Associated Press,  Sat Mar 24 13:08:21 EDT 2007

    COLOMBO, March 24 (Kyodo)  Heavy fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and Tamil Tiger rebels occurred in the country's northwest on Friday and Saturday, with both sides giving conflicting figures of losses.
Full Story


_________________
- The Academic

It is obvious that the security forces are gaining control over the Sri Lankan territory inch by inch which had been captured by terrorists through military means. The solution also lies with the military power. The country should salute the president for not interfering in the duty of the armed forces, which is to protect the country's borders and ensure security all who live anywhere in the country. The problem dragged for decades due to inteference by politicians. The Tamil population in the North and the East seem to have understood that the real protectors are the Sri lankan army and the government. The stand taken by the Madu church signels this realization. Let the army handle the issue. No politics should hamper this vlient march of the security forces. Prabhakaran cannot stop it.

I fully agree with Leo's message. At long last we the moderate Tamils are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, however vague that light is! Final push for liberation from the grips of the terrorists (LTTE) should be fast tracked as much as possible, bringing in peace so that we all as SRI LANKANS may live a normal life contributing to a common cause – FREEDOM. It is time that India as our regional power strengthens its efforts towards GOSL’s war eliminating the rebels entirely.

Military action  is not the solution for the on going problem in Srilanka. In history no freedom fighting has been over come by military means.

Genuine efforts should be taken by both GOSL & LTTE in peace talks.  GOSL blames LTTE and the LTTE blames GOSL. No Srilankan government has made efforts to identify the root cause of this problem and give a proper solution. LTTE also genuinly take part in this process.

[b]But the ultimate suffers are the common man in Srilanka[/b]. Think about the people in North & East and the families of the dead & injured soldiers . Inflation rate has gone up. Prices of commodities are sky rocketing thus the poor are made more poorer day by day.  But have any one thought about the politicians who are getting rich day by day.

So stop blaming each other. All should get toghter to solve this problem amicably.

Look Revathy Whom U are advising?
since 1950s Tamil Politicians have Failed To reach Do u Thing Theese Raccisit State And racissit Majority
Can Listen This ?
Forget It Only the way LTTE MUST GET MORE POWER.

Sureshkanna ,

Both sinhalese and tamil politicians are the main cause of todays on going problem. Until they fail to understand the root cause ( read my previous posting) this problem cannot be solves.

But do you really believe both sides military action could solve this. Thats what over past 25 years no body couldn't achieve any thing. . GOSL couln't supress LTTE and Still LTTE fighting for the freedom. Until GOSL realises it .this will be an on going battle.

LTTE to get more power it needs more International support. Now you can see most of the countries who once blames LTTE for every thing now has realised some what the cause for fighting. So LTTE should continue its stand in peace process to gain more International support.

My concern is for the people of Srilanka both Tamils and Sinhalese who suffer the most.

REVATHY wrote:

But do you really believe both sides military action could solve this. Thats what over past 25 years no body couldn't achieve any thing. . GOSL couln't supress LTTE and Still LTTE fighting for the freedom. Until GOSL realises it .this will be an on going battle..

You seem to be on the correct track but, can you explain your reason for stating "Until GOSL realises it .this will be an on going battle" please? What hasn't GoSL not realised exactly?


_________________
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. - Albert Einstein

REVATHY wrote:

Military action  is not the solution for the on going problem in Srilanka. In history no freedom fighting has been over come by military means.

Yes, there has to be a viable political solution to address the grievences of the peace loving majority of the tamil population in Sri Lanka. (No it does not include the people funding the LTTE while living abroad, I mean the peace loving tamil citizens living in SL who are experiencing the brutality of a war). Its quite shameful that successive governments so far have failed to put forward a solution which can be accepted by respected leaders such as Anada Sangaree. All Sri Lankans are  waiting for that package which the government has promised to put forward, and we are all hoping that extremists such as JVP and the name sake monks of the JHU will not disrupt it.

Simultaneously military action should be used to demolish the tigers so that all people in Sri Lanka can live in peace. No matter what solution is put forward (other than ealam), LTTE will not accept it. LTTE understands only bullelts and bombs, and that's exactly what the SL armed forces and police are giving them right now.

The govt should allow the armed forces to protect the soverinity of the country without political interference and while it appears that the forces are doing a great job, the politicians should get their act together to put forward that illusive political package which all Sri Lankans are (im?)patiently waiting for.

[quote]What hasn't GoSL not realised exactly?

Athos,

GOSL still failed to understand the grievences of  the Tamils. Not only Mahinda's government but all the governments that came into power. Thus this conflict is still draging on.






 [/quote]

Quote:

The Defense Ministry said nine soldiers were killed and 45 others injured in two straight days of fighting, while the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam claimed in a report posted on the pro-Tiger TamilNet website that ''around 60 soldiers were killed.''

