrested several LTTE members who had been planning a major credit card and ATM fraud. The scheme had originated in the British Tamil community.



    The government continues to offer peace negotiations, and the LTTE continues to refuse. That's because the government will only consider autonomy for Tamil majority areas, and the LTTE is still holding out for partitioning the island. But as LTTE losses continue, week, by week, the choice will eventually be endless low level violence, or some kind of negotiated settlement.

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  43. GOSL must stop publishing the NO of LTTE casualities daily..People who lives overseas will easily think that there is a serious war situation in Sri Lanka..The Government want tourists to come to Sri Lanka...Does the GOSL think that the tourists will spend a fortune to come to a virtual killing field..? True May be this is all happening deep in the North...


    The reporting of casualities is in many ways counter productive to the GOSL and SLA..

    Someone will sue the goverment for human rights violations , eventhough LTTE is considered as terrorist group..

    It looks to me no one is thinking within the GOSL about the consequences...

    ReplyDelete
  44. I heard someone in saying that SLN wants to buy a Russian ship..

    I would suggest that the SLN pursue the South Korean option...

    Read the article and comments section of it.

    South Korea builts on average 200 ships a year..That is a massive amount of ship building...Average salary of a South Korean Welder , I repeat a Welder, is around 50000 dollars (a year)....


    http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20071012.aspx

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  45. BTW,

    SLN gunners with manually manned guns require night-vision goggles.
    http://webtown.typepad.com/webtown/053007_0445_NightVision1.png

    It is very difficult to spot suicide craft at night in dark waters. SLN should experiment with few personal night-vision options to understand effectiveness.

    This would help in IPC operations in many ways too i.e. identifying 'gun-mounted' boats separately from fishing boats.

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  46. I hope our government goes through with the deal to build bigger Naval vessels by the joint venture of CDL and the Croatian Shipyard.

    This will give us the technology to build a truly sophisticated vessel.

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  47. Looks like the GAY-club operated by asithri is back in action!my,my..what tender words u use..sorry,asithri,but i'm pretty straight,unlike you & i diplomatically advice you to get BENT!!

    NOTE:I knw that u r a big fan of MR's arse/balls.i pity u..

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  48. Defencenet

    Do you know what kind of patrol ship could be build by CDL's joint venture with the Croatian Shipyard?

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  49. [HAMBANTHOTA : ARMY TROOPS ON DUTY in the general area of UDAPATHANA, about 10 km north of YALA, observed two LTTE boats sailing in the sea this evening (19) at about 5.45 p.m.
    The two boats, after they were identified as LTTE sea craft, were fired upon by troops with intention of preventing any terrorist infiltration.]

    An infiltration on Colombo is imminent....prepare for it PLEASE.

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  50. There is something that I always wanted to write, but did not manage to do it.

    The first story.
    About 1.5 to 2 years ago, it was reported that a Sinhala Businessman who visited to collect about Rs 250,000 from a Rice Mill in Vavunia has been kidnapped by the LTTE and killed. Prior to visiting to collect the monies, the businessman has given a call to the Rice Mill and asked whether the money is ready, and whether it is safe to come. To that, the Manager/Cashier of the Rice Mill has said not to worry about anything and come. Towards to end of the conversation, this cashier has casually asked, 'at about what time are you planning to come?'. To which the businessman has answered and given the time he is planning to come there. As mentioned, the businessman went to the mill to collect the monies and in few minutes, some LTTE men came in a Motorbike and took the businessman away. Later his body was found.

    The second story.
    In the 90's some officers of the Distilleries board has planned their Audit and stock-taking trip to the East. They have taken their Double Cab with the driver and has taken off. On their way to the Distribution Center, they have given a call to the Manager of the distribution centre to let him know that they are visiting to take the stock and conduct the audit. Towards the end of the conversation, the Manager has casually asked their expected time of arrival to which they have promptly replied. When they were closer to the Distribution Center, suddenly the LTTE has blocked the road and have taken these men hostage. They have robbed their Double Cab Pick-up, and have released after giving a near death experience. The victims clearly pointed to the manager of the distribution center as being the culprit who gave the tip to the LTTE. The manager has done the same to cover-up his misappropriation of the stock i.e. swindling few millions of Rs from the government coffers.

