Are Westerners concerned for :
Loss of lives or loss of business?
S. AKURUGODA
Almost all statements released, one after the other, by Western
politicians, diplomats, spokespersons etc. throughout the world at this
11th hour indicates nothing other than their sinister motive of giving a
fresh life line to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and dragging Sri Lanka
back into an on-going war against terrorism. It is not surprising at all
to understand the so-called ‘grave concerns’ of these people led by
British who are the main culprits of the ‘conflict’.
Ceasefire
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who made several
controversial statements, is now calling the Sri Lankan Government to
reciprocate to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the vanishing LTTE.
Call for ‘ceasefire’ at this stage is a mere joke, since LTTE is not
fighting but running away, as Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa
pointed out.
As per the latest media reports, the British PM has still not given
up his dream of sending his pro-LTTE special envoy to Sri Lanka, despite
the rejection of such actions by the Government of Sri Lanka. The former
colonial masters still prefer to listen to their former ‘favourites’,
LTTE Tamil Diaspora, rather than the democratically elected President.
Now that the chances of dividing Sri Lanka on ethnic lines by
military means are no more, the next question, often raised by these
interested parties is “when is the political solution”? As the President
has quite rightly reminded to the British PM, when asked about a
‘political solution’, what is needed by the IDPs is their basic needs
such as shelter, food, clothing, medicine etc. and not a ‘political
solution’.
On the other hand, the US State Department’s spokesperson Robert Wood
has called on the LTTE rebels surrender to a third party.
“We remain extremely concerned for the safety of the remaining
civilians in the no-fire zone,” and called on the Sri Lanka Government
and Tigers to end hostilities. He also asked the Sri Lanka Government to
allow a UN humanitarian team into the no-fire zone.
Apart from these salmon-eating international spokespersons, the
entire world is now fully aware that the military operations against
Terrorism in Sri Lanka is a success, unlike the war against terrorism
launched by superpowers, and more than 120,000 civilians have already
been rescued by the Sri Lankan Security Forces within three days of its
humanitarian mission without any external assistance.
Civilians
Indications are that the entire operations will be over within the
next couple of days and there is no question of surrender to a third
party at this stage, unless a third party is ‘extremely concern’ for the
safety of the remaining terrorist cadres and their leaders trapped in
the last few kilometers of their ‘strong hold’.
As the Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona stressed, there was no need
for special missions from other countries to evacuate the IDPs
(Internally Displaced Persons) from the safe zone and the situation may
not arise as over 120,000 civilians have moved to the cleared areas.
UN missions
On the other hand, if the life out of the NFZ is not safe for the
IDPs , as these westerners imagined, there is no reason why tens of
thousands of civilians including two LTTE leaders have fled NFZ and
moved towards the Security Forces. Since LTTE had forcibly kept the UN
missions which visited the Tigers in the past the obvious question is
how such missions could visit the NFZ given the present conditions.
There is no reason for the Sri Lanka Government to stop its operation
since they have proved their capability of chasing the enemy while
freeing the civilians in tens of thousands. Few weeks ago prior to the
commencement of humanitarian mission of the Security Forces, the very
same people imagined that there will be a blood bath if such an attempt
is made and, now, it has been proved beyond doubt that it is not so.
The two UN officials who visited Sri Lanka called for an immediate
ceasefire to facilitate a meeting between UN representatives and
Prabhakaran in the civilian safety zone.
As reported in media, there was every indication that the UN
officials had been influenced by ‘a Western diplomat’ based in Colombo
to make this request for a meeting between the UN and the LTTE leader.
Statements issued by various foreign diplomats in Colombo, notably
those of US ambassador Blake, concerning the internal affairs of our
country, and reported visits and secret visits said to have been made to
meet the opponents of the democratically elected Government, including
the pro LTTE Tamil Diaspora, to discuss ‘undisclosed’ matters related to
internal matters of the host country are typical examples of their
failure of self-controlling, what appears as, ‘superiority complex’ when
serving in tiny nations.
These diplomats, who are representatives of the superpower, are
gradually becoming part and parcel of our local political system and we
see no significant difference between their day-to-day tasks in Colombo
and those of LTTE proxy TNA.
Global business
The secret behind the ‘grave concerns of human lives’ of these
superpowers are very clear. World politics and arms trade are closely
linked. Arms manufacture and dealing is a highly profitable global
business.
It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are spent on
military expenditures worldwide. The United States is the top supplier
of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36 percent of
worldwide weapons sales, followed by Britain and Germany.
Western Arms Manufacturers needs battlefields to sell their Arms. An
estimated 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year,
approximately one death per minute. Are these people concerned for the
loss of innocent lives or their loss of business?
The Washington Times Editorial http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/26/tigers-at-bay/
(Sunday, April 26, 2009) should be an eye-opener to those masters who
still believe that there is something extraordinary under their
blue-eyes and white skin. |