Beslan school siege inspires Sri Lankan Defense Secretary

[jimmy olsen]

Wow, what a thing to be inspired by.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/world_agenda/article6147344.ece

April 22, 2009
World Agenda: ban on scrutiny harms Sri Lankan cause against Tigers

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

At a recent meeting with foreign ambassadors, the man running Sri Lanka's war against the Tamil Tigers was asked how he planned to handle the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside a no-fire zone with the rebels.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary and brother of the President, Mahinda Rakapaksa, replied that he was inspired by Russia's handling of the Beslan school siege in 2004.

This was either a misguided attempt to flatter the Russian Ambassador, or a chilling foretaste of what could happen in the next few days. I covered Beslan for The Times and it was a bloodbath — out of 1,100 hostages, 344 were killed, half of them children — due in large measure to the incompetence of the Russian security services. Even Russian officials admit it was a disaster.

Whatever Mr Rajapaksa's intentions, any comparison is an extraordinary way to try to reassure the international community that Sri Lankan forces will limit civilian casualties in the final battle of this 26-year civil war.

Sri Lanka's troops are better prepared for this operation than the Russians were in Beslan, but the challenge is equally complicated and on a much larger scale. Troops have to kill or capture the last 200 core Tiger fighters, plus several hundred recent recruits, while keeping civilian casualties to a minimum and making sure that the rebels do not escape with the non-combatants.

All that in a 5sq mile (13sq km) sliver of beach and coconut grove, crammed full of makeshift shelters that until Monday were housing 100,000- 150,000 civilians, according to the UN and the Red Cross.

The army now says that it has freed more than 80,000 of them (even though it said previously that there were fewer than 50,000 there all together) and has yet to mount it final attack on the Tamil Tigers. It also says it is using only light weapons to minimise civilian casualties.

The problem is that, unlike in Beslan, there are virtually no independent witnesses to verify the army's claims — and the few Red Cross and UN staff on the ground often dispute them (as with the figures for civilians).

For most of the past two years, the Sri Lankan Government has banned almost all independent reporters and aid workers from the front line: The Times has not been granted a journalist's visa to Sri Lanka since August.

The Government says that it imposes these restrictions because many Western journalists, aid workers and even diplomats secretly support the Tigers, banned as a terrorist organisation in the European Union, America and India.

The vast majority actually support the goal of defeating the Tigers, who have forcibly recruited children, pioneered the use of suicide bombs, used civilians as human shields, and killed thousands of innocent people. But they also believe in scrutinising both sides of any conflict, and holding a democratically elected government — and member of the Commonwealth — to higher standards than those of a terrorist organisation.

That is why the Government needs to allow more reporters and aid workers to witness the civilians' exodus from the no-fire zone, to speak to them directly and to see how they are being treated in the camps where they are being sent. By blocking such scrutiny, the Government simply undermines its own moral legitimacy and makes it harder to convince the world of its successes — even as the Tigers and others highlight its failures.

It also risks damaging its relations with the international community of democracies (still its main aid donors and trading partners) and radicalising not only its own three million Tamils, but the 74 million-strong Tamil diaspora, from which a new armed movement could easily emerge.

The Government may be on the point of a conventional military victory, but it is losing the international propaganda war — and it has only itself to blame.

[Neil]

Why is that surprising?  Beslan was forcefully resolved, and increased sympathy for the Russians.

[Caliga]

Why wouldn't the Sri Lankans utilize extreme levels of force?  In their minds, most of the civilians under seige are potential future suicide bombers or guerillas, I'm sure.

[DisturbedPervert]

many Western journalists, aid workers and even diplomats secretly support the Tigers

Well, they do keep those people in a job.

[Valmy]

I think destroying the Tigers is well worth the sacrifice of some civilians.  It will, in the long run, save far more lives then may have to be sacrificed in the short term.

I am pretty disgusted with the idea of lengthening the civil war in Sri Lanka for humanitarian reasons.  What sort of fucked up logic is that?