    Both the stories appeared in Divaina some time back.

    Do you see some similarity in both the occasions?

    If I was the IGP, I will certainly have a chat with the Manager/Cashier of that Rice Mill about the 'little bird who invited LTTE to take that business man away to take his precious life'.

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  51. Defencenet,
    I have few question about SLA casualties. When SLA announced (say 10) injured will that includes all kind of casualties? I mean it may be minor injuries, bad injuries or disabilities. If one is disable he has to get out permenantly from the battlefield. Other cases I think soldiers get back to war front. Normally how long this recovery period? Do you know on avareage how many (say out of 100 injured) has to quit SLA?

    ReplyDelete
  52. -----Interesting News ---------
    [COLOMBO, SinhalaNet 2007.10.20 04:35AM] Members of the Sri Lanka Army's Special Forces Brigade launched an attack on an LTTE bunker-line manned by members of the LTTE's elite Charles Anthony Regiment in the general area Periyathampanai killing seven fighters from that unit last morning. The Special Forces recovered all seven bodies and seven T-56 assault rifles. They also captured a GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun). The LTTE, in recent months have brought in its elite units to defend the areas being targeted by the Army in Mannar and Vavuniya. The four fighters killed by the Special Forces in a recent ambush in Vilattikulam on the 15th were also identified as members of the elite Charles Anthony Regiment.

    Meanwhile latest reports indicated that the civilians killed and injured in the crossfire between the Sea Tigers and the Sri Lanka Navy off Pesalai yesterday morning were part of a recent exodus of civilians from the LTTE areas destined for India but also government controlled areas. The Human Smuggling Operations and the Sea Tigers' Veduthalthivu camp, which is mixed in with a fishing village to avoid air-raids, has created enormous complications for Tamil fishermen in recent months.

    Confidential reports also indicated that the LTTE 'Research and Development Wing' headquarters in Vishwamadu targeted by the Sri Lanka Air Force has been reduced to rubble. Eight structures that stood at the location have been completely destroyed except for parts of the stone foundations. A self-styled LTTE 'Lt. Col' who was identified as the LTTE's Chief 'Scientists' was also killed in the attack.

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  53. I would like to write about some defence related issues but not directly relates to current topic. I hope it's ok.

    1.0 EAST - an example for future

    We heard two major incedents from the east recently. Clemore attack on STF troops and Yala attack. Both of them did military wise little damage. Intention of Yala attack was mainly to reduce the tourist arrivals and make happy tamil daispora. However this couldn't be done by anyone flew from Thoppigala and "trapped" in jungles, as SLA announced. Because onyone trapped doesn't need to show thier presence and send invitations to the enimy. This means there are few hundred hard core tigers in the east jungles employing guarilla tactics. These tigers probably came from vanni to east after east was liberated with long term plans and relevent training. SLA need to seriously analyse this and come up with a counter stratergy.

    This is for sure a good news for UNP and LTTE daispora. I will not be surprised IF some one found that the UNP media network (leader etc) has already written articles about fall of Jaffna and waiting to publish it. GOSL also did the bad thing giving the impression to the public that now east is 100% clear and will happen same in the north soon. This 100% and soon impression are not good.

    This also shows it is not possible to eliminate tigers 100% from a given area. Which means similer attack are possible in the future and we have to live with this war for a long time. So our goal should be first save the lives of soldiers at maximum effort and destroying tigers from top to bottom. Killing them from bottom to top will not work and sacrifising lives for land also worthless.

    Now we are fighting to take wanni. Suppose we take wanni, kilinochchi, mulathiv etc. What will remaining tigers will do? (Ofcourse some will survive.) Some will go to the jungles in wanni. They will not eat that cyanide. They will wear a sarong and become civilians. Do we have stratergy to deal with this?

    2.0 SEA

    Another attack occured in Jaffna seas. One naval boat was destroyed. Tamilnut put the pics of seized wepons and recovered bodies.

    I have a question and aome one please answer. Whenever a clash happened in the sea SLN as a practice says this many tiger boats were sunked and all the tigers in the boats beleived dead. If we count I guess SLN has sunked now 100+ boats and 250+ sea tigers are dead, recently. But only one boat seized and 1 dead body found so far as I remember. When tigres attack a dovra FAC little ago they published pics of captures sailors and whepons. So my question is if tigers can do this why navy can't? There are so many possibilities and I leave them to readers.

