Defence to the fore: Back to Israel

The United National Front (UNF) Government appears to have shifted gear to a dual track political mode in the past weeks - prepare for war whilst talking peace. For 14 months since the Ceasefire Agreement was signed, little or nothing was done to the Security Forces. The mistaken notion that the war has ended led to moves to downsize their strengths. They were to be found employment in UN Peace Keeping Forces.

Desertions grew and ammunition stocks dwindled. There were more than 10,000 deserters during the period. That is half the number in 2001 and much less than that in 2000. To shore up morale and ensure the barest level of preparedness, troops had to be put through paces of training.

The low ammunition stocks in highly vulnerable areas, would have helped troops defend themselves for only hours than days. In April, this year, they were allowed to stock up three month's requirements. The all important Treasury which imposed a ban released the funds.

But the recent weeks have seen the UNF move at an unbelievable pace. The same pace the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) kept since signing that 11 page Ceasefire Agreement on February 22, 2002. They began recruitment, training and re-supplying by smuggling in state-of-the-art military hardware.

Though belated, the significance of the latest UNF move lies in the timing. It co-incides with fresh proposals being formulated for an "interim administrative set up." The aim is to persuade the LTTE to return to the negotiating table. UNF's Chief Negotiator, Prof. G.L. Peiris told a news conference on Thursday these proposals, in the form of a "basic structure," would be forwarded "in the next few days."

The UNF expects a more comprehensive document encompassing all the features of the proposed structure to emerge at future talks. If Prof. Peiris was in favour of placing a comprehensive proposal before LTTE, it was Minister Milinda Moragoda who opined that the offer of an outline would be the best means to draw the guerrillas to the negotiating table - a move that would lead to a much needed image boost. Once that is done, the UNF leadership has agreed that the process of discussing the nitty gritty of an "administrative structure" could go on. At least the peace process would be on track and the ceasefire would remain intact, they believe.

That Thursday morning when Prof. Peiris was spelling out UNF's latest strategy to woo the LTTE, his cabinet colleague, Defence Minister Tilak Marapana boarded a Bangkok bound flight from Colombo. This journey signalled the emergence of UNF's new defence strategy to meet emerging guerrilla threats.

The Sri Lanka Army is to launch a new recruitment drive, due to begin later this month or early August. Placing himself as the head of a military delegation to Israel, Mr Marapana has not only given it a high profile publicly but also underscored its significance. More so because the mission is being undertaken at the same time as the Government is stepping up its efforts to persuade the LTTE to return to talks. That is in marked contrast to all other previous occasions. No strategies were pursued which would convey to the LTTE that they were preparatory to counter any peace initiatives.

The immediate task before this high profile mission is to conclude a deal to equip the Navy's fleet of Fast Attack Craft (FAC) with upgraded weapons systems. At present these FACs including Israeli built Dvoras are equipped with 23 mm guns. It is known that the Sea Tigers have acquired large quantities of these weapons compelling the Navy to upgrade their own systems.

Exacerbating the need for the Navy were deep sea encounters with Sea Tigers. Two major confrontations on March 10 (Situation Report - March 16) and June 14 (Situation Report - June 22) led to Naval craft sinking guerrilla cargo vessels loaded with military hardware. It was felt that the Navy should be better equipped for future confrontations. But the task of concluding a deal for weapons upgrade for the FACs does not certainly require the presence of a Defence Minister or for that matter the Commander of the Navy. It could have been easily done by a technical team.

But the itinerary of Mr Marapana's delegation covers visits to military establishments including naval installations. Inspection of advanced equipment as well as meetings with suppliers is part of the schedule. In fact the broader outlines for this high profile visit had taken shape in Colombo.

That was when a defence team from Israel visited Sri Lanka barely two weeks before Mr. Marapana's departure. It was headed by retired Brigadier General Kuti More, a former Intelligence Official (Military Intelligence - Hebrew acronym Am'an). He now heads the International Department of the Israeli Defence Ministry.

Co-ordinating the visit was Zvi Joseph, the highly influential Israeli arms dealer who has put through many a multi million dollar arms deal in Sri Lanka over the years. He operates from an office in Singapore. He has cultivated many contacts concerned with defence procurements in Sri Lanka. They include top politicians, bureaucrats, retired and serving senior military officials.

Other members of the Israeli defence team: Major General (res.) Yossi Ben Hanan, head of SIBAT - Foreign Defence Assistance and Defence Export Division of the Ministry of Defence. SIBAT is Hebrew acronym for "Defence (security) Assistance. SIBAT is responsible for licensing all military (know how, technology, materials etc) exports. A high ranking official, he is due to lead a top level Israeli defence mission to United States in September.

Yehial Harev, the Chief Security Officer of the Ministry of Defence and its associated organisations including state owned military/industrial complexes. His official title in Hebrew is Ma'Imab - acronym for the one in charge. He is regarded as one of the most powerful officials in Israel.

He is in charge of security at the Defence Ministry including its most important organs like Israel's nuclear reactors. He also supervises the appointment of security guards and officers at all state owned industries including the well known Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI). He sits on all the major Defence Ministry committees and has a say in licensing Israeli arms dealers and on exports of military hardware.

Colonel Yehuda Shoshani, Israel's Defence Attache in Thailand covers several countries in the region including Sri Lanka. Col. Yoash Rubin, is head of the regional desk at SIBAT. Stav Moshe, a businessman is owner of a company named Hornet. Years ago he acquired Bykoor, one of Israel's largest corporations.