[Caliga]

I am pretty disgusted with the idea of lengthening the civil war in Sri Lanka for humanitarian reasons.  What sort of fucked up logic is that?

Hippy liberals and logic don't often mix. 

[Berkut]

I love the whining in the article that unless the government lets the jounos in, they will lose the war in the long run.

[Josquius]

I think he meant what he said. An attempt to try to scare the rebels into surrendering.

[Valmy]

It also risks damaging its relations with the international community of democracies (still its main aid donors and trading partners) and radicalising not only its own three million Tamils, but the 74 million-strong Tamil diaspora, from which a new armed movement could easily emerge.

Maybe I need training in sympathizing with terrorists and criminals but does the international community of democracies really demand the government be as nice to Tigers as possible?

[Caliga]

For some reason alot of people don't care that the Tamil Tigers frequently engage in terror tactics... or they simply don't know.

[The Minsky Moment]

Hard to throw too many stones at Sri Lanka for how they deal with this terrorist org, but I found it interesting to compare the level of press coverage and international outrage on this story with say Israel's actions in Gaza, WB, etc. 

[DontSayBanana]

For some reason alot of people don't care that the Tamil Tigers frequently engage in terror tactics... or they simply don't know.

A lot of us do understand that, though. The problem is that Sri Lanka's government is on the borderline of terror tactics itself, on an even larger scale, and for stupid reasons. It's much easier to martyrize a huge block of civilian casualties than a group of executed rebels as a symbol of the bloody, oppressive government. The Tigers are radical, but my read is that there's an even larger Tamil population that's bordering on revolution themselves and just need a proper spark to light the powder keg.

[citizen k]

The Tigers are radical, but my read is that there's an even larger Tamil population that's bordering on revolution themselves and just need a proper spark to light the powder keg.

Against both government and Tigers? 

[Valmy]

A lot of us do understand that, though. The problem is that Sri Lanka's government is on the borderline of terror tactics itself, on an even larger scale, and for stupid reasons. It's much easier to martyrize a huge block of civilian casualties than a group of executed rebels as a symbol of the bloody, oppressive government. The Tigers are radical, but my read is that there's an even larger Tamil population that's bordering on revolution themselves and just need a proper spark to light the powder keg.

This just sounds like the same old garbage of acting like illegal terrorist groups have just as much legitimacy, if not far more, than governments do to use force.  Hell it is the legitimate governments fault if the terrorists use human shields not the terrorists.  In fact the rest of the Tamils will react to being used this way by the Tigers by joining the fucking Tigers.

Fuck it is Hamas and Hezbollah all over again.  The terrorists can do no wrong and opposing them only makes people mad.  What a bunch of ridiculous nonsense.

If being a Humanitarian means allowing every illegal band of thugs raise hell for decades on end I think every thinking person should aspire to be otherwise.

[DontSayBanana]

This just sounds like the same old garbage of acting like illegal terrorist groups have just as much legitimacy, if not far more, than governments do to use force.  Hell it is the legitimate governments fault if the terrorists use human shields not the terrorists.  In fact the rest of the Tamils will react to being used this way by the Tigers by joining the fucking Tigers.

Fuck it is Hamas and Hezbollah all over again.  The terrorists can do no wrong and opposing them only makes people mad.  What a bunch of ridiculous nonsense.

If being a Humanitarian means allowing every illegal band of thugs raise hell for decades on end I think every thinking person should aspire to be otherwise.

I wasn't saying it made sense and I'm not supporting them. What I'm saying is the general public's going to play the blame game if that many civilians become casualties, and whether it's rational or not, if there's discontent in the region, there's at least an even chance that the government will actually become the scapegoat.

My argument is not intended to justify the Tamil Tigers' use of force; my point is that the government has been excessive in their use of force, and it comes across like they're lying to the public on collateral damage. In fact, the government are the ones who are coming close to giving populist justification to the Tamil Tigers, and they only have their own mismanagement of the situation to blame.