    3.0 Arial attacks

    Air force claimed lot of damages to tigers recently; 69 dead in Punarin, 30 dead in Vishvamadu, many bases were destroyed etc. Air force made similar claim when they carried out raids in east. But every one knows how SLA recovered tiger artilaries, MBRLs etc. All of them were burried carefully before their tactical withdrawel. SLA didn't find any peace of whepon distroyed by arial raids. Unfortunately we need this MIG displays to boost the moral of our guys. Please feel free to comment.

    4.0 Casualties

    We know the jork saying if we add up all the tiger deaths from 83 to now it would be more than the SL population. I guess if some one has time it may not be bad idea to do that. One can get figures from official SLA announcements. He can do the same with tiger announcements.

    It really doesn't matter how we give enimy casualties as it is an estimate. My point is GOSL/SLA should tell the truth about our own casulaties. Hiding the truth may make things easy for short-term but not in long-term. Danger of this is this gives space to the enimy (and other third parties) to say the truth and win the trust and later they manage it nicely. So when tamilnut reports some bad news we ask "defencenet, is this true?". It is very importent to have the moral support and trust of public upon forces if we want to win this war. Hiding the truth only throws that away. In another way it is an insult to who sacrifised their lives in the battle field.

    5.0 Summury

    It seems GOSL stratergy is to cut off sea-supply root, destroy tiger caders, destroy whepons, then fight with a weakened tigers and capture the land. But we don't have a way to stop tamils becoming tigers. Tamils join LTTE due to racism, brainwashings, force, problems of our governing system and for living. Here we need a so called political solution simply as a means of better system. Finally, I strongly beleive our guys should not sacrifice thier lives just get land. They should do that only to save more lives of other soldiers or to kill the enimy. I can't see the end of this war, not even the begining of end. End begins when we start killing top 50 tiger leaders and 2500+ well trained hard core tigers. But still we are fighting with kids. A long way to go. So we need to save lives of our guys as no 1 prority.

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  54. Ninja Bandara,

    Welcome to the forum...Good analysis...However it is fair to say that if there were no success during the last couple of years, LTTE would be storming the Eastern jungles and SLA is still bogged down in Mavilaru...We now know this is not the case...There were reverses and SLA can't win every battle waged by a successful terror organisation..

    My concern is a lack of a solution on the ground..GOSL should not be seen as the aggressor.. To over come that GOSL need a political solution. With that in hand SLA should move forward...

    Top down approach is what some ouf us in the forum has been telling the GOSL to pursue..

    Get the Velu and the top ten , and war will be over in a year.

    We need to make sure that we don't push for Vanni if the outcome is not the TOTAL VICTORY..There should not be IF's and BUT'S...

    I see another approach...Lightning strikes behind enemy lines and withdrawing...That is what I think happening right now.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Defencenet,


    This is funny...
    If you think this is unsuitable please remove it...


    http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/10/20467_image_headline.html

    ReplyDelete
  56. http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1860

    This is what a UAV can do for the terrorists
    Very intresting...

    ReplyDelete
  57. Ninja Bandara

    After reading your posts, my take is that you don't really know how much our military has transformed since signing the CFA in 2002. Our Army, Navy, Airforce and military intelligence has become more powerful, deadlier and accurate than ever before.

    The LTTE really thought about 2 years ago that after oncoming final war (Eelam War 4) that Eelam will be created. They overestimated their abilities and under estimated ours. They increased their firepower during CFA too, but our forces changed more than theirs. Eelam War 4 will come cause remember VP promised it to his loyal diaspora so he can't back down now, his ego is too big for that.

    The LTTE never dreamt that their act of cutting off the mavilaru water way would mean a string of military defeats for them. Why do you they were shocked when their amphious assault into the Kayts islands (this was supposed to the the first chapter of their operation to capture Jaffna) failed?

    They never really foresaw all of this. Its because they actually started to believe their own lies about their invincibility.

    Tangara

    The UAV that is shown in the vidoe is the Predator which is really good. I think the US military developed a newer dealier version called the reaper. I wished our forces could have something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Ninja Bandara,

    Welcome to the forum!

