rapa
10-29-2007, 05:08 PM
as the world ever heard of an endless war where one side is constantly victorious and the other side is always losing? Well, there is no such conflict anywhere but the sections of the Sri Lankan and foreign media and some `peaceniks' have created such a `war' here in this island.
It is even more amazing that there are people who believe in this crap.
The reaction of the so-called independent media to the LTTE attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force Base at Anuradhapura has exposed this dubious agenda more than ever before.
Except for the State-controlled media and a few other media establishments, all other newspapers and media channels have been scoffing at every reported success of the Security Forces against the Tigers over the past 20 years – no matter which government was in power. Virtually every such victory on the ground or at sea has been ridiculed, denied, doubted or ignored or at the most given minimum publcity. And these include the recent destruction of the 10 LTTE arms ships by the Sri Lanka Navy.
In contrast the LTTE's claims of victory have been given very wide publicity. The Sunday Leader's front lead story recently was the LTTE's warning to the government that the "real war" is about to begin. And mind you these publications are not in Tiger dominated areas but in the South, where they scream media freedom is threatened!
The Oct. 28 Ravaya carries a cartoon showing Prabhakaran in the form of a bird defacating on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on the ground. Both are shown in battle kits and armed with guns.
This kind of despicable ridicule shows who agendas these so-called champions of media freedom are serving.
It is this crass media hypocrisy that prompted Air Force Commander Air Marshal Roshan Gunatilleke to say that when the security forces carried out successive victorious operations against the LTTE in the recent past with the SLAF providing air support, the very people who now criticize the Air Force did not utter a word of praise.
There is no denying that there have been very serious security lapses on and off on the part of the Sri Lankan defence authorities, causing tremendous losses to the country. But these media scoundrels instead of engaging in constructive criticism of such negligence seem to be gloating over the LTTE taking advantage of such weaknesses.
The idea is to show the world that the Tigers are invincible and therefore stop the war and go for peace talks. This merry-go-round naturally helps these media types and the NGO peaceniks to earn their bread and butter. It is clear that most of them are in the pay of LTTE sympathizers
At the recently concluded international conference on countering terrorism, one Sri Lankan panelist (mind you not a foreigner) - who is a journalist and possibly a 'peacenik' - tried to raise doubts over the Sri Lanka Navy sinking 10 LTTE ships. But he was given a fitting reply by a navy officer in the audience. Many in the audience cheered the officer for his effective response. The panelist who raised doubts should have first asked himself why the foreign media or any of the defence columnists or even the Tigers did not deny the SLN victory if it was a fabrication.
We wonder whether he would raise similar doubts on the LTTE attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force base at Anuradhapura, this week.
The fact remains that while we have to admit the SLAF's lack of vigilance in the Anuradhapura incident, the LTTE attack however was essentially an attempt to cover their nudity with a fig leaf after the severe blows they received from the Sri Lanka Navy and from our ground troops in the East.
What some critics and pessimists have failed to realize is that the longer an armed rebellion against a State continues the greater is its disadvantage not to the State but to the rebels. The LTTE's so-called liberation struggle has now almost reached its 25th year and today they have lost more territory than they ever lost before. They can never ever hope to have Trincomalee as the capital of their much vaunted Tamil Eelam. That dream has gone for ever unless some unscrupulous foreign power directly intervenes on their behalf – which is a very doubtful and a remote possibility.
Always salute our brave soldiers. But they and we need to be far more vigilant, instead of always learning the hard way.
It is even more amazing that there are people who believe in this crap.
The reaction of the so-called independent media to the LTTE attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force Base at Anuradhapura has exposed this dubious agenda more than ever before.
Except for the State-controlled media and a few other media establishments, all other newspapers and media channels have been scoffing at every reported success of the Security Forces against the Tigers over the past 20 years – no matter which government was in power. Virtually every such victory on the ground or at sea has been ridiculed, denied, doubted or ignored or at the most given minimum publcity. And these include the recent destruction of the 10 LTTE arms ships by the Sri Lanka Navy.
In contrast the LTTE's claims of victory have been given very wide publicity. The Sunday Leader's front lead story recently was the LTTE's warning to the government that the "real war" is about to begin. And mind you these publications are not in Tiger dominated areas but in the South, where they scream media freedom is threatened!
The Oct. 28 Ravaya carries a cartoon showing Prabhakaran in the form of a bird defacating on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on the ground. Both are shown in battle kits and armed with guns.
This kind of despicable ridicule shows who agendas these so-called champions of media freedom are serving.
It is this crass media hypocrisy that prompted Air Force Commander Air Marshal Roshan Gunatilleke to say that when the security forces carried out successive victorious operations against the LTTE in the recent past with the SLAF providing air support, the very people who now criticize the Air Force did not utter a word of praise.
There is no denying that there have been very serious security lapses on and off on the part of the Sri Lankan defence authorities, causing tremendous losses to the country. But these media scoundrels instead of engaging in constructive criticism of such negligence seem to be gloating over the LTTE taking advantage of such weaknesses.
The idea is to show the world that the Tigers are invincible and therefore stop the war and go for peace talks. This merry-go-round naturally helps these media types and the NGO peaceniks to earn their bread and butter. It is clear that most of them are in the pay of LTTE sympathizers
At the recently concluded international conference on countering terrorism, one Sri Lankan panelist (mind you not a foreigner) - who is a journalist and possibly a 'peacenik' - tried to raise doubts over the Sri Lanka Navy sinking 10 LTTE ships. But he was given a fitting reply by a navy officer in the audience. Many in the audience cheered the officer for his effective response. The panelist who raised doubts should have first asked himself why the foreign media or any of the defence columnists or even the Tigers did not deny the SLN victory if it was a fabrication.
We wonder whether he would raise similar doubts on the LTTE attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force base at Anuradhapura, this week.
The fact remains that while we have to admit the SLAF's lack of vigilance in the Anuradhapura incident, the LTTE attack however was essentially an attempt to cover their nudity with a fig leaf after the severe blows they received from the Sri Lanka Navy and from our ground troops in the East.
What some critics and pessimists have failed to realize is that the longer an armed rebellion against a State continues the greater is its disadvantage not to the State but to the rebels. The LTTE's so-called liberation struggle has now almost reached its 25th year and today they have lost more territory than they ever lost before. They can never ever hope to have Trincomalee as the capital of their much vaunted Tamil Eelam. That dream has gone for ever unless some unscrupulous foreign power directly intervenes on their behalf – which is a very doubtful and a remote possibility.
Always salute our brave soldiers. But they and we need to be far more vigilant, instead of always learning the hard way.