Needed: Deeds Not Words - Will The US Rise To The Occasion?

LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham arrived here yesterday and had an SLAF chopper ride to Kilinochchi amidst tight security provided by the state. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the illustrious son of Sri Lanka must be turning in his grave when the ideologue of his killers enjoys VIP treatment at the very airport, which his boys once attacked. That is the price we have to pay for being a poor democratic nation.

Terrorism is a parasite that finds hosts in legitimate states. The LTTE has had more than just one host; it has Britain, Norway and France as permanent hosts apart from Sri Lanka playing that role from time to time, depending on the political compulsions of the powers that be.

Balasingham is getting choppers from the very government whose head was debarred by the LTTE from entering the areas considered under its control by the CFA, a few months ago. The UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who drew fire from the PA for providing helicopters to the LTTE, must be highly amused.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns is also here to urge the government and the LTTE to resume talks. Ironically, though Mr. Burns is exerting himself to strengthen Sri Lanka's truce, the US has flatly rejected Osama's offer of a truce, saying that the only way to deal with terrorists is to put them out of business. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan went on record: "The terrorists started this war. And the President made it clear that we will end it at a time and place of our choosing!"

Mr. Burns must be really surprised that the Sri Lankan government whisked the LTTE spokesman through the airport at a time the US is bombing mountains in Afghanistan out of sight in a bid to flush out its terrorists. He must be asking himself why it is that while the US went all out to dissuade the Colombian government under President Andres Pastrana from talking to FARC, by dumping a huge military aid package on that country, Sri Lanka is being pressured to negotiate with the LTTE, proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the US. It is an outfit, which, in the very words of State Department Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism Ambassador-at-large J. Cofer Black, is in 'the exalted company of Al Qaeda.'

Mr. Erik Solheim is also back in town. Norwegian diplomats and truce monitors met Balasingham in their numbers, before he flew to Kilinochchi. Is it that they believe his presence in the Wanni is going to make any difference? Is he going to put an end to the LTTE's killing spree? If he is desirous of resuming talks and is capable of influencing the LTTE, he need not have come all the way in his fragile health. He could have used satellite phones and teleconferencing facilities for that purpose.

The Norwegians are behaving like a naive midwife who has got excited over a false pregnancy. They are trying to deliver a baby who is far from conceived. And the world has been waiting for years and how long it will have to wait is the question.

Balasingham's visit at this juncture smacks of an effort to rekindle hopes of talks so as to take the heat off the LTTE. A press conference in the Wanni or an invitation to the government to send an official to discuss the modalities of talks will help the LTTE to grab the limelight and distract the world attention from the crimes it has been committing since the CFA came into being. Shortly, we will have him cooing from the jungles and the peace lobby singing hosannas.

It might even be that he has rushed here under the pretext of helping resume talks to avoid pressure in London in the event of the LTTE resorting to something drastic.

Back to Mr. Burns. His presence is, no doubt, welcome in this country, which immensely benefits from the US aid. But it is doubtful whether he is going to fare any better than Messrs Richard Armitage, Cofer Black and Jeffrey Lunstead in trying to strengthen the much battered truce. Mr. Lunstead minced no words the other day when he issued a severe warning to the LTTE. But the LTTE has defied him. On Sunday, we had it saying it was ready for war. And claymore mine attacks against the security forces go on unabated. Such is the LTTE's temerity!

President Rajapakse has silenced his critics who projected him as a hawk before the election, by remaining unprovoked by incessant LTTE atrocities and calling for talks. The road block on the path to peace is there for everybody to see--the intransigence of the LTTE. But we see no serious effort being made to clear it. We hear only words--NATO (No Action Talk Only). That, Mr. Burns will see, is Sri Lanka's burning problem. The day that is removed, peace will dawn. Urging both parties to resume talks is of little use, as the government has been ready to do for the past several years. It is only the LTTE that needs to be made to fall in line. Will the US rise to the occasion? The Island editorialized this article.

-DrPolitics