    The Defence Secretary cleary mentioned that capturing land is not an objective of the current operations.

    They are humanitarian operations to liberate innocent people from the clutches and the suffering of Nazi Prabhakaran. Rest speaks itself.

    ReplyDelete
  59. "0% of LTTE finance capability destroyed
    Saturday, October 20,2007

    COLOMBO: Seventy per cent of the LTTE’s financial capability globally had been destroyed, the anti-terrorism parley now being held in Colombo was told Friday. The International community’s active support is required to combat the LTTE and cripple its fund raising network, Shanaka Jayasekara, Researcher, Centre for Counter Terrorism urged adding that the LTTE had extended its fund raising capability globally, mostly in 12 countries including the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. These countries have taken steps to stop LTTE movements and fund raising activities. "
    http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=435778&category=Frontend&Country=SRI%20LANKA

    This is lot of BS. May be only 5% of LTTE fund-raising is affected by the international support received so far. In the UK, USA, Canada, Norway, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia etc.. the Tamil fund-raisers freely collect funds. They still knock on doors, and freely collect and transfer funds through international banking and non-banking networks. The funny thing is, even the Anti-Money Laundering measures are not applied to LTTE by these governments.

    In Switzerland, LTTE numbered accounts get filled with millions of Euros and transferred to offshore tax heavens and dubious accounts freely. The LTTE use German, Italian, Greek, and other EU banking systems to freely transfer these collected funds, and pay for military hardware to many other terrorist things. But, once in a while a leader get arrested, but it is only done as PR exercises.

    If they are really concerned about Peace in Sri Lanka, what these governments should do is to enact laws to say that if anyone who has proven any link i.e. material, monetary or any other form of support to any banned terrorist organisation will be stripped off their granted PR or Citizenship or Asylum status and sent back to their country of origin. This would instantly cripple international fund-raising of almost all the terrorist organisations. Good for everyone.

    The LTTE supporting Tamil Diaspora will run away from any LTTE supporting activity as soon as they realise that they will lose their either "Asylum, PR, or "Citizenships" in the respective countries, if they were caught.

    None of those LTTE supporting diaspora want to return to Sri Lanka or a Tamil Eelam leaving what they have now.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Ninja

    Welcome to the forum.

    To answer your question as to why the govt cannot do everything that the tamil racists and their newsrag does is because we are a democratic nation and they are a bunch of thugs. That makes a world of difference. That is the very same reason why we also cannot resort to terrorism or attacks against civillians even in retalliation, and a very good reason why the govt must without fail take action against armed forces personnel who take part in such reprehensible activities.

    But the SL forces have proven themselves to be a formidable military even without the assets that major nations command. Soon this sorry chapter in our history will be finished and hopefully our people would have learnt valuable lessons from it to move on. The most valuable lesson I hope they all learn is this; there's no such thing as a 'race'.

    ReplyDelete
  61. noltte=peace

    Thats why its best not to rely heavily of foreign countries to help crack down on LTTE activities.

    Most of the European resources are directed towards tackling Islamic radicalism and not LTTE or other terror groups.

    Since we are an island, our best line of defence is the Sea. We must expand our OPV fleet so that at any given time ATLEAST 3 OPVs are prowling our seas. I said it before I will say it again, we are bless to be an island. Just imagine if we shared a land border with India.... my god it would be a night mare trying to control a land border. Just look at the Mexican/US border, Iraq/Iran border ot Afghan/Pak border. see what I mean? Its much easier to detect something(ie:ship) coming from the Ocean if we have the right kind of ships fitted with the right kind of radars.

    What good is the diaspora money if most of the weapons brought with it end up at the bottom of the sea?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Noltte=peace,
    "The LTTE supporting Tamil Diaspora will run away from any LTTE supporting activity .."

    All the oceans would dry out, the sun would rise from the west on the day when these western governments would stop LTTE fund raising activities on their soils. So there is no reason to expect much from them, friend.
    So it's also in our own hands now (stopping their fundraising activities) .
    There is a way. That would be by demoralizing the funding Diaspora. Every sunken LTTE ship every capture of a weapon every loss of a terrorist life would demoralize the LTTE Diaspora. More and more they would get demoralized less and less the funding would become. If you are a long time reader of LNP you would see that the process has already begun.

