Nimal Siripala Silva; We are not ready to accept any ceasefire that would supply 'oxygen' to the LTTE

Quite right too. I mean you can't expect to be in a war and suddenly expect the other side to give you a break just as they start kicking your ass. And the Tigers have been recieving quite a yammering over the past few weeks (if intelligence reports are anything to go by). But i think even the somewhat sceptical have to believe that the government have taken a few positive steps in the war with the capturing of the naval base in Veditthaldivu and the major base 10 clicks or so north of it.

But statements like Mr. Silva's could end up antagonizing the tigers and make them malignant enough to damn the international community to hell and deploy what resources they have to do what destruction they can next week in Colombo. Sure, they will be risking quite a lot. The SAARC is a set of countries that the Tigers would not want to piss off. but if the are desperate enough or pissed of enough, who knows what they could do.


Historically, the LTTE have been adept at using ceasefires to regather their strength and retaliate strongly. The Sri Lankan government has been sucker punched before, so it seems madly irrational to accept a ceasefire when you are trouncing your opponents. There doesnt seem to be any indication of them doing so at least yet, with the Air Force confirming the killing of 22 LTTE 'black tigers' today as the result of an air strike at Udayankattikulam. but military top brass has reasserted the commonly held belief that this insurgency can never be completely wiped off although they can be largely conquored, at least for the foreseeable future and that is, if they manage to finally win the war.

Meanwhile, more and more Sri Lankans are getting bogged down with the increasing costs of basic commodities and as the economy slips further into gloom there is an increasing sense of being a citizen of an autocratic rule rather than a democracy. The last thing we want is for us to have a permanent ruling family headed by a president with enough siblings and offspring to rule the country for a long time to come.

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