A post by Pat
The 26-year war in Sri Lanka appears to be over. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a.k.a. the Tamil Tigers conceded defeat.
The LTTE assert themselves as defenders of the ethnic minority Tamils (Hindus) against persecution by the majority Sinhalese (Buddhists). There are grounds for the Tamils grievances. The Sinhalese government has shown no interest in a multi-ethnic state with equal protection of rights.
The U.N. human rights commission called for investigation of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides. Both sides engaged in killings, abductions, extortion, and conscription of child soldiers. The LTTE uses human shields and the Sri Lankan forces show no restraint in killing them. The Tamil Tigers distinguished themselves in the terrorist hall of fame as the inventors of the suicide belt and innovators of using women as suicide bombers. There is no evidence that the Marxist Tamil Tigers are associated with Al-Qaeda other than the transmission of this horrific death device.
The LTTE promises to return to guerrilla tactics. That remains to be seen. For now, their ranks have been decimated. Their leader is not expected to be taken alive. In the final hours fighters have been committing mass suicide.
The world paid little attention to this war in which more than 70,000 people died . In the final battle civilians were trapped between the ruthless insurgents and the reckless army. The official government position is to deny they are deliberately shelling civilian areas but that is widely contested. In the last month, while the media was hysterical about swine flu, thousands of Sri Lankans died in a humanitarian nightmare. When the media bemoans Afghan civilian casualties despite extraordinary efforts by the U.S. military to prevent them, ask where was their concern for the Sri Lankans for the last three decades.
Sri Lanka faces ‘unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe’
Trapped in trenches, with little food and water, up to 50,000 ethnic Tamils are pinned in a tiny pocket of land between the final advance of the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tiger rebels facing imminent defeat. A government doctor in the area said hundreds of wounded civilians, many of them dying from their injuries, had crowded into a makeshift hospital that he was forced to abandon two days ago because of shelling. “They are dying without proper treatment,†said Thurairajah Varatharajah. “Dead bodies are all lying on the floor. We are unable to bury or clear them. It is a very pathetic situation.†He said: “We are in fear not just for my life, but for all the civilians and patients and staff. Here there is no food, no water, nothing.â€
[…]About 7,000 civilians have been killed since late January, according to the United Nations, which has called for an independent war crimes inquiry to examine the behaviour of both sides.
[...]The army said 10,000 desperate civilians fled the area yesterday. They risked being shot by both sides, but in the past few days have paddled across a lagoon on rubber tyres, or waded through its chest high waters to the relative safety of army lines.
If you need further proof the world is insane, Tamils are protesting in Canada — in front of the U.S Consulate!
“There are thousands of civilians being killed today,” says protester Ragban Baladurai. “We came here to cry in front of the consulate so Barack Obama can do something for us, because the Canadian government failed us.”
Insane.