    ReplyDelete
  63. GE,

    Diaspora money is not only spent on weapons, but also on bribes, payments to politicians for lobbying, payments to journalists for either to shut-up or either to write anti GOSL, pro-LTTE articles, or use those funds to pay for numerous NGO officials to bark on behalf of LTTE too.

    However, if the West enact laws directing any migrant banned terrorist organisation supporter to be stripped off his/her status, then that will itself stop support.

    I also totally agree that we must sink every LTTE ship and capture all the weapons that they smuggle too.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Thanks for the words of wisdom TS.
    You know it's strange that nobody here called the incident happened in Yala as "Yala debacle" yet. (But some has come very close to that). Now I am waiting for the Athas's column.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Noltte=peace

    The best thing our government can do is do the exact same thing that the LTTE is doing which is.... start funding politicans and be heaily involved in lobbying in western countries. Point out to many officals and politicans that they are supporting terrorism if they bow to the LTTE money masters. Our government will have more resources available to them than the LTTE so we will eventually beat the LTTE in this game, if we can do it right.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "start funding politicans" - would not be a good idea.. as governments can not do bribing.. (theoretically speaking).. there may be many ways, but if exposed, it will make a permanent black mark.

    What we can do is to enact new laws in these countries that will affect all the terrorist groups across the board!

    Those are policy-level stuff that we can do..

    And we will need to put 'action-level' measures too by capturing all the enemy weapons.

    ReplyDelete
  67. noltte=peace

    I did not mean that the government should be directly involved in the lobbying. We get other non governmental sri lankans to do it.

    How do you think the Israel lobby, Indian lobby, Saudi lobby work in the US?

    ReplyDelete
  68. Goldeneagle,

    Yes, we need few cool UAV's to spot these LTTE rats....My guess, US won't share this UAV technology with any other country...There was a talk of global hawk comming to the town...That I guess is wishful thinking...But with US, everything is possible as well as everything is impossible...

    LTTE's YALA offensive was a distraction...It is most likely that LTTE will start an offensive in to Jaffna..That is the concern...We need to keep a UAV flying to see if there is a real ground movement of LTTE forcess behind the enemy lines in Muhamalee...I hope we are doing the
    right thing...It is possible that LTTE will use their people force as
    a second wave to attack Jaffna...The estimated no of People force members are 40000 and no one knows how capable are these men/women when it comes to the real war...


    I hope people are thinking in
    the defence establishment on those lines...

    ReplyDelete
  69. i though this guy (Dr. Gerard Chaliand) was a moron but i was wrong. i think the news agency (if i remember right AFP) made him look like a moron. Dr. Chaliand, actually knows what he is talking and i totally agree with him.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    this is an interview he gave in 1999 when he last visited SL:

    * extract from www.nation.lk

    Visiting Sri Lanka for the International Conference on Countering Terrorism (ICCT) organised by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, is Dr Gerard Chaliand, an international expert on counter terrorism. Dr Chaliand last visited Sri Lanka in May 1999 and studied the situation here. I had a meeting with him at the end of his visit and, since he was not afforded an opportunity by the powers at the time, I thought it would be useful to inform them of what he had to say.

    His first observation was that “the LTTE is the best organized and most powerful militant organization in the world today” (this was in 1999). He stated that, at this stage of the conflict, the government may have taken over territory but, may not have absolute control over it, as the government does not have the troop strength to secure the territory. He mischievously stated that the military seemed to be in the real estate business. He further stated that, “It may be an LTTE tactic to allow the government to scatter its troops. This would result in the Sri Lanka Armed Forces becoming extremely vulnerable. At a chosen time, the LTTE would go through you like a knife going through butter and then, attack Elephant Pass”! This was the prophetic statement made by Dr. Chaliand. He stated, “Though territory has been captured, nothing of vital importance to the LTTE has been touched.” By this, he meant that their logistics has not been disrupted or cut, neither have we been able to reduce their manpower significantly---and lastly, their infrastructure, both here and abroad, remains undisturbed. He stated, “You must break the arms and legs of the LTTE”.

