http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7893201.stm also shows a peculiar turn-around of the "Gospel according to BBC"

The tragedy that the truth highlights is that as poor and discriminative as the government's answer to the "Tamil national question" is, it is a lot better than all of the LTTE's offers combined. In writing odes to the lost cause of the LTTE, the Tamil dissapora is not only loosing an opportunity – if still flawed and inadequate, but also depriving their hapless brethren in the North of Sri Lanka perhaps their best chance for a better life.

And this will go on and on and on. (GoSL seems determined to ensure that, how else can they continue ruling their people if the people realise they have nothing to fear/don't need to be protected from anything?)

All we have to do is sit back and let the "innocent civillians" (presuming that all other people, including the LTTE are a special breed of animal that woke up one morning with a death wish) be "liberated". Then we have to ensure their stories of starvation, humiliation, rape and torture in the 'refugee camps" never get out (if they do, we can always call it LTTE propoganda and block the website/kill the journalist/editor).

So if we play our cards right, we will ensure a steady supply of suicide bombers/terrorists from among the rape victims, widows and orphans (each title not necessarily exclusive to each category). I'd say in 3yrs we can get the war machine rolling again. And in case you haven't heard, a by-product of the war machine is lots of cash and chances to be in power.

The TRUTH about Sri Lanka is well documented on TamilNet.com, TamilNation.org,
TamilsAgainstGenocide.org

http://www.tamilnation.org

You don’t need to take my word for it. Many International Organisations, prominent Journalists and Politicians have already spoken out about the Sri Lankan Government/Army/Police brutality.

The Sri Lankan armed forces have done a bit more than take territory, Mr Ethirveerasingham. It has smashed the conventional fighting capability of the Tigers: virtually defeated it as a conventional or quasi conventional fighting force. See David Blacker's post on this, or read The Economist, the NYT, Col Hariharan of the IPKF et al.

As for your attempted wisecrack about my diplomatic skills vis a vis the British, I daresay that with the UK's latest unilateral move and Sri Lanka's stinging official rebuke (picked up by many UK papers) most Sri Lankans would agree with my response to David Miliband's remarks on our Independence Day last year.

Mr. J. makes a hypothetical statement about my thoughts. (He has claimed before of being many things, but not a mind reader!) Then he wants me to ask myself a question based on his false result of his mind reading! Policies, ideas and acts of communities, governments and individuals may be wise or not and in instances worse. No community or individuals are perfect. This is of course common sense.

Just because GoSL captured territory does not mean that they are wise. Historians will be able to give names of governments that captured territories who were not wise, and had been called worse. I would not call the American administrations that put the Native Americans in 'Reservations" wise. I would not call Cro-Magnon wise, because they contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthal. They are wise because they created, survived and evolved.

Your hypothetical assumption on my view of the Sinhala people is false. Based on your question, "Why 'fools' are winning and wiseguys are not" I am assuming that by Sri Lankans you meant Sinhala – (May be it was a freudian slip!). I consider the Sinhala people as unique. They are creative. They have contributed to the world heritage in art, architecture, sculpture, prose and verse, in cinematography and so on. How çan anyone who stand at awe before the group of sculptures at the Gal Vihara, climbs the steps of Sigiriya, go up the scaffolding of the Abeyagiri, stand and meditate before the Samadhi Buddha, and view the results of the archeological sites in Anuradhapura(m) or stand and wonder before "Tara" at the British Museum not marvel at the creativity of the Sinhala people. Sinhalas as a community are creative and compassionate people, but there are individuals who are not so creative or compassionate. (I hope some Sri Lankan Diplomat – not you for reasons best known to your readers – would convince the British to return "Tara' to those who created her.) True, Tara and many of the Buddha images and the "Guardian" reliefs at the entrance of Viharas and residences" have resemblance to sculptures of the Hellenistic period (approx 350 – 450 BCE), especially the "Praxtelian 'S' curve" realistic sculpturing of the clothing and the sensuous rendering of the human body. But the infusion of styles that are unique to the Sinhala art added to the Hellenistic style. (I am not a specialist in this subject. I am only an interested layman.)

If you think you are a reliable mind reader, you should be in Vavuniya reading the minds of the 250,000 Tamil IDPs to sort them into LTTE, LTTE sympathisers, LTTE supporters, Tamil separatists, Tamil federalists and innocent civilians. Such a service would save the Tamil civilians from a lot of emotional and physical pain.

