Editorial

23rd April 2000

All’s well or all’s hell

The New Year dawned with the Operational Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence assuring the nation that all is well in Elephant Pass with the purported re-capture of the A-9 (Jaffna-Kandy) Main Supply Route (MSR) from Muhamalai to Pallai from the LTTE. So ensured, the politicians, security forces commanders and the public were lulled to enjoy the festivities.

Now, the Op. Hq. says that fierce fighting is taking place near about Elephant Pass. The ongoing censorship constrains us from revealing details that would indicate the measure of the threat. Suffice it to say, that the situation is so ominous. All the cuts in the military -related stories and column in this issue today is bad news- news the government does not want you to know. Elephant Pass is the gateway to Jaffna. A defeat at this strategic point will jeopardize the military situation to an irrecoverable position. The corollary of this will be that the political posturing will be correspondingly affected. This is a matter of grave concern to the nation. The bottom line is that any reversal at Elephant Pass is both militarily and politically catastrophic.

After the string of LTTE successes in the Wanni, they switched their offensive to Elephant Pass beginning December 11, 1999. Having seized the southern defenses of Elephant Pass at Paranthan, the LTTE severed the maritime line of communications to Elephant Pass by capturing the coastal area astride Vettilaikerny. They then struck on the west part to apply pressure on the land based Main Supply Route to Elephant Pass along the A-9 highway.

The LTTE strategy is simple as much as it was obvious, to isolate Elephant Pass and lay siege to it until it collapses. A text book copy of the tactics employed by the Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu. There was no need for sophisticated intelligence gathering to evaluate that LTTE strategy. The basic fact was that the LTTE had nowhere else to go after the Wanni than to Jaffna. And to do so, Elephant Pass was the first obstacle to overcome.

Our Defence Correspondent has repeatedly commented on the threat to Elephant Pass, well before it occurred. That was no magic but mere common sense. Yet, that the military suffered reversals when the LTTE offensive did take place manifests that the defence establishment, both at political and military levels, were either oblivious or complacent of the gravity of the LTTE threat. Compounding that lethargy is the fact that the military strategies throughout the Wanni debacle and even upto now have only been responsive to LTTE offensives and have done little or nothing to gain the initiative by proactive strategies to throw the Tigers off balance.

Even the reinforcing of Elephant Pass, home for the Army’s 54 Division with troops from the 53 Division made up of commandos, special forces and the Air Mobile Brigade have been in a defensive posture and not in pursuance of positive operational measures. The fact that troops of one more Division too were poured into the area to prepare for an offensive operation makes the case worse.

A negative strategy in war is as good as surrendering one’s initiative and courting disaster. The lack of timely and co-ordinated strategy indicates that there is something radically wrong with the political and military conduct of the war. There is an obvious lack of dialogue and an open mind to the formulation of policies and strategies. The continuing news blackout - the result of a prolonged censorship - reflects that the political establishment is not only shying away from telling the truth to the public but worse still that there is something to hide from them .

The lack of free expression through the media also stifles public opinion of the war and denies public participation in an issue which threatens the unity and sovereignty of this country. The lack of transparency only contributes to confirm the many allegations of widespread corruption in regard to military procurements. Exposing these and other shortcomings have only led to witch-hunt of journalists. They are kept under surveillance and their telephones monitored to identify sources. It is in this backdrop that claims have been made that the war has been 96 per cent won. All aspects considered, the handling of the war by both political and military establishments have reflected tardiness, corruption and gross inefficiency. The ill effects have been totally advantageous to the LTTE. Acknowledgedly, some welcome measures were taken. Alas, it appears to be too little too late. Unless these defects are remedied, the war will remain a running sore and will be of benefit only to the arms dealers and the corrupt, be they from the security forces, police, bureaucracy or the political establishment.

Elephant Pass is a symptom of the disease and unless something is done immediately, the nation is doomed.

The Political Column

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