Situation Report

No more 'defence review' orders CBK

During his "Maveerar (Great Heroes) Day" speech from the Wanni on November 27, LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran denied they were preparing for war or strengthening the guerrilla military machine. This picture above was taken by cameraman S. Jeyanandamoorthy in March this year. The occasion was a "passing out parade" of LTTE recruits in Karidiyanaru in the Batticaloa district. Whilst the new recruits in uniform line up in rows clutching their AK 47 assault rifles, two cadres walk past carrying flag poles anchored to their waist. Right behind them is Karuna, the LTTE Military Wing leader for Batticaloa and a member of the guerrilla peace negotiating team. In the picture on the right from cameraman Sinniah Gurunathan a group of female recruits in battle gear are at a "passing out parade" in Mutur in the Trincomalee district in May, this year. Both "passing out parades" after recruitment and training were conducted by guerrillas during the 20 month long ceasefire.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga last Tuesday ordered a halt to all activities of the controversial Defence Review Committee (DRC). The directive was given to Defence Secretary Cyril Herath.

It was only last week Mr Herath had asked the only active member of the Committee, Lt. Gen. (retired) Denis Perera to continue their work, as reported in these columns (Situation Report - November 30). This came when Lt. Gen. Perera called on the new Defence Secretary to ascertain the Committee's future. This followed President Kumaratunga's take over of defence together with interior and mass communications portfolios.

However, the future of the DRC came in for review during a discussion President Kumaratunga had with Mr. Herath on Tuesday. This was after returning to Colombo from Anuradhapura where she spent Monday on official engagements.
Coming Tuesday, President Kumaratunga's directive is expected to be officially conveyed to Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera.

Upon the previous "go ahead" given by Mr. Herath, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera had set up Sub Committees and embarked on more activity on behalf of the DRC. This was from an office located in the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
The new directive from the President will mean he will have to shut down the office and allow military officers seconded to assist the Committee to revert back to their substantive positions. Those recruited to serve on contract are to be paid two months of their salary and their services terminated.

Whilst calling a halt to all future work of the DRC, President Kumaratunga has directed all armed forces commanders they should together formulate any urgent proposals relating to reforms or administrative changes that become necessary. This came after it was pointed out that the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) has now been activated and the armed forces chiefs were meeting every week to review administrative and operational matters.

President Kumaratunga's instructions, The Sunday Times learnt, were until such time comprehensive defence reforms are introduced. This is after consultations with all political parties, all sections of the armed forces, professional bodies, civil society and others concerned. This is to ensure the process is both democratic and transparent.
The curtains will thus be down on the controversial Committee which has spent millions of rupees of tax payer's money, some in foreign exchange, during its 18 months of existence.

Former Defence Minister, Tilak Marapana, appointed the three - member Committee to examine three aspects (1) Higher Defence Control (2) Regulations made under relevant Service Acts, and (3) Report on future organisation and structure of the armed forces. The Committee comprised then Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando (Chairman) Charitha Ratwatte, Secretary to the Treasury and Lt. Gen. (retd.) Denis Perera.
Mr Fernando was appointed by virtue of his official position as Defence Secretary. Mr. Ratwatte, a close confidante of Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, is Secretary to the Treasury that is funding all procurements of equipment for the armed forces.
Both have had no previous experience or served in any positions in the field of defence or security Sri Lanka. The third member, Lt. Gen. (retd) Perera, served as a Commander of the Army during peace time. He retired in 1982, long before the outbreak of the near two decade long separatist war that saw the growth of the armed forces in strength and in their arsenal.

This was after the unfortunate ethnic violence of 1983, during which time Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera was serving as Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Australia. A fourth member was co-opted much later, after the Committee's report on Higher Defence Control was formulated and became public. However, Major General (retired) Asoka Jayawardena, Governor of the North-East province, served only a shorter stint and did not take part in deliberations of the Committee during the latter months.

The first ever public discussions on the Committee's recommendations on Higher Defence Control were during a meeting sponsored by a German non governmental organisation. It was held at the Supper Club (a one time night club) of the former Hotel Lanka Oberoi and was meant only for invitees.

Mr. Marapana called upon the Committee to examine and report "having considered written and/or verbal submissions from service personnel where applicable and considered necessary." As this writ to the Committee made clear, there was no specific directive to engage in a broader consultation with anyone over a matter that affected every Sri Lankan citizen. The Committee was expressly told to do so "where applicable and necessary."

That it was engaging in a purely politically motivated exercise became clearer and clearer as the Committee's sittings continued. I pointed out in these columns that the requirement for defence reforms emanates from the need to adjust and reshape defence policy and a nation's armed forces to meet either changing security perceptions (either foreign or domestic) or to remedy existing defects in the forces.

I said that from the experience of near two decades of war, it is manifest that the main defect that has contributed to many military debacles has been the result of bad command and control, military organisation and performance principally due to manpower problems and equipment.

