Army 'continues Jaffna advance'

[Adsos Letter]

Source: BBC / South Asia

Sri Lankan troops say they have taken the northern-most defensive line of Tamil Tiger rebels in Jaffna peninsula.

The army says troops seized the line at Muhamalai, a day after reaching the southern outskirts of the strategic mainland link, Elephant Pass.

The government says that it soon hopes to capture the north from the rebels.

The Tigers say 41 soldiers were killed and 102 wounded in fighting on Tuesday. There is no independent confirmation of either sides' claims.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7813785.stm

[oberliner]

1. How do you see this being resolved?

Has the US made any statement on the conflict recently?

[Adsos Letter]

2. Not that I am aware of....

The Tamil Tigers want an independent homeland...I suspect it will come down to one of three things:

Sri Lanka destroys their capability to fight

Sri Lanka gets sick of the whole thing and cuts some kind of deal

The whole thing continues to smolder for generations, building more resentments that transcend political goals.

My money is on number 3... :(

[Posteritatis]

3. It looks like #1 is happening

The Tigers have pretty much been in constant retreat in the last few months. This war's been going on for a couple of decades, and I don't think they've been thrown back all along the front like this before. It's looking like they might actually be going down this time, between the loss of their capital and most of their other bases lately.

[Adsos Letter]

4. I had noticed the BBC reports on the Sri Lankan army's successes...

I think you may be correct about the destruction of their stand-up fighting capability, I just wonder if this will turn into another case of long-term bombings, assassinations, etc.

I haven't really read enough about it to hazard a guess...only that this fight has, as you noted, been going on for a couple of decades.

[Posteritatis]

7. Unfortunately that wouldn't surprise me

The LTTE are one of the few terrorist/guerilla groups that got to the point of turning things into a traditional war, but I couldn't guess what would happen if they were actually finished off in the battlefield, which looks increasingly likely.

They have at least seemed to be trying to fight a "clean" fight compared to most other guerilla/national liberation movements (they've actually done the "shit! ack! our bad!" dance a few times when civilians got in the crossfire in an obviously unintentional way), but there's no such thing as a group along those lines that hasn't done at least a few things that just go beyond the pale (for example, the Tigers' use of child soldiers and their expulsion of Muslim populations in their territory). I'd rather deal with them than, say, the Taliban or your typical WWII-era partisans or the like, but that's kind of like preferring a broken leg to a severed one.

I am somewhat worried that they'd start resorting to those more often if they got more desperate. They've had the stand-up fighting capability for a long time by the standards of such groups, and they might end up wandering back into unknown territory for them if they lose it.

[Bhaisahab]

5. The Tamil Tigers or LTTE

(Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) is one of the most fearsome guerrilla outfits in the world. They even have a rudimentary air force and a navy (Sea Tigers). Its defeat (if it happens) after 20+ years of war is a landmark event in South Asia.

They were formed after years of oppression by the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka forced the minority Tamils towards militancy. They have been demanding their own independent homeland (Elam) in the north-east of the island. The LTTE has been in control of this region for much of the last two decades, even holding out against the Indian Army during the latter's offensive in the late 80s.

It's kind of sad actually, that even in such a small, beautiful little island, ethnic warfare is so rampant.

[Adsos Letter]

6. Thankyou for the insights...

I understand Sri Lanka is quite beautiful.

I wonder what it would really take to get people to stop killing one another...a universal sense of justice and common brotherhood, I suppose.

Not ever likely to happen, though we need to continue working toward it in some way.

[comtec]

8. Sound like the Kurds in Iraq

what would it cost to just GIVE them that area, as opposed to fighting them.

The monetary cost ALONE must be huge, putting aside the humanitarian cost.

I mean.. once it;s a settled state, they can start trading, and BOTH could prosper...

*sigh*

Common sense has no place in the world anymore it seems :(