Editorial

3rd December2000

Positive defence policy needed

Judging from contradictions in the statements made by the "International Secretariat" of the LTTE in London, the Norwegian Peace Broker Erik Solheim and by Velupillai Prabhakaran in his "Heroes Week" speech the situation in regard to positional expectations, before the start of any negotiations for a political settlement to the ethnic conflict is getting curioser and curioser, much as in Alice in Wonderland.

Making it, even more curioser is the conflicting pronouncements, between war and negotiation made by the Government.

Bewildering though the situation maybe, what is manifestly clear is that the innocuously well meaning demands by the LTTE for "conditions of normalcy" and "de-escalation of war leading to cessation of armed hostilities" are designed to gain a strategic military advantage. Also interspersed with high moral argument, pitched for international appeal, of the legitimacy of the war and readiness to accommodate peaceful political alternatives.

Mr. Prabhakaran nevertheless leaves no doubt of his commitment to the military option to liberate his "motherland" from military aggression and occupation. The Government for its part cannot be expected to surrender or in anyway mitigate its sovereign right to maintain its writ on the territory of Sri Lanka. That the LTTE has gained control of a large part of the Wanni and a portion of the Jaffna Peninsula does not relieve the Government of its right of governance of these areas or of its inherent right to restore the status quo.

In fact, that the Government maintains a form of administration including the provision of essential goods and supplies to these "uncleared" areas is in pursuance of that right. That the LTTE too gains to benefit by this is paradoxically another matter. One of the demands of the LTTE is to remove what its claims to be economic restrictions with regard to the supply of provisions and other essential goods to the population living in these "uncleared" areas. This is tacit acceptance by the LTTE of the responsibilities of the Government.

To the military fighting a war, the perplexing political situation must be even more befuddling. The military must have a clear and unambiguous defence policy, defining their strategy, aims and objectives. Without the framework of a defined policy, military planning will not only be aimless and lacking in purpose, but operations down the line will also be lacking objectivity and direction. That is not the way to conduct a war.

Little wonder that Peter Hain, Britain's Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, declared the war as not being winnable.

In the absence of a positive war policy, the approach of the Armed Forces to the war cannot be expected to be anything other than negative and defeatist. In sum total, these negative features affect the morale of the Armed Forces and their will to fight.

That a Deputy Minister was not appointed by the new Government until Thursday underscores the confusing approach to defence planning and policy. Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte is a known hard-liner. In his last tenure as Deputy Minister, though the military had initial success in the "Rivirasa" series of operations, they came into severe reversals after the questionable "Operation Jaya Sikurui" (Victory Assured). Nevertheless, Minister Ratwatte is to be expected to re-vamp the military effort and implement a dynamic defence policy. To do so, however, the Government must identify a positive policy.

To successfully proceed towards negotiated settlement demands that both sides must be prepared to come down on parochial positions and emotionally charged attitudes. The "Heroes Week" declaration and what was stated by the Norwegian Special Envoy, of the LTTE being willing to negotiate without pre-conditions are still conflicting.

As our Defence Correspondent points out in his Situation Report today, both sides are once again bracing themselves for a major confrontation.

Hence, despite the latest "peace offensive," decisive decisions will come from the battlefield. That makes a defence policy a necessity, to avoid confusion and wrong signals leading to further reversals.

The Political Column

Editorial/ Opinion Contents