But the first report on Higher Defence Control (Situation Report - September 29, 2002) expressly sought to strip the powers of the President as Commander in Chief. After this report appeared exclusively in The Sunday Times, President Kumaratunga charged at a public rally in Kandy that the Committee's recommendations were intended to not only deprive her powers but also to establish a dictatorship.

Even before the armed forces Commanders were in a position to make their observations on this report, a draft law (a draft Joint Chiefs of Staff Act) that sought to remove powers enjoyed by the President was formulated. It came immediately in the wake of an abortive attempt by the UNF Government to move a 19th amendment to the Constitution to deprive the President of powers to dissolve Parliament an year after its existence.

Later, the armed forces commanders unanimously criticised the recommendations on Higher Defence Control. They expressed complete reservations. However, to their surprise another draft law based on the recommendations - a draft Higher Defence Control Act exclusively revealed in The Sunday Times (Situation Report - June 29, 2003) was brought out.

Ironic enough, the recommendations on Higher Defence Control had been made by the Committee, by its own admission, after obtaining only the views of the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers (ARFRO) of which Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera was a senior member and one time President. In addition discussions were held with what the Committee called a "cross section of Officers," with Gen. (retd.) Cyril Ranatunga (a former Defence Secretary and one time General Officer Commanding Joint Operations Command), and three former Commanders of the Navy. The report noted Gen. (retd.) Hamilton Wansinghe, a former Defence Secretary and Army Commander was unable to attend.

The Sunday Times later revealed that Gen. Wanasinghe refused to testify after he found that instead of three members; only Lt. Gen. Perera was conducting sittings of the Committee. The other two members were busy in their substantive posts. It later transpired that a substantial part of the Committee's sittings were not only conducted by Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera, but that he had singularly visited several military establishments. This was after approval had been granted and arrangements had been made on the grounds that the three-member Committee was visiting them.

Similarly, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Perera, who had undertaken visits abroad as Chairman of the Ceylon Tobacco Company, had also devoted additional days to work on behalf of the Committee. This was in the countries he visited. For this, he had been paid allowances in foreign exchange by the Ministry of Defence. One such case has been during a visit to South Korea.

In October, this year, when President Kumaratunga was involved in an acrimonious exchange of letters with Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, over the Tiger guerrilla build up in Trincomalee district, the work of the DRC figured prominently. In one of her letters, President Kumaratunga said "….The only programme in the sphere of Defence that I am aware of, which you have constantly tried to implement without success, is the one where you and your Minister of Defence and a so-called Defence Review Committee headed by a long retired General who has never fought a war, is to attempt to grab the powers of the Executive Head of State and Commander in Chief with regard to Defence matters."

That the shoddy manner in which the UNF Government set about with its so called defence reforms is indisputably a contributory cause for the take over of the defence portfolio by President Kumaratunga. That it remained a major irritant in UNF's cohabitation with the Presidency is the biggest lesson learnt from this futile political exercise under the guise of defence reform.

Now that President Kumaratunga has called a halt to the DRC, its wasted efforts, mostly in the form of voluminous paper work, will go into the dust bin. Millions of rupees of public funds have been spent for nothing.

This is not only a lesson for Sri Lankans but also for the countries that helped in the DRC effort, particularly United Kingdom which pumped money and provided expertise. The fact they helped in a futile politically motivated effort is bad enough. It is worse they were not able to guide those responsible in the right direction. That is to introduce true defence reforms. To that extent they are guilty of partisan politics in Sri Lanka. That has become clear now.

President Kumaratunga's directive to call off the so called defence review was somewhat belated. It underscores the fact that most of her time and effort continues to be taken by the ongoing political crisis. This was after her take over of defence, interior and mass communications portfolios.

Yet, she has taken time off to keep herself briefed about developments in the one time operational areas of the North-East. As reported in these columns last week, she received a detailed briefing about Tiger guerrilla build up in the Batticaloa district. On Tuesday, outgoing SF Commander (Wanni), Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala updated her on developments in the Wanni, particularly in the Vavuniya district.

The next day (Wednesday), outgoing SF Commander (Jaffna), Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka gave an account about the increasing dominance of Tiger guerrillas in the Jaffna peninsula.

Maj. Gen. Chandrapala relinquishes office as SF Commander (Wanni) on December 10 to assume duties as SF Commander (Jaffna). He succeeds Maj. Gen. Fonseka, who takes over as Commandant, Sri Lanka Volunteer Force (SLVF) on the same date. This has also led to other changes. Maj. Gen. Sisira Wijesuriya will take over as SF Commander (Wanni). His current position as Commandant, Army Command and Staff College at Batalanda will be filled by Maj. Gen. Sivali Wanigasekera, current Director General of Training.

The accounts President Kumaratunga learnt from field commanders for Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Jaffna and other areas, The Sunday Times learnt, run counter to assertions made by Tiger guerrilla leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran in his "Maveerar (Great Heroes) day speech on November 27. He denied that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was strengthening their military power and preparing for war.

Though the high ranking military officers who briefed President Kumaratunga did not say the guerrillas were on the verge of declaring war, all of them did say (in their own words) that the LTTE was definitely strengthening their military apparatus. They dealt into exhaustive details to confirm the disclosures made.