Quoting rebel officials, TamilNet said, ''Sri Lankan Army soldiers were forced to flee the battlefield with tractor loads of dead bodies.''

Pro-tiger tamil net quoting terrorist officials also say that the SL army had taken 120 civilians as human shields, and the LTTE had defeated them killing 60 soldiers, without harming the civilians who were in the hands of the SLA. Wow, I mean that has to be some great work. The SLA takes 120 civilans as human shileds, and the LTTE kills 60 solidiers selectively without harming the civilians.

Shows how bad Sri Lankan army is at utilising human shields. They could learn a lot from the LTTE in this regard.

REVATHY wrote:

In history no freedom fighting has been over come by military means..

Dear Revathy

This is not an attempt to argue with you given that the intentions of your posting are pretty benevolent. However depending on your
definition of "freedom fighting" I beg to differ with you on the above quote.

If you are equating separatism with "freedom fighting" there are plenty of examples where Military means were successfully used
to crush such situations. ( Now that doesn't mean I would personally recommend/support such means)

1. Nigeria - The separatism expounded by the Ibo's resulted in the creation of Biafra.. A separate nation.. Which was immediately
                     crushed by the Federal Nigerian Government under General Gowan.

2. Punjab - This is more close to home. Sikh terrorism for an independent Khalistan was indeed crushed by the Indian Government.

3. Kurdistan - Kurds were the subject of a long forgotten Holocaust where the attempts for a modern Independent Kurdistan was crushed
                       by General Ataruk the founding father of Turkey.


_________________
There are no minorities in Sri Lanka. --- Dr.Percy Mahinda Rajapakse Ph.D

Har,

Do you really believe that GOSL forces are cleaning up the LTTE. All these are GOSL propaganda... How many soldiers have lost their lives & wounded. And civilians are caught up in the GOSL attacks. All sufferes are the poor people in Srilanka both Tamil & Sinhalese.

In my opinion If a proper solution has put on table then LTTE will consider that. Now that International community is watching both GOSL & LTTE.  Its not easy for both GOSL & LTTE. GOSL need International aids & LTTE nees their backing.

Revathy, as I have said at least twice before, the LTTE has had many opportunities to settle this war, from the Indo-Lanka Accord to the Oslo Agreement.  They have deliberately scuppered every one because they want a separate state and nothing less.  That's why putting 'a proper solution on the table' has always been meaningless to them.  GOSL could offer them control of all the North and East under a united Lanka and they would still find some excuse to reject it.  Therefore all GOSL can do is try to destroy the LTTE or at least cut it down to size so that it will be forced to negotiate meaningfully.

REVATHY wrote:

Har,

Do you really believe that GOSL forces are cleaning up the LTTE. All these are GOSL propaganda... How many soldiers have lost their lives & wounded. And civilians are caught up in the GOSL attacks. All sufferes are the poor people in Srilanka both Tamil & Sinhalese.

In my opinion If a proper solution has put on table then LTTE will consider that. Now that International community is watching both GOSL & LTTE.  Its not easy for both GOSL & LTTE. GOSL need International aids & LTTE nees their backing.

Yes, I truly beleive that our forces are cleaning up the LTTE effectively. Like you said, its not easy. It'll kill and bring misery to lots of peaople (innocent civilians, soldiers and their families, LTTE memebers and their families etc), but terrorism has to be ended now. Another generation should not be allowed to suffer for 30 more years.

If the government can come up with a solution that satisfiy the majority of Tamil + Singhala + Muslim population (I'm 100% sure LTTE will not agree to it) the terrorists will lose the support further and it'll make the armed forces job of combating terrorism much easier. The ball is in the government's court now. Armed forces are doing their job of cleaning up terrorits, its upto the government to live upto it and put forward a viable package which will once and for all eliminate terrorism and bring peace to the country.

Veritas wrote:

Revathy, as I have said at least twice before, the LTTE has had many opportunities to settle this war, from the Indo-Lanka Accord to the Oslo Agreement.  They have deliberately scuppered every one because they want a separate state and nothing less.  That's why putting 'a proper solution on the table' has always been meaningless to them.  GOSL could offer them control of all the North and East under a united Lanka and they would still find some excuse to reject it.  Therefore all GOSL can do is try to destroy the LTTE or at least cut it down to size so that it will be forced to negotiate meaningfully.

Well, I agree with you that LTTE will not accept any political solution and they have scuttled all the genuine peace efforts. Let the armed forces deal with terrorists. Our forces have have proven that they can be very effective as long as their is no political interference.

The political solution should be put forward to the tamil people (forget about the LTTE, no political solution for them). It should be one that respected leaders like Ananda Sangaree and other political parties can accept. Make the peace loving tamil man/woman happy and that will weaken LTTE further, and peace will be a reality.