Financial Times

Choice between war and peace
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) is in the news with a series of initiatives aimed at knocking some sense into our political leaders but through the art of 'gentle' persuasion to move the peace process forward.
Chamber members have been meeting Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in a bid - through him - to persuade the government to get back to the negotiating table. There have been suggestions that the chamber should also meet the LTTE with the same focus.

The war in the north and the east is increasing by the day and reports are daily coming in of attacks on the military, roundups of youth and alleged harassment of civilians. Fear is also mounting in Colombo as police and military checkpoints increase and more and more passengers and motorists are asked to explain their movements. The media is on fire over harassment of journalists.

It's a kind of return to the late 1990s when the war was at its peak and Jaffna's youth feared to walk the streets. In a rapidly changing scenario whether chamber leaders have the guts to meet the LTTE leadership remains to be seen - only the courageous ones would probably do so anyway.
Be that as it may the war has intensified and according to one count more than 40 people have died in the past month. In the past week, the Tigers have downed a navy ship and killed 13 sailors. In another attack, eight sailors were killed in a road convoy.

Both attacks go to show that the Tigers are bent on testing the resolve of the armed forces which is exercising a lot of restraint -- in the face of such brazen attacks and violation of the ceasefire -- and drawing praise from the international community.

In this background comes perhaps one of the strongest-ever warnings against the Tigers from the US. The manner in which Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead chose to issue this warning to the rebels at a business luncheon meant one thing - that the business community should take more responsibility in the peace process and not merely articulate positions and postures.

Speaking on "Peace and Prosperity: US Policy Goals in Sri Lanka 2006" to members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka, Lunstead - who ends his tour of duty in six months -, said: " … if the LTTE chooses to abandon peace, they will face a stronger, more capable and more determined Sri Lankan military. We want the cost of a return to war to be high."

Strong words indeed but the most important part of his strong message is that it was delivered at a business luncheon. He said it is imperative that the business community become involved in the peace process, saying "the business community has a key role, because their initiatives and penchant for risk-taking, decision-making and negotiating are all areas that the government will need to advance if the cause of peace and prosperity is to be served."
It is in this context that one must applaud the CCC's recent initiatives which include bringing together politicians like Somawansa Amarasinghe and R. Sampanthan - from different sides of the peace process - for a discussion on peace and also interacting with a delegation of Northern Ireland leaders who were involved with the peace process there.

For anything to succeed, credibility and sustainability is important. So here are words of wisdom and advice from a non-CCC leader - "don't allow this initiative to end up like Sri Lanka First which started off with a million people holding hands for peace and ended up with some living off NGOs funds."

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