    He was of the view that we have lost a lot of men fighting the LTTE, because we “do not have a clear and bold policy towards the LTTE. If we are to reach a new ‘situation’, he was of the view that;
    1) The government should have a bold policy and needs to have a concrete offer on the table. He agreed that the proposals set out by the government, identified as ‘the package’, did represent a bold policy and a concrete offer intended to bring the Tamils into the mainstream but, he stated “much more remains to be done”.
    2) You MUST weaken the LTTE, within the country and abroad. When asked how this could be done, he stated as follows:-
    (a) Once again referred to eliminating their logistics,
    (b) Reducing the LTTE’s manpower, killing terrorists is more important than gaining or holding territory.
    (c) De-linking the LTTE from the people, reaching out to the diaspora,
    (d) Better coordination of Intelligence,
    (e) Training at least 5,000 Specialist Counter Intelligence Commandos.
    (f) Better propaganda. For example, invite select media people from key countries in the ‘West’—where there is a strong Tamil diaspora. “We are Democratic, they are totalitarian fascists,” should be the ‘line’, he stated.
    3) Decisions must be on the basis of a five-year plan, “you cannot destroy the LTTE in months, as some politicians have been boasting from 1983.”
    4) Work at restoring the confidence of the Tamil people in a possible settlement, and the achieving of peace.
    5) Military strategy should not be aimed at achieving ‘spectacular victories’ at the cost of many lives--the State cannot afford to lose troops in the war—“you must remember that you are a small country”.

    In response to a question as to what the LTTE’s tactics may be in the near future (this was in May of 1999), Dr. Chaliand stated that they would most likely indulge in more urban terrorism against selective targets. They will seek to disperse government troops, to have more breathing space in the territory they hold today As to whether the LTTE is concerned about international opinion, Dr. Chaliand referred to the bombing of the Dalada Maligawa and said that whilst this was a horrendous act of desecration to Buddhists, and Sri Lanka Buddhists in particular, it was yet another act of terrorism to the rest of the world. He stated that the LTTE would avoid situations where there would be heavy civilian casualties but, would concentrate on selective acts of terrorism such as the elimination of leaders and others in key positions working against their interests.
    Dr. Chaliand referred to the manner in which the LTTE has taken out our political leaders and also Rajiv Gandhi and changed the political map of South Asia.

    He stated that we were a ‘soft society’ with a ‘soft culture’ and not one bent on revenge or avenging a crime. He referred to western society, particularly, to Israel, and stated that the latter country has survived only because it aggressively went after its enemies. He was of the view that persons such as Kumaran Pathmanathan and Anandaraja who are the weapons procurers of the LTTE, must be taken out. He stated that this is possible and has been done by other so-called democratic countries. Dr. Chaliand stated that our attitude must be—“they have killed our leaders and are all the time trying to kill us, we must get them before they get us”. He stated that our main target should be to get Prabhakaran.

    He stated that with proper training, the methods and weapons are available for such operations. We must treat the war with the LTTE as a matter of life or death, for that is the basis on which the LTTE has approached the conflict.
    This above stated information was conveyed to the then government at the highest possible level but, sad to say, it was wholly ignored.

    ReplyDelete
  70. http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/2007/10/lttes-top-level-arms-money-laundering.html

    Guys,

    LTTE big fish caught...

    ReplyDelete
  71. ok i'm assuming that you guys read the interview.

    DefenceNet: there are a couple of thing that needs to be changed in this blog.

    1) stop bashing tamils! they are our people!

    2) sinhalese extremist both back home and abroad had 20 odd years to finish off the LTTE, but you couldnt. so let us the moderate "SRI LANKAN" take the role of finishing off the LTTE. so stop wasting time talking about things such as US weapons that we'll never get and contribute to a progressive discussion on improving our military – starting from training to intelligence.

    We should instead talk about:
    1) ideas for a political solution
    2) effective ways of combating the LTTE both home and abroad

    ReplyDelete
  72. Ares ,


    Thanks for the article...The government of that day totally ignored everything...

    It is all too good to be true...But it all happened during the last 8 years.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Getting Velu is a top priority, I think...But how? is the question...


    A covert operation in Vanni would do that.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Now focus on the interview with Dr. Gerard Chaliand. Note that he said, "...weaken the LTTE, within the country and abroad. When asked how this could be done, he stated as follows:-
    (a) Once again referred to eliminating their logistics,

    (b) Reducing the LTTE’s manpower, killing terrorists is more important than gaining or holding territory.

