Comments on: Downfall

By: njcommuter

njcommuter — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:40:55 +0000

The LTTE pioneered modern terrorist technique. One part of that technique is false surrender. Someone tell me please whether the LTTE was known for that tactic, or whether it came later.

If the LTTE was known for false surrender, then there is at least a case to be made that the LTTE had no right to expect the flag of truce to be respected. Against this is the claim that the Sri Lanken government made a promise.

Driving Sri Lanka into the hands of China for nothing more than to want to fight terrorism could not have been a Good Thing. Nothing good will come of it, and much ill may.

By: anon

anon — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:45:39 +0000

Gringo:

feeblemind:
What happens when the day comes that Sri Lanka no longer wants a Chinese presence in their country? Will the Chinese meekly pack up and move away?

Put it this way: I doubt the Chinese will go gentle into that good night.

—

The Chinese can’t even invade an island barely
off of their mainland – Taiwan. I imagine that
a few ‘accidental’ muggings of Chinese diplomats
and they will go meekly back to murdering the Tibetans who have no means what-so-ever of self-defense.

That supposes, of course, that GoSL ‘WANTS’ the Chinese to leave.

More to the point … what if the Israelis decide that UN Security Council Veto holder P.R.C. is a better big power sponser than the U.S.A.? Especially now that huge pockets of natural gas have been found off of their coast in the Med.

By: LarryD

LarryD — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:32:20 +0000

I wonder how long it will be, before some side in a conflict decides that the UN (and NGOs optionally) need to be demonized and labeled as not merely the allies of their enemies, but as the evil foreign influences in the conflict. Which might have the benefit of making it easier to reconcile with said enemies once the war is won. But would certainly be the preparatory step to openly attacking the UN etc.

By: Roderick Reilly

Roderick Reilly — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:39:15 +0000

All things considered, the Sri Lankan government forces made the “right” decision in killing the Tamil Tiger leadership. Remember, all things considered, and from the standpoint of Sri Lankan needs and stability.

By: Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… » Things Heard: e69v1

Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… » Things Heard: e69v1 — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:01:55 +0000

[...] Inconsistencies in Sri Lanka. [...]

By: Gringo

Gringo — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:00:07 +0000

feeblemind:
What happens when the day comes that Sri Lanka no longer wants a Chinese presence in their country? Will the Chinese meekly pack up and move away?

Put it this way: I doubt the Chinese will go gentle into that good night.

By: feeblemind

feeblemind — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:04:19 +0000

Some feeble minded questions: How long do you think this will be remembered by the West? A week? Perhaps two? Is China evolving into the power that can be relied on? The one that will provide more than words in a crisis? Sri Lanks is now rid of the Tamil Tigers, but they are getting long term Chinese guests in exchange, thanks to the naval base being built. What happens when the day comes that Sri Lanka no longer wants a Chinese presence in their country? Will the Chinese meekly pack up and move away?

By: Tcobb

Tcobb — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:46:16 +0000

The UN and the NGOs have become a vast system of “outdoor relief” for the social science departments of academic institutions, who descend on conflicts with their rapporteurs, ethical auditors, gender sensitivity consultants, carbon counters, lawyers and whatnot. It’s a system that exists for its own benefit and hearkens only to its own voice. You would be mistaken to think this vast system is about the poor, the downtrodden or the oppressed. It’s about them. Even now in Sri Lanka it’s about them and their mantra-like idiocies.

IMHO, Wretchard, never have truer words been spoken. In previous threads you have quoted articles in which the Wise have attributed the fall of the Tamil Tigers to their loss of “moral authority.” Its a common theme: the morally just shall triumph.

But now we move into phase two of doublethink. For just as the Wise believe that the morally just will prevail when a conflict is in progress, so also do they also believe that no contest, military or economic, can result in a clear winner unless the winners “cheated” in some fashion. The current narrative of the Tigers as terrorists will soon vanish down the memory hole, to be replaced by the manufactured history of the brave and noble fighters who were exterminated by a reactionary regime.

By: markb

markb — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:52:01 +0000

Mike Sylwester @7

“And I thought the ambulance story was preposterous. There is no way anyone could have imagined he could escape the surrounded area by hiding in an amubulance.”

Here is a video of Hamas making their escape in a UN ambulance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAR_Iwq9-R0

By: Morenuancedthanyou

Morenuancedthanyou — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:41:24 +0000

Eric Rodson #34 As you might know, Japanese who died serving in the military are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine. Japanese prime ministers visit the shrine on August 15 as "private citizens", a cover story still unaccepted by most of the other Asian countries. It will probably be a long, long time before Japan has a day to commemorate its war dead.