With the defence portfolio now in her hands, President Kumaratunga has an unenviable task. There is no Defence Minister or a deputy. Her Defence Secretary, Mr Herath, a man of high integrity committed to upholding the honour and dignity of his office, is still new to the job. In the sphere of politics she has many senior advisors. However, since the take over of the portfolio, there are none with a high visibility in the field of security and defence. That is at a time when she has limited time to focus on defence. That such a shortcoming is becoming seriously reflected on many matters defence and security is increasingly clear.

Take for example a paradoxical event that took place last Thursday evening. A high powered team of retired military officers who are due to meet (and possibly offer advice to) President Kumaratunga in the coming week, had to seek and obtain a briefing from serving senior officers.

These retired officers, some of them constitute seniors of the past, are members of the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers (ARFRO) now chaired by Maj. Gen. (retd.) Gerry de Silva, a former Army Commander. An ARFRO team was given a special briefing including intelligence assessments at the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) by senior serving officers. Hardly was the JOH meeting over, news was out on the grapevine that retired senior officers had received a briefing. That is not all. Some of those who attended were openly speaking about the shock and awe after they heard of guerrilla's strengthening themselves militarily.

This briefing had taken place after Defence Secretary Herath and Chief of Defence Staff (and Army Commander) Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle had authorised it. One cannot grudge senior retired military officers being briefed of a Tiger guerrilla build up in the North-East though the practice is not followed in any other country. In fact such an act is frowned upon. The all important question is whether President Kumaratunga, who is Commander-in-Chief, authorised such a briefing?

If she did, there is a serious breach of protocol. If she did not, what was Mr. Herath or Lt. Gen. Balagalle trying to achieve through such a briefing? Was it to ensure the military's concerns are reflected when ARFRO members briefed (or advised) President Kumaratunga? If that is the case, the military could have done it themselves. Was this exercise in pursuit of someone's personal agenda? What were the motives for it?
The question is being raised in the national interest. If a briefing indeed has to be given on important security developments, particularly after Mr. Prabhakaran's "Maveerar" day assertions,( and developments to the contrary), that should have been to Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, or any of his nominees. They should have been kept aware of what the senior armed forces officials know.

The fact that the UNF leadership was accused of failing to handle the defence portfolio properly, thus prompting a take over by President Kumaratunga, does not in any way mean they should be kept in the dark. That would be a serious mistake for the subject of defence, which concerns national security, is not the exclusive preserve of only the People's Alliance or the UNF.

The UNF leadership cannot be ignored because the defence portfolio is out of their control. It no doubt denies to them news of day to day developments on matters relating to national security. But President Kumaratunga is engaged in rapprochement moves to re start the stalled peace process. If there is to be a joint approach to peace, it is equally important that there should be a joint approach to matters that concern national security. One is important to the other.

That someone has sought to ignore this, or is wilfully pushing his personal agenda, is a matter for President Kumaratunga to investigate and deal with promptly. Otherwise, it is she, and she alone, who would have to take the blame for any consequences that follow. History is fraught with examples where ignoring such manoeuvrings has been costly to the nation. One outstanding example in the recent past is the now infamous "Operation Agni Khiela" (or Rod of Fire), the very last military offensive in the North in 2001. It cost lives and caused heavy damage. It came when Norwegian facilitators, invited by President Kumaratunga, were making their initial moves for the peace process.

The political leadership disowned prior knowledge of the offensive. Military officials claimed they had prior approval. To delve into more detail would be to open a can of worms. But it became clear some manipulation by the over enthusiastic that lacked foresight caused the damage.

As I pointed out last week, the take over of the defence portfolio by President Kumaratunga may turn out to be more damaging than when it was in the hands of the UNF. That is if she continues to ignore ground realities. In this backdrop, Chief of Defence Staff and Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Balagalle leaves today on a four day official visit to India. He is accompanied by Brigadier Kapila Hendavithana, Director of Military Intelligence and Colonel Srinath Rajapakse, Director of Training.

Although it comes in the wake of the proposed Defence Co-operation Agreement and India's declaration of an abiding interest in security developments in Sri Lanka, the trip is not likely to focus specifically on these matters. This is particularly in view of New Delhi's keenness to ensure no wrong signals are sent out at a time when there is a political crisis in Colombo.

This is the first opportunity for Lt. Gen. Balagalle, an alumni of New Delhi's National Defence College, to formally interact with the highest in the Indian defence establishment. Secondly it will give him an opportunity to learn India's military perceptions and their strategic perceptions in the region.

The team is due to visit Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) where they are expected to obtain a first hand account of Indian Army's counter terrorist operations. The likely focus is expected to be on bi-lateral military and strategic relations between Sri Lanka and India. Indian authorities are likely to ascertain from him the Sri Lankan military's views on the security environment in the North-East and the threat perceptions. In this connection the inclusion of the military intelligence chief and head of training is significant.

Acting as CDS during Lt. Gen. Balagalle's absence will be Navy Commander, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri. Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda, is to function as acting Commander of the Army.

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