    (c) De-linking the LTTE from the people, reaching out to the diaspora,

    (d) Better coordination of Intelligence,

    **(e) Training at least 5,000 Specialist Counter Intelligence Commandos.

    (f) Better propaganda. For example, invite select media people from key countries in the ‘West’—where there is a strong Tamil diaspora. “We are Democratic, they are totalitarian fascists,” should be the ‘line’, he stated.

    ReplyDelete
  75. All these points are very important. specially reaching out to Tamil diaspora. Successive governments have failed to understand that the best weapon that we posses are the Tamils themselves. Yes, there are ignorant morons in the diaspora but I believe for most of them the main source of information is news sources like tamilnet and international news agencies such as BBC, Reuters etc. These news agencies are side with the LTTE. There are various reasons for this.
    For example, back in the late 90's most of the BBC's reporters/correspondents for South Asia were Sri Lankan Tamils. Remember Nisha Pilla from BBC; I haven't watched BBC is a while as I'm in NY, but she use to do Asia Today. Apparently she was a Lankan Tamil. I don't remember the source but I'm not 100% sure. So we need to reach out to these Tamils (which apparently is the main source of funding for the LTTE).

    It'll be easier if we had a political package that ensures them that every right and privilege that I enjoy as a Sinhalese they would too.

    So lets put pressure on the government and the opposition and specially parties like the JVP and the JHU to come up with a political package.

    Lets use this forum as a tool to do so!

    -Ares

    ReplyDelete
  76. ares

    This Chaliand fella sure knows what he is talking about. I am sad that such good advice pretty much fell on deaf ears at that time.

    But now our military leadership has pretty much got most of its sh*t together. Lets at least give them credit for that, better late than never.

    Tangara

    You are right, its hard to see the US selling us any type of advanced UAVs, the US is after all the world leader in UAV technology. Our best bet would be with Israel, they get a lot of access to US tech and they are willing to sell UAVs to us.

    If we can get the right type of UAV for the job, it could save us a lot of money, time and effort that is usually expended on troops combing through the jungles(needle in hay stack scenario).

    Killing VP won't be easy, that guy is paranoid 24/7. Killing him will be like a one shot deal, we can't afford to let him get away wounded.

    I still wonder how they plan to capture Jaffna. Could it be human wave attacks like you mentioned? mass chemical gas attacks? mass rocket attacks(hezbulla style)? attack Jaffna from within(through infiltration)? attack Jaffna from both the outside AND inside?......who knows. But whatever happens we must be on guard, we don't want to go through another "elephant pass fall" scenario again while the whole world watches.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Guys,
    Many of you wanted the government to sue if they are clean in this so called Mig deal. Some indicated that their not going for that option is a sign of something bad. Now finally they are going to file a law suit.
    http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/10/21/sec02.asp

    ReplyDelete
  78. Dr. Gerard Chaliand - a man with wisdom!

    BTW, the current military actions seems to be getting distorted because of un-wanted political agendas.

    Continuous re-focus seem to be the key there.

    ReplyDelete
  79. "Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength."
    The Art of War by Sun Tzu Chapter IV:Tactical Dispositions

    ReplyDelete
  80. Guys,

    there is this weekend flick in LNP...

    You can laugh out..It was super funny...

    Sorry for the distraction...But I couldn't hold back ...Must see...

    ReplyDelete
  81. Tangara,

    Thanks for sharing the Article "LTTE big fish caught"

    http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/2007/10/lttes-top-level-arms-money-laundering.html

    Defence.LK seems to have learned that KP lesson and has not said a word about it.

    ReplyDelete
  82. I saw a Divaina article that says, when Galle SLN heard about possible LTTE boats and requested a Dovra to investigate, the message took 18 hours to reach Navy Headquarters.

    I perhaps I could take a Bullock Cart and go to Colombo from Galle prior to that message reach the Navy HQ.

    What is hapenning here?

    ReplyDelete
  83. Ares:

    You said:

    “It'll be easier if we had a political package that ensures them that every right and privilege that I enjoy as a Sinhalese they would too.”