When you considering incident of nuns, why you forget hundreds of civilians killed by SLA during last 40days. Are you still denying the initial statements of ICRC and UN regarding cluster bombardment on PTK hospital. May be your position not allow you to talk about truth, thats what you are trying to create "truths".

Basically, AJ & AP or even BBC mostly dependent on Government propaganda machinery. Pro SLA sources published the news that 24 SLA KIA, when suicide blast occurred in Tharmapuram, but BBC said due to suicide attack 28 civilians were killed. Is this call reliable source?As you are a journalist too. Hence, I don't need to explore further more regard this.

This is just recent and small example.

The 3-year "peace village" plan shows you that the MoD foresees Phase IV gong on for around three years. During this period the MoD will not want the Tigers reinfilterating the NE Tamil population. It was this fish in the water that enabled the LTTE to be successful in the past. Draining the sea of water is what the Brits did in the Malayan Emergency, and it was very successful, though also fairly demoralizing to the local population, as they were taken off their traditional lands and prevented from farming. Hopefully, the GoSL can balance it off.

So just looking at this as some sort of internment of Tamils is ignorant.

But it is shocking that you forgot to ask the LTTE to refrain from targeting people who are NOT involved in the conflict: for example, suicide bombing outside the conflict zone. Why not ask them to surrender arms and join the political dialogue for the betterment of the very Tamils they represent? Why not ask them to stop collecting ransom money from the Tamil Diaspora?

Besides, the GoSL is doing its best to ensure civilian safety. You, and the media should focus on what we are DOING for the benefit of the civilians, not what is NOT being done. Nothing, ever will be enough, in this kind of a situation – that is the truth.

You seem to forget that this is a WAR. A war between a politically elected government and a group of terrorists.

Not even the first democracy in the world allows civilian media in to a conflict zone. Gitmo Bay is still closed even to the UK Government (there aren’t even bullets flying around the bay), and you are asking why aren’t we letting the civilian media into the conflict zone? You must be joking.

Instead, why don’t you appeal the UN, ICRC and WFO to play a more objective and supportive role?

But, thousands of appeal have been made. There was no favourable response for the civilians upto now. The state is showing and will show its clenched fist always; as seen, to a mercy move by Britain to send a special envoy.

A genocidal state can never be persuaded by words of wisdom or strong appeals. This is the history of mankind. Collective action is required by a UN resolution to bring a strong corporate request. Time should not be wasted with any other meaningless actions.

The state is not permiting independent reporters to report on the incidents. All what we and the world read is "the military spokesman said". Soldiers are not journalists. So what we hear is the junk from a genocidal military. Surely, its reports would be to deny the reports that are detrimental to them and give a "twist and turn" where necessary, but at the same time do harm to the people.

The people of Sri Lanka should know the truth through independent media. It is our right. Why is it being denied here?

Talking of religion, did you see the al Jazeera and AP reports of nuns being shot by the Tigers? By the way you sound like you think that Sinhalese profess adherence to a single religion.

If the ICRC and the UN evacuates the 250,000 plus men, women, and children, they will not have the freedom to stay with their relatives, friends or on their own in areas of their choice in Sri Lanka, even though they are citizens of Sri Lanka. Much has been written by independent observers on the 10,000 plus aleady in "Camps." The new "PLAN" to settle the 250,000 plus, draft of which was shown to donors and embassies, when implemented, will become internment camps, fenced and policed. I will leave it to the unbiased reader to guess what else will happen to the IDPs in and out of camps. Three years will become in time permanent for many.

What I would propose is for UNHCR, ICRC, other UN institutions and accredited medical personnel, approved by the ICRC, to be given immediate access to expand the current “Safe Zone” to include the Puthukudierruppu Hospital, which was recently bombed and shelled more than 10 times (see ICRC press releases), and other permanent hospitals that have been displaced, and for the “Safe Zone” to be under the command and control of the ICRC and/or UN, without access to either of the warring parties.

The GoSL and the LTTE should permit unrestricted access to the Safe Zone so that humanitarian organzations and UN Agencies may take food, medicine, shelter materials and other essential humanitarian relief, and to evacuate by road, sea or air, the injured and the sick, who will need urgent treatment by specialists and facilities that are not available in the Vanni. It is also important for international monitors to monitor the situation and report to the UN. We feel that such a request to the GoSL and the LTTE will be fair and will safeguard the lives, rights and dignity of the Tamil civilians in the war zone.

In the west of the A9 mine clearing operations should be done under the UN, ICRC supervision and the IDPs returned to their places of origin to restart their lives with direct assistance from international donors.