Associated Press,  Sat Jan 10 19:11:55 EST 2009

    RAVI NESSMAN  -   Associated Press Writer  -              COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -  (AP)  When Hamilton Wanasinghe was Sri Lanka - 's military chief in the early 1990s, he tried to buy desperately needed weapons from Russia to fight the Tamil Tiger rebels. Money was so short he offered to trade crates of tea for arms.

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- The Academic

Now Hamilton Wanasingha is coming to tell us why he couldn't fight LTTE. What he doesn't say is the lack of leadership on his part, corruption, and bad military tactics that hurt civilians on one hand and demoralized the soldiers on the other hand. Most of the LTTE suicide cadres were born during this era due to harsh treatment given to civilians, especially women. Lack  of regard for domestic research also made us weaker, and LTTE stronger. It was not due to an unprepared army of 40,000 men. LTTE was worse at the begining with less than 5000 men.

Call you are right.  Ask Hamilton Wanasinghe to declare his assets first of all.  It was the lack of initiative, lack of political will, lack of foresight that caused so much to be wasted.  All these Generals made off like bandits. Sure Wanasinghe lost a brave son in law but it was  a total lack of planning and a strategic battle plan that was the key. Also responsible for the prolonged conflict was our gross violation of human rights, the army behaving like occupiers and committing excesses such as opening fire in Tamil villages, that caused more and more tamils to move towards the LTTE even after India stopped arming them.  Add to that the system of privileges, sycophancy and rank political interference by card-board Generals and yes men like Dalu we had a recipe for disaster. SL did not win not because of lack of will by the poor soldiers but arrogant rank stupidity by leaders who all have retired quite comfortably way above their official means.

RogerThis wrote:

Call you are right.  Ask Hamilton Wanasinghe to declare his assets first of all.  It was the lack of initiative, lack of political will, lack of foresight that caused so much to be wasted.  All these Generals made off like bandits. Sure Wanasinghe lost a brave son in law but it was  a total lack of planning and a strategic battle plan that was the key. Also responsible for the prolonged conflict was our gross violation of human rights, the army behaving like occupiers and committing excesses such as opening fire in Tamil villages, that caused more and more tamils to move towards the LTTE even after India stopped arming them.  Add to that the system of privileges, sycophancy and rank political interference by card-board Generals and yes men like Dalu we had a recipe for disaster. SL did not win not because of lack of will by the poor soldiers but arrogant rank stupidity by leaders who all have retired quite comfortably way above their official means.

Agree with you both.

Quote:

all have retired quite comfortably way above their official means

How many of these guys would had a hand in the arms deals.


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MAC1