    Now tell me and others in this forum what “every right” that you enjoy as a Sinhela in Sri Lanka is today being denied to a Tamil in Sri Lanka.

    I like to see your answer (in today’s context and not historical, to make it relevant) as it drives me bonkers when your type of self-proclaimed “Sinhela moderate” make this type of mindless, baseless, statement by likely jumping on bandwagons of special interests groups. In my view, this kind of irresponsible statement does more to fan the flames of Tamil separatism/terrorism than anything else.

    OaO Asithri

    ReplyDelete
  84. As for this Girard Chaliand he may have made some accurate observations on how to defeat Terrorism, but he badly flawed when he tried to pontificate to the GOSL that LTTE cannot be defeated militarily and as such it must enter into negotiations with the LTTE. As Gotabaya rightly said, this man is unaware of the ground realties of the situation in the N-E Sri Lanka and his attempt at comparing Sri Lanka’s situation to other classic guerilla wars (like in Vietnam) is a total failure.

    Here is a link to a perspective that OaO Asithri could not have articulated better:

    http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/211007-2.html


    OaO Asithri

    ReplyDelete
  85. Hemantha

    The present course of actions have scared the hell out of a lot of political parasites whose long term livelihood is closely intertwined with that of the thugs in the wanni jungles. For that reason we are seeing activities that don't make sense to the ordinary man, whose hope is for a solution which makes it possible for everyone to live in peace.
    The Mig deal and other hot-topics that are plaguing the present govt are the result of what all these worried political parasites are attempting to do to safeguard their livelihood. Ranil and the B'naikes are very worried that a realistic resolution of the terrorist issue in SL would deprive them of their leadership positions and thus their ability to feed off the Sri Lankan economy for ever. A win for the Rajapakse govt could effectively destroy the elitist family dominated politics for good. Lets hope the Rajapakse's don't attempt to become the next dynasty.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Ares to this day i am confused about what rights we as sinhalese enjoy in SLanka that tamils dont.Leave the case of the eastern tamils out..their case for equal rights is genuine.Same applies to the estate workers.However Fx Is a tamil factory worker in Canada owning 2 massive houses complaining he does not have the same rights in SLanka as a sinhalese?.Why do you need rights in a country that will kill you if you go back.Thats why you are in Canada.Too bad if your kids marry white canadian girls who are not interested in tamil.I think a poor sinhala farmer should complain that he does not have the right to send his children to the university of waterloo paid for by the canadian govt.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Tropicalstorm i am in complete agreement with you.This elitist dynasty rubbish should be destroyed forever.A comment ranil made in parliament a few weeks ago interested me.suddenly he switched to english to make a statement about reporters.Did he think it was only he that spoke/understood english?.Or did he think speaking in english should impress the other parlimentarians?...(looking up to the english speaking sudu mahatthaya syndrome-in his case pseudo sudu mahatthaya).

    ReplyDelete
  88. If someone says Tamils in Sri Lanka do not enjoy equal civic rights as Sinhalese, it is a blatant lie.

    Tamils have the same rights as the Sinhalese, but what they do not have is the monopolistic franchise they had when British were ruling us.

    Now it is a Universal franchise, and the Tamils hate it. What they really asking is the Colonial franchise they had. That means discriminating Sinhalese and riding on them.

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  89. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  90. tangara, GoldenEagle, NOLTTE=Peace, TropicalStorm thank you guys gor comments. I will reply later in new atricles as defencenet has moved to new ones.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Noltte=peace i could not agree with you more.Very well said bro.My comment that we need more sinhalese working abroad to get their family members down.Initially..(in the <70's) as you know it was "prestigious" to live abroad and visit Slanka.Now due to world changes many more poeple are finding it much easier to work/live abroad.World interest has changed from tamil refugees to the plight of Kosovo.

    ReplyDelete
  92. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/10/21/fea02.asp-an article about the yala infiltration

    ReplyDelete
  93. "Yes there is some money getting pumped from tax payers but it's not much compared to the income."

    My point exactly, Perein. The BBC is NOT bankroled by just tax monies. It is a state corporation run by the British government. It gets funded in various ways, but in the end is a state organ. But my point is that therre is nothing sinister about a particular Brit govt ministry paying for programming, that's all.

    ReplyDelete

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