Zvi Joseph is also a junior partner of Stav Moshe. Together they represent most of Israel's military corporations including Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Israel Military Industries. The duo are said to be behind deals involving over 40 million US dollars in the sale to Sri Lanka of Kfir interceptor jets (French version of Mirage) and patrol boats for the Navy.

The proposed deal to upgrade part of the Navy's FACs (15 of them) from Israel has already generated a heated controversy. Like all military deals where the successful are witch hunted by the many that are unsuccessful, the latest move has also seen accusations being hurled at the Navy. An influential and powerful section of the UNF appears to be piqued by the moves to go to Israel instead of making all the procurements from the United States.

Whether these accusations will turn out to be as ridiculous as the charges that the Navy sabotaged the peace talks when it attacked an LTTE cargo vessel in the north-eastern high seas on June 14 (Situation Report - June 22) remains to be seen. Only a fuller probe, which the government can initiate, will reveal the truth. But a propaganda blitz over this move, now part of a popular sport, to paint the Navy black, cannot be ruled out.

Since September, last year, the Sri Lanka Navy has been engaged in moves to upgrade weapons systems on their FACs. Though the Navy had originally called for tenders, it had later been withdrawn after US authorities had raised issue. This was on the grounds that the Navy could benefit from them only if they worked on a Government to Government basis. They were not in favour of competing through tenders. These new developments were after the US government had made a major policy shift on military sales since its war on terror began. The move opened the doors for Sri Lanka to obtain US weaponry.

Seizing on the opportunity were Sri Lanka's Ambassador to United States, Devinda Subasinghe and Minister Milinda Moragoda, known to have very close contacts in the George W. Bush administration. They succeeded in obtaining free of cost a US Coast Guard cutter manufactured in 1967. The question of equipping weapons systems on board arose.

In November, last year, the Sri Lanka Navy sent a two member team to the US for "inspection of defence related products available to purchase for SLN." They were Rear Admirals L.D. Dharmapriya and Vasantha Karannagoda. The duo looked into procurement opportunities available for the Navy. In their three-page report dated November 24, last year, the two senior officers noted in their conclusion:

"It is very clear from the visit that the military equipment/craft manufactured in the USA are of very high standard and are extremely competitive in prices. It is further learnt that the US Government is willing to provide these items at the prices that the US Armed Forces purchase them (wholesale prices as they buy large quantities). Therefore the prices could be even lesser than the indicated prices in above paragraphs.

"It is proposed that the Sri Lanka Government pursue this matter and negotiate with the IPO (International Programmes Office) to check the feasibility of obtaining the required military equipment free of charge on a grant or purchasing them on credit basis if the Government of Sri Lanka approve the purchase of new equipment for SLN. Details of any missile were not given / shown to the delegation due to non availability of State Department clearance for same."

After their return, Defence Minister Marapana recommended to the Cabinet that the FACs be equipped with US made Bushmaster Gun Systems. This is where the controversy begins with questions asked as to why the Navy obtained only 15 units instead of 30 from the US for upgrading the FACs. This is despite reported claims that the hit probability of Bushmasters being higher than those of Israeli Weapons System.

Senior Navy officials say that only 15 units of the (Mark 44) Bushmasters System with separate mounts were immediately available for delivery. Hence they had to turn to Israel for the remaining 15. They say the move angered a local agent representing the US Company. The saga continues.

Another Government move this week appears to have embarrassed neighbouring India. This time, it was a seminar in Jaffna organised by the German based Berghoff Foundation for Conflict Studies on the subject of High Security Zones (HSZ). Many foreign speakers castigated the proposals made on the HSZ by retired Indian Lt. Gen. Satish Nambiar, whose services were obtained by the UNF Government. The fact that there was official representation from the UNF Government at the seminar drew more attention and wide publicity, both in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando, had ordered the Army to send two senior officers to take part. The Army did, as one source said, subject to one condition - that the sponsoring Foundation does not place the names of the officers concerned on their list of invitees for seminars and courses abroad. This had happened earlier according to Army sources.

It is now apparent that the UNF Government has awoken to its folly of not maintaining the levels of preparedness of the Security Forces - a matter repeatedly highlighted in these columns. This is in spite of the fact that they have been fully aware that the Tiger guerrillas, on the other hand, regardless of the ceasefire and peace moves have been strengthening their military capabilities. Not only so. They have openly spoken of the military being the backbone of their quest to fulfil their political aims.

It is clear that the LTTE has seen more meaning in the words of the well-known Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu even before the ceasefire. However, it has taken a while for the UNF. More than 1,500 years ago Sun Tzu said.

In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace. The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected....

In this realisation, the UNF Government has now decided to prioritise the preparedness of the Security Forces. It has rightly evaluated the Navy as the key factor to counter the strategic policies of the LTTE. The latter have placed their main strategic reliance on the Sea Tigers maritime capability to maintain and enhance their military might.

The re-equipment of the Security Forces has again opened the doors for the influx of international arms dealers competing to sell equipment. It has been the country's past experience that these arms dealers have been the harbingers of corruption using the weaknesses and greed of politicians, civilians, bureaucrats and military officials. These corrupt deals have resulted in the past in the purchase of inferior and unnecessary equipment. This undoubtedly was one of the reasons for military debacles and disasters.

Whether this time around uncontrolled corrupt practices, in the past ignored by the UNF Government, will again manifest